//------------------------------// // Chapter 11 // Story: Twilight's Human Boyfriend // by Songbrony //------------------------------// I groaned as the ball rolled away from me. "You just don't have any luck do you?" Rainbow asked. "Not today. I'm glad it wasn't you who kicked it though." I said. "How'd you know that?" "My head isn't killing me." I said, rubbing my head. It didn't hurt like the last one, but it was still a little sore. "Well, these people don't know how to kick a ball properly." she said, motioning to the only human team. "How far down are they?" "Well...10 goals." she said. "Of course they are." "Mind giving them a hand?" "Sorry. I'd like to keep whatever dignity I have left." I said giving a light chuckle. "I can't blame you there." she said. "Anyways, I'll see you later. I've got some butt to kick." She ran back to the field and passed the ball to a team mate. I walked through town, just to walk. I didn't really know what to do today. I wanted to give Twilight some time to herself, Rainbow was playing soccer, and I didn't feel like working to death with Applejack. Rarity was too much of "I guess I could help Fluttershy with her animals." I said to myself. I hadn't really hung out with her since the dinner a few days ago. I walked over to the her cottage and knocked on the door. I looked around and saw some of the squirrels running around the trees. The door opened and a carrot hit me in the face. I swear if one more thing gets thrown in my face... I thought. "Angel! Be nice." Fluttershy said as her pet bunny hopped away. "I'm sorry about that Brendan. How are you doing?" she asked. "Well, considering that's the third thing to hit me in the head today, I guess I'm doing okay." I said. "Oh, I'm sorry. Are you okay?" "Yeah I'll be fine. Nothing to worry about." I said. "Okay, that's good. Come in." she said. I walked in and she closed the door. "You know you should really train him to be a bit nicer." I said. He stuck his tongue out at me. I had to stop myself as I started to do the same to him. 'Don't copy a rabbit...' I thought. "Oh, he's not so bad. He's usually only really bad when he's hungry." she said. "Oh, I can understand that." I said. "Never get me upset on an empty stomach." "So...um I know I shouldn't be asking about this, but how are you handling the situation with Twilight?" she asked. "Oh, well you know...dealing. I mean I think I'm doing okay, but I'm not sure what Twilight is going to do." I said admittedly. "Well why not ask her? We're having a movie night tonight." she said. "Already have. She needs time to think. So that's what I'm going to give her." I said. "Well, I'm sure she'll do what's best for her." she said as she picked up a squirrel that was gnawing on a table leg. "I hope so." I said quietly. "Do you need any help with your animals? I figured I could stop by and help out a little bit." "Oh, not right now. Thank you though. Phil actually came by a little while ago and helped me with most of my animals." she said. "Oh. Okay then." I said, disgruntled. Once again Phil is one step ahead of me. I thought to myself. "Well, do you need any other kind of help? Don't have much to do at the moment." "No, but thank you. Actually, Phil wanted to talk to you. He said it was important, but he wouldn't say what it was about." "Probably about Twilight." I said. "I don't think so. He said he'd be at the bowling alley for most of the day and if I saw you to let you know." she said. I sighed. "I guess I'll go chat with him. Hopefully it's nothing too bad." "I don't think so. He actually seemed excited." "Did he say what about?" I asked nervously. "No. But whatever it was it's important to him." she said. "Alright. Well then I'll go see what it was and hopefully be on the park bench tonight not drunk." I said as I walked to the door. "You could always stay here tonight." she offered. "You're always welcome here." "Thanks. I'll see how I feel tonight. Might be a tad tipsy." I told her. Or a lot. I walked out the door and made my way to town. The bowling ally was on the whole other side of town and it took me almost 30 minutes from Fluttershy's house. I had no clue what to expect. The only exciting thing I could think of would be him being able to stay in Equestria, and even though I don't want to fight over Twilight, I had a feeling that we eventually would. 'It's alright. You have to let her decide. Arguing about it will only make it harder on her. I thought. I didn't know what to think anymore. The selfish part of me wanted her to pick me and dump Phil regardless of how she felt, but at the same time, I didn't want her to be unhappy being with me. But I also didn't know what I was going to do if she didn't choose me. I wouldn't be able to live in the library anymore, even if she would let me. It would be too awkward. And if she let me keep working with her at the library it would be just as awkward. "If worst comes to worst, I could always go back home..." I said sadly. I did miss my family and friends, but Equestria was so peaceful and everyone got along really well. Well for the most part. They had their issues on different subjects, some of which I was scrutinized for, but overall it was a happy cheery place. I sighed as a arrived at the bowling alley. "Well, let's see what 'exciting' news Phil has." I said to myself as I walked in. I looked around and noticed that it was unusually empty. Most of the time this place would be packed with leagues and birthday parties. "Hey!" I heard Phil shout from across the room. I saw him sitting at a table with a pony in a fancy suit. "Hey Phil." I said taking a seat at the table. "Fluttershy said you had some exciting news." "I do." he said with a wide smile. "You remember how I was telling you about heading home?" he said. I knew it. I thought. "Yeah? What about it?" I said, trying to hide the fact I knew what he was going to say. "Well I actually won't have to. Mr. Rich here was able to get them a ticket over here. This way I can keep running things at the hospital and still be near them." "After what you did for me, it's the least I could do." he said in an accent I recognized immediately. "I was just doing my job, but I do appreciate you doing this for me." Phil said. "And tell Brendan the other thing." "Ah, yes. Phil told me that you're an avid gamer, or that you used to be." he said. I raised an eyebrow at Phil. "How'd you know that?" "What you think I didn't ask Twilight about you with how much time you spent around her?" "Oh." I said. 'That should've been obvious.' I thought. "Well, ever since humans started to travel to Equestria, I've been looking at new investments to bring over from your land to ours. I looked over some of the top requested items to be approved for trade, and video games were among the top 10. I don't know all the technical aspects or even what kind of games humans enjoy. In Ponyville most of the games are racing or fighting games, such as Pony Kombat. However humans seem to be less interested in those than ponies." he said. "Well most of the high selling and profitable games are action shooters and sports games. But you have games here that run on magically powered cells. Why would you need to import human based games?" I asked. "Supply and demand my friend. If I could garnish up enough resources and provide a solid basis on what humans are looking for in a game, I could write a Trade Agreement Outline for the Princess and Trade Bureau to review. Now I understand that your species is fond of violence, and even though we have some games here that are violent, I would think, for now, we should try and keep the games we want to bring in with as little violence as possible." he explained. "Okay, but why are you telling me all this? Shouldn't you be discussing this with a business expert?" "Bah, most 'business' ponies here are too afraid to try to widen the audience on human goods. They think it would be too costly, that there aren't enough humans here for it to be profitable, without thinking about the aspects for a new demographic." he said. "But what does this have to do with me? All I can do is say what's a good game or a bad game, and even then that's completely based on opinion. There are games I love that are considered awful by most and games I hate that are loved by most." "Brendan!" Phil shouted at me. "He wants you to be a partner in his business here. He needs someone who knows gaming to help him expand it here in Equestria. No pony here can do that, and it would be a great to improve relations. You know how our species acts when people try to come over here? They get angry, outraged. They find it offensive and 'blasphemous' because they're talking ponies who use magic!" Phil explained. "It would certainly help the Princess regulate other problems with the influx of humans here. Ponyville is lucky, seeing as it's a small human population, but other cities, such as Manehattan, just can't handle the amount of migrants flooding the streets. This market I want to open up here could form a more peaceful bridge between our two races." Mr. Rich said. "So what do you say? Want to help us out here?" I had no business being in a business partnership. I had no knowledge in business to begin with and if it flopped I could be out money that I didn't have in the first place. "Brendan, take the job." I heard Phil whisper to me. I sighed. "Well if you want to avoid violence, stay away from DOOM." I said with a small smile. "Excellent!! It's good to have you on board. I'll be in touch with you in a few days once I have the outline ready to be prepped. There are a few more ponies I need to write to before we can get this thing started, but I assure you we'll be ready before the month is over." he said with a smile. "Sounds good. I can't wait to hear from you." I told him as he stood and walked out of the door. I turned to Phil with a questioning look. "What?" he asked. "Why did you mention my name to him?" I asked. "Because you're perfect for what he was looking for. Not really someone who knows how to run a business but someone who knows what the people want." he said. "Are you unhappy about it?" he said, confused. "No, no, I'm excited and glad to be a part of it. I just don't know what caused you to mention my name of all people." "Well, to be honest I didn't mention your name first. But after awhile and thinking about things, I figured that despite who Twilight picks, you, me, or neither, you would still need a job that pays well. And I doubt you'd still work for Twilight if she didn't choose you." he said. "So you were looking out for me?" He chuckled. "Well when you put it like that you make it sound like we're friends." he said with a hint of sarcasm. "Well, I appreciate it." I said. "Look...I know we aren't exactly close, but I was thinking we could go see the new performance at the gazebo and just hang out for a bit. Maybe we can find something in common and that way things aren't as awkward between us." he said. "That's fair. I mean you did just get me a new job." I said with a light laugh. "Great. Let's head on over and see when they start." he said, standing up. I followed him out and we walked towards the gazebo. We talked a little bit and it turns out we have a lot more in common than I had initially thought. We both liked sports, though I was more of a soccer fan and he was more of a baseball guy. We both enjoy Star Wars and agreed on the abomination that ruined the prequels, and we both agreed on why we liked Twilight. Yes I realize how creepy and weird it sounds, but it was just something to talk about. I was very careful not to mention that Twilight thought I was the better kisser. Still thought about it though. "You ever find it weird?" Phil asked. "Find what weird?" "Just this place. They're technology is so far behind ours, yet they have magic that makes out technology obsolete. For example, phones. We use phones for everything, texting, calling, social media, even games. Yet they just write a letter and cast a spell and it's there instantly." he explained. "It's just magic email. And only Unicorns can make them go poof." I said. "True but the point still remains. Everything is organized and most ponies get along really well. Hardly any fights happen and nobody really gets mad." he explained. "I guess. But with more humans coming over I'm not sure how long it'll stay like that. Some don't like us already." I said, remembering the two mares from Twilight's library that called me a Frula. "They're just scared of new things. Give them time. As long as we show that we're not dangerous or that we're overall very nice, I'm sure they'll turn around." he said. We walked over to the Gazebo which was already starting to fill up with ponies and found the schedule. "Oh they moved it to 5. Well that's good. That's in about half an hour." he said, checking his watch. "Hey find a good seat and I'm going to grab some snacks." he said. I grabbed a bench that was in the front row and to the right of the stage. I had no clue what the play was going to be, but I had hopes it was going to be good. Equestria didn't have many awful plays, probably because of all the magic effects they used. I felt something vibrate in my backpack, which I had completely forgot I still had with me. I opened it up and pulled out my phone and found that someone was able to get a call through. I didn't know the number but I answered it out of curiosity. "Hello?" I said. I could hear a voice but couldn't make out what they were saying. There was a lot of static breaking up the words. "I'm sorry, you're breaking up. I can't hear you. Hello?" I said again. "Hello?" I heard a loud bang behind me. I dropped my phone as another bang rang out and I felt the left side of my chest explode in pain. I shouted as I keeled over and heard more loud bangs from behind me. Ponies were screaming and running all over the place, trampling me and slamming into my chest. I tried to roll out of the way but I kept getting kicked. My ears were ringing and I rolled onto my back before a hoof landed on my head and everything went dark.