*Steven POV*
We emerged from our warm peaceful corner of heaven and prepared for the evening. Twilight went back and forth, trying to figure out the most comfortable position inside the backpack while I grabbed a few pretzels for the journey. I rushed upstairs, changed into my Elements of Harmony shirt and we were set.
"Are you ready to go?" Twilight asked me, poking her head out of the bag.
I nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be.
Twilight clopped her hooves. "Great. Then let's get to it. Button down the hatches!" She ducked down into the backpack and zipped it closed with her magic. All I could do was grin and shake my head.
I shouldered the backpack, being careful not to tilt it too much, turned off the lights and walked to the door. I put my hand on the door handle, but stopped myself from pushing it open. I was about to set out and do something I'd never done before. This will be a whole new experience for me. Going out to meet people who think like I do.... It's likely to be interesting.
"Steven!" Twilight's muffled voice called out. The backpack unzipped and my little pony friend poked her head out, adorable and curious as ever. "What's taking so long? You only need to open the door."
I gently stroked Twilight's head with my finger. "Just contemplating the night ahead," I replied. "I'm not used to trying new things, especially not ones concerning other people."
"Then it'll be good for you," Twilight insisted. "Think back to my first visit to Ponyville. I didn't like meeting new ponies and making friends, but that's because I'd never given it a chance. Trust me, it'll feel weird at first, but you'll warm up to it eventually."
"I sure hope your right." I stared again at the door, standing still for a while before reaching down and grabbing the door handle. "You might want to get back inside, Twilight," I said to the purple mare. "If it's okay to come out, I'll tell you."
"Right. Good luck." She waved and jumped back down, closing the zipper behind her.
When I was sure Twilight was safely inside my backpack, I turned the handle and opened the door. The evening air was lovely, a bit damp but cool and serene. I stepped outside, locked the door behind me and set off up the street. From the traffic circle, I began to follow the directions to the flower shop that Twilight and I had printed out, traversing neighborhoods and crossing road junctions as I crossed the city. Along the way, I saw people going about their normal lives as they always did, with the only difference being the hour, the hour when they closed up stores and companies and went home to their families after a day of work.
Man, do I miss it. The average life of the average person. Inside, I knew I didn't truly want to live like the masses did, but at the same time I missed the good old days when my family was all together. It seemed like so long ago now.
My thoughts eventually led to my slowing down and stopping under a streetlamp. The blub at the top flickered weakly so it cast less light then the other streetlamps. I leaned against the lamppost and put a hand against the cold metal, allowing my thoughts to consume me. I knew living in the past wasn't good for me, but sometimes I just gave in and let my heart handle it.
Twilight must have noticed me stopping because she poked me through the backpack and opened the zipper just a bit. "What's wrong now, Steven?" she called up.
"Nothing, Twilight." Knowing the risks, I reached over my shoulder and picked the purple pony out of my bag, holding her in my cupped hand. "Just thinking."
"You're always doing that," she chuckled, sitting down and wrapping her tail around her legs. "Now come on. Let's hear it."
"It's nothing you haven't heard out of me before," I began, sliding down against the lamppost until I was sitting on the sidewalk beneath it." I held Twilight close to my chest, being careful not to squash her. "Just thinking about how different my life is from everyone else."
"Mmm, that's a good thing, isn't it?" Twilight said, snuggling up against me.
"When I'm not thinking about the bad things, yeah."
"Then why dwell on the past?"
I stroked Twilight's mane with a finger, enjoying the feeling of the soft diminutive strands. "We had some good times, my family and I. Looking back hurts, but it also rejuvenates me when I think about the here and now, seeing how much they cared about me and gave me all they could."
Twilight shivered as a breeze blew through the street. She curled up in my palm and I closed my fingers over her back. "This world seems like a cold, sinister place a lot of the time," she muttered sadly. "I keep reading about catastrophes around the world, some natural disasters and others caused by humans, and I just keep wishing I knew..."
"Knew what?" I asked gently.
"Wish I knew why these things happened. Natural causes I can understand for the most, but the reason people would harm their fellow humans escapes me. Entire wars were started and rivers of blood were split, all because some person got upset for practically nothing. This kind of thing was so rare in Equestria."
"Changelings attack much?"
"Not in my lifetime. I only encountered them when they attacked Canterlot during the wedding." Twilight looked up at the flickering streetlamp. "This lamp is a good example of how I feel about it. When I'm content and my hopes are high for things, it suddenly all goes out and I can barely get back to how I was before."
The light sparked again, this time staying off for longer. "The darkness is just so cold," Twilight whispered. I had to hold her up so I could hear her. "Sometimes I just wish the lights would go back on, then I would feel better."
I stroked the shivering pony in my hand. Her tone had become so miserable it was heartbreaking. I looked around, but there was no one in sight. The streetlamp flashed back on, but as quickly as it began glowed it dimmed again, the bulb blowing out altogether and leaving the street much darker than before. It was then that I understood how Twilight felt, the example she made of the light ironically making everything clear. With one hand holding my special friend and the other flat against the metal pole, I wished as hard as I could that I could make Twilight feel better.
Then I felt it. A strange tingling in my fingers. I looked at my hands and was shocked to find them both glowing: a soft white light that emitted from my fingertips. Twilight noticed this too, and she pushed herself onto my wrist to put some distance between herself and the light. "Steven, what's going on?" she asked, her concern evident.
"I'd like to know that myself," I answered honestly. The light spread all across my hands, glowing like hundred-watt bulbs. I stood up, hoping no one was watching from their windows. Beneath my right hand, the one against the lamppost, I felt the metal grow hot. Not unbearable hot, but warmer than it should have been on this cool night. I could feel something buzzing inside the pole, causing the whole thing to vibrate. Then, all at once, the buzzing stopped and the bulb at the top began to glow with new life, giving off more light than any other lamp on the street.
Twilight and I stared up at the large bulb in awe. "What just happened?" I asked aloud.
"The bulb's working again," Twilight murmured, "but it had blown out just a minute ago. This doesn't make sense; it's scientifically impossible."
A thought struck me. I held Twilight in front of my face. "If it's not scientifically possible, then that must mean it's—"
"Magic!" Twilight finished for me. She started to pace my palm back and forth. "But I wasn't trying to cast an illuminating spell and my horn didn't light up either."
"I felt something strange in my hands when they were glowing," I informed, staring at my other hand. "Maybe that had something to do with it."
Twilight hopped up and down in my hand. "I'm telling you Steven, you've got magic! And you can use it to reactivate lightbulbs!"
"Great, I've always wanted to be a lamplighter," I muttered, remembering my high-school history lessons. Still, Twilight's enthusiastic insisting did further reinforce the possibility in my mind. After we got over the pneighmonia incident, the prospect of having magic gnawed at me whenever I was out at work. Now, after seeing a dead bulb spark back to life, things were becoming less irrational and more real. But there was still something that escaped me: how was this magic activated?
I sat there pondering and it wasn't until Twilight got up from my wristwatch did the time make itself known. "It's five minutes to seven!" she shrieked, her voice just louder than that of a kitten and six times more adorable. "We're gonna be late!"
I tightened my grip around her and leapt to my feet. "We'll discuss how it works later when we get home," I declared. "Get in the bag and hold on tight. I'll be running the rest of the way."
Twilight teleported onto the bag. "I'll do my best." She slipped inside and closed the zipper. When I was sure Twilight was ready, I shot down the street as fast as I could, leaving the streetlamp shining like the day it was installed. I ran through bright streets, up dim boulevards and across roundabouts, leaping over even the smallest crack or piece of garbage.
Finally, the flower shop came into view, by which time I was panting heavily. I checked my watch: 16:59. Not bad. Hopefully I wasn't too early, that could be embarrassing.
I looked at the flower shop. It was a smallish place with two floors. Arrangements and bouquets of flowers were visible through the glass window and as I drew closer, my nose picked up the scent of rose, jasmine and tens of other plants I couldn't recognize, but dang they smelt good together.
Twilight poked her head out of the backpack and looked over my shoulder at the store. "Looks normal," she commented, sizing the place up, which was quite a task for her. Then she took a whiff and sighed. "Oh ho ho. Now that smells good."
I nodded, taking in the fragrance. It had been a while since I'd inhaled something so sweet-smelling. I couldn't even remember the last time I did. Hopefully, this evening will be one I'll never forget. And that goes for the smell too.
"You wanna stay out here for a bit longer or should we go inside?" I asked Twilight.
My purple friend leaned out of the bag and put her head on her hooves. "It probably smells better inside. Let's go in."
Nodding again, I started towards the door of the flower shop. I looked at the 'Closed' sign hanging from the inside. "Hard to tell we're really wanted," I muttered, jabbing a thumb at the door. "This could be misleading."
"I'm sure it's just to keep out customers," Twilight suggested. "It is late for selling flowers."
"How would you know when it's late to sell flowers?"
"A guess. Most likely around the same time as everything else."
"Can't argue with you there." I peered through the see-through door, trying to find any sign of people, but all I could see was a dark interior: the dim shapes of plants in pots, a counter, gardening supplies on a shelf... and a crack of light on the floor in the corner.
"There's light in there," I said. "And where there's light, there's usually people using it."
"So.... should we knock?" Twilight asked.
"Better than shouting out to them." I raised a fist and knocked on the door, tapping the same way I did at home to tell Twilight that I was back. After a few seconds, I heard a chair screech and the sound of footsteps. The ray of light on the floor momentarily disappeared as something inside the shop moved towards the door.
"Twilight, get down," I whispered to her.
She slipped inside the backpack, holding onto the opening with a hoof to get her last words out. "Okay. Enjoy!"
"You too."
Twilight closed the backpack just as something dark, probably a person, appeared in the doorway. I could barely see it through the door, but I could tell it was a few inches taller than me. Then there was a knock from the inside and a voice called out.