//------------------------------// // What the Heart Wants // Story: New World, New Beginning // by Speven Dillberg //------------------------------// God god god god god! What the hell!? This world was great! It was peaceful! It was carefree! Now all this crap! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRGHHH! “Justin!” Rainbow slammed her hoof against the door repeatedly, threatening to smash a hole into it. “Rainbow? What are you doing here?” Twilight stood at the door to the library, staring at the pegasus mare, confused. “It’s not like you to read.” “I need to talk to Justin,” Rainbow replied. “Do you know what’s wrong with him?” Twilight asked. “He came in here, yelling something about memory erasure spells and getting a psychiatrist.” “Just let me talk to him,” the pegasus replied. “It’s kinda urgent.” “All right then,” Twilight replied warily. As soon as she stepped clear Rainbow flew at top speed for the stairs, the wind from her passing sending papers flying everywhere. Ignoring the angry yells from below, Rainbow landed lightly in front of the door and knocked. “Unless you’re going to erase the last two hours of my memory, go away!” a muffled yell replied. Rainbow Dash slowly pushed open the door and peaked into the room. “Justin? Are you okay?” Justin was lying on the bed face-down, pressing a pillow down to try and shut out the world. “Oh great,” his muffled reply came, “now you’re here to play out your messed-up fantasies.” Rainbow ignored that and approached the bed. “Can we talk?” There was no reply, so she went on. “I want to say sorry.” “Why?” Justin asked. “Why deny what the heart wants?” he asked sarcastically. “Why deprive yourself of what your body desires?” “I shouldn’t think of anypony like that.” “Last I checked, I wasn’t a pony,” came the muffled reply. Rainbow rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.” She sighed. “It’s just... I never felt this way about anypony before.” This was enough to make Justin pull the pillow off his head and look at the mare. “Really?” he asked, disbelieving. “Yeah. I mean, I’ve had crushes, and one night stands,” she said, waving a hoof. “These feelings are different, though. Around you, I feel kinda... relaxed I guess.” Justin rolled over and sat up. “Everypony I’ve dated before was a jerk. They just wanted to sleep with me. They didn’t want anything else.” Rainbow chuckled. “I guess that’s what I get for dating ponies dumber than me, huh? Can’t believe there were so many of them,” she said, turning her eyes to the ceiling. “Rainbow,” Justin said hesitantly. “You’re not stupid. You don’t think before doing things, yeah, but we all do that.” “Yeah,” Rainbow replied bitterly, “I just don’t think anypony else has stuck their hoof in their mouth as much as I have.” Justin didn’t really have much of an answer to that, so instead he sighed and looked at the pegasus. “I shouldn’t have gotten so angry, Dash. It’s just...” “Just what?” Her ears had perked up and her curiosity was piqued. “We’re completely different species. It would never work. Even if something happened, it’d just end in tears.” Justin didn’t really believe everything he was saying, but he didn’t really have to. I just need to convince her, he thought. “Hey, I know for a fact that Gilda dated a pegasus a few years back,” Rainbow replied. “Gilda?” Justin asked. “Oh, right, you don’t know her. She’s a griffon.” Rainbow jumped onto the bed and lay down on it. “Don’t griffons eat ponies?” Justin asked. “Some of the wilder tribes, yeah. But the rest are civilised enough,” she replied with a hoof-wave. “Doesn’t stop them from being insensitive possessive jerks,” she muttered. Justin raised an eyebrow but decided to ignore that. “It’s different for me, though. Pegasi have always been, well... mythical. And even then they were just animals.” “Wait,” Rainbow said, raising a hoof. “You mean we’re just animals to you?” “No! No!” He could tell that she was getting ready to give him a beating. “It’s just... it’s hard for me to get around what you look like.” He put his head in his hands and groaned. “I’m not explaining myself properly, am I?” “Justin,” Rainbow said solemnly, “just tell me. Do you like me?” “I like you a lot! You’re fun, you know how to have a laugh, you...” Justin chuckled at what he was about to say. “You’re the most beautiful pony I know.” “Really?” Rainbow asked, a little shocked by what he said. “Yeah,” he answered sadly. “And that’s the problem. You’re a pony.” He sighed as he began to look at the ground. “If you were a human, or if I was a pony, then maybe, y’know? Maybe.” Rainbow looked at her hooves. “Maybe... maybe Twilight knows a spell. Maybe she can turn me into a human!” Her eyes were shining with optimism at the idea. “Rainbow, humans don’t have wings. You wouldn’t be able to fly anymore.” Justin absently began to stroke one of them, getting a feel for how each feather felt. “I’m not worth giving that much to anyone. And I don’t plan on giving up my humanity any time soon.” Rainbow looked at the ground. “So... what?” “We just have to deal with it, I guess.” Justin wiped away a tear he hadn’t meant to shed. “Not like we can do anything else, really.” Rainbow stood up and spread her wings, ready to take flight. Before she did, she turned to Justin and lightly kissed him on the cheek. She hovered over to the nearby window and pushed it open. “See ya later, Justin.” “Rainbow,” he said. The mare turned to him, doing her best to not get her hopes up. “I’m sorry.” She didn’t answer, instead flying away into the darkening sky towards her cloud home. She hoped that she had taken flight before he could see her tears. Justin couldn’t get to sleep easily that night. Unlike the previous nights, the reason was different. He looked up at the night sky, watching the skies in an attempt to get his mind elsewhere. Yet no matter what, he kept finding himself thinking about a certain technicolour mare. He thought back to what he had said. It had been selfish, self-serving. It had been wrong. “What was I thinking?” he asked to no-one. “I’m such an idiot.” He continued to watch the sky for some time. He thought back to his meeting with the princess. She had said that her sister Luna was in charge of the night sky and the hours the moon was visible. A thought crossed his mind. “Princess Luna? Can you hear me?” He felt like a child for doing that, but it made him feel a little better. Some time later, he saw a shooting star. He took a look around, making sure he was alone. ”I wish I could fly with Rainbow Dash,” he whispered. “I wish...” He bit his lip. “I wish I was a pony.” Rainbow couldn’t sleep. She had spent hours tossing and turning. She had weather duty in the morning, and was close to losing her pay for the week if she slept in again. She gave up and decided it would be better to look at the night sky. She wasn’t one for stargazing, but with rest eluding her she didn’t have many other options. The moon was bright enough to illuminate most of Ponyville. The stars shone like the jewels Rarity used on her dresses. It was a beautiful sight. Yet all she could think about was the human who refused to let her into his heart. She could understand his reasoning, but that didn’t stop the pain. It didn’t make it any easier to accept it. She wasn’t outside for long, heading back inside to escape the night chill. She failed to notice the shooting star streaking across the sky. As she lay down on her bed and succumbed to her exhaustion, she muttered, “I wish he was a pony.” Twilight Sparkle wasn’t surprised when Justin woke up late the next morning. In truth, she was a little surprised that he woke up as early as he did. At around ten she could hear him yawning in the room she had set aside for him. She heard a loud thud and guessed that he had fallen out of the bed and onto the floor. The muffled “Ow” she heard moments later confirmed her assumption. What she hadn’t expected was a blood-curdling scream and what sounded like scrabbling hooves. She rushed up to his room and used her magic to fling the door open. She was greeted by a tangle of blankets on the floor and the sounds of Justin struggling to extricate himself. She used her telekinesis and the blanket was bathed in a violet glow as the whole thing was pulled into the air. She had expected Justin to come tumbling out but instead was greeted by a blue-grey pegasus stallion. “Who are you?” “Did you do this to me?” the stallion asked, sounding hysterical. “Did you do this to me!?” “Twilight, what’s with all the noise?” Spike had appeared at the door and was looking at the scene within in confusion. “Who’s he?” The stallion got onto his hooves unsteadily, as though he wasn’t used to them. He lost his balance and wound up lying on his stomach. He looked up at the unicorn, fury burning in his green eyes. “Twilight, what made you think it would be a good idea to turn me into a pony?” he asked. “Turn you into a...?” Her eyes widened in shock when she realised who she was talking to. “Justin? Is that you?” “No, I’m Big Macintosh,” Justin replied sarcastically. “Of course it’s me!” He tried to stand up again and had to use his bed for support. “I’ll ask you again: Did you do this to me?” “N-no! The amount of magic needed to change a living organism into a different one is incredible, and the power needed increases exponentially the heavier the target is,” Twilight explained. “The best I could do is turn a cat into a rabbit.” Justin blinked. “So... who could have done this, then?” “Off the top of my head, the only ponies that could have done this are the princesses,” Twilight answered. “The princesses...” Justin face-hoofed and lost his balance again. “So she was listening,” he muttered from the floor. “Huh?” Justin turned to the confused mare. “Last night, I saw a shooting star. I made a wish.” “You made a wish?” Twilight asked, shocked. “And it was granted?” “I didn’t think anything would happen.” Justin made to stand up again but ended up with his rump sticking up in the air. “Little help?” No ending thoughts from Justin this time, folks.