Duct Tape
Changelings. They steal the life of the one you love, deceiving everypony, including the one who swore she would always know if the one she fell in love with was truly who her heart yearned for.
My heart is a changeling. It turns into things so subtly, I don't notice. It guides me in the wrong direction, deceiving me, telling me what can't possibly be true.
And I believe it.
They call me crazy, but I'm not! Nopony is truly crazy. We all have our quirks, the things that make us us.
Mine happens to seem insane to the common pony.
Another one, the news reports. I sit down, my cloaking off, hoping to prove to myself that the pony I am is not lost to me. Another Unicorn decided to kill himself with an explosion, taking five others with him as well.
I sank lower into my chair. Where? Why?
Sometimes I wish I'd chosen to disguise myself as a Pegasus, instead.
But even Pegasi do these things. These horrible, horrible, things.
I sighed. But at least in times like these, I always knew I could smile.
I went to bed early that night. Same old bed, same old room.
But when I woke up, I was not there anymore.
Where am I? I asked. I looked around, panicked.
Hello, sister. I heard. A pony stood in front of me, eyes brimming with some unknown emotion.
You’re dead, I said flatly, in disbelief. You can’t be here. You’re dead. You were killed by-
The stallion you loved? she asked, face hardening. Yes. He did this. He took away not one, but two ponies you loved.
You’re dead, I repeated. This can’t be happening. You’re dead.
Yes, I am dead! she cried, seething in anger. I am dead, and you are alone, all because of him!
I’m not alone, I shot back. Why was I arguing with my sister? She was dead. And she was standing right here in front of me. Why didn’t I just let it go and get one last chance to speak with her? I have friends.
She laughed bitterly. Friends? she mocked. Friends who left you along after your SISTER died?
I needed to be alone! I protested. They knew that.
No you didn’t! You needed comfort, you needed a shoulder to cry on. But nooooo, my sister is ever accepting. In fact, you accepted that I’m DEAD! You don’t seem to care. You never even cried. You are broken, sister.
I AM NOT BROKEN! I screamed. I lowered my voice. I am not broken. Besides, even if I was, I used my magic to shatter a piece of pottery, things that are broken can be fixed. I lit my horn again and put it back together.
You are shattered. You tried to put your pieces back together, but duct tape is not enough. There are still cracks in you. There are still cracks in your heart.
Shut up! I cried, trying to keep the tears from falling. I am fine! I’m just fine! I am not broken, I am not cracked!
You are so BLIND! she yelled. You think if you just TELL yourself things are okay, they WILL be. But that’s NOT how things WORK! You live in a FANTASY, sister. A FANTASY where you are HAPPY and everything is OKAY! There were tears in her eyes as well.
SHUT UP! Shutupshutupshutupshut UP! How can you- don’t you see- CAN’T you see that I am FINE?
You’re broken, she repeated. So broken you think these things don’t bother you anymore. That they CAN’T bother you anymore. But they can. And they do.
I wanted to scream. I wanted to kick something. And most of all, I wanted to cry.
But no. I did not cry. I was fine. I was great. I was fine.
Really.
And that’s what I told her. I’m FINE, I said, my voice turning into a hiss. I am GREAT. I am HAPPY.
So what? Those tears in your eyes are tears of joy? You’re happy I’m dead, glad to be rid of me, and sooooo excited that we are ARGUING?
NO! That’s NOT what I MEANT! I meant that life is good. WAS good, until you came and RUINED it! The tears were falling now, for both of us. I am NOT BROKEN, no matter WHAT you say!
But I wasn’t the one who said it this time, she pointed out. You were. You were the one who brought that back up. Sister, you are the one who’s deceiving yourself!
I am NOT deceiving myself, I cried. I really AM happy. I really AM not broken.
She didn’t say anything, but she looked angry.
Life is good, I continued. Awesome. Nothing to worry about. Today was great. In fact, I-
You what? You stared at the news, finding out about yet ANOTHER explosion?
I feel like I’M going to explode, I muttered.
You found out another six ponies died, and you didn’t care? You sat there blankly?
I sat there wishing I could help, okay? I cried.
Is that the truth? Or is that yet another lie you’ve told yourself?
I’m not a liar! I responded, seething.
Of course not, she responded. You don’t lie to your friends, only to yourself.
We were both shaking in anger by now. I couldn’t help but think, this pony is my sister?
No, this pony was NOT my sister. My sister was dead. She had been killed in a magical explosion, along with twelve other ponies. She was not really here.
You’re not really here, I said.
At my realization, there was no flash of light or puff of smoke. I merely realized the Alicorn in front of me was not my twin sister, but my reflection.
I realized I’d been trying to tell myself that I WAS broken, and that it was okay to cry about my loss.
And I was crying. Before it was from anger, but now it was out of despair.
I said the spell that would hide my wings, make me look like a Unicorn.
Even though I looked ready to take on the world - other than my red eyes – I was not. I needed to take time to grieve.
My changeling heart, telling me everything was okay, to put on a smile and be done with it. No, I had learned I could not duct tape myself together.
No more duct tape. It was time to accept I was broken.
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- superpony55 · 1.2k words · 119 5 · 2.6k views
- superpony55 · 1.5k words · 21 3 · 828 views
- superpony55 · 1k words · 43 0 · 1k views
- superpony55 · 1.2k words · 11 1 · 363 views
- superpony55 · 1.1k words · 181 2 · 9.9k views
- superpony55 · 1.3k words · 215 10 · 4.3k views
- superpony55 · 4k words · 15 0 · 832 views
- superpony55 · 1.1k words · 76 4 · 1.9k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.126 seconds
Total duration
1,089 users online
2,487,866 hits today, 2,814,898 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Yes.
Interesting. Good job.
5205628
Yes what?
5205633
Thanks.
5205643 You have made me think, ponder, and question. In my book that means a success. Yes. This is a story worth telling.
5205656
Wow. Thank you.
That's a huge compliment.
5205643
You're quite welcome.
Excellent story, Super. I felt as though it was just the right length, managing to deliver some pretty intense feels without overstaying its welcome, or coming across as pretentious. Short, punchy, mysterious, and best of all, the first entry to the OC Life Stories contest! I'd love to learn more about this OC and the grimly relatable world in which they exist. And the ending really brought it all together, like duct tape, but it sure as heck wasn't broken. It stuck.
Good luck in the contest, by the way!
- Lemon (The Story Squeezer)
5205832
Thank you!
Very interesting. Vague, but interesting.
5205628
Can I have a link to the picture you used for your avatar please?
5205964
Thanks for reading!
Just sayin' that there's not a single quotation mark... Am I just being stupid and this is some weird grammar thing?
5206158
Speaking is in italics, instead of quotation marks.
Thanks for reading!
5206223 :P Sorry, I'm not great with grammar, I was wondering if replacing it with italics was grammatically correct, I didn't mean to say it as in there was no way to tell who was speaking xD
5206335
Oh, okay.
A changeling with voices in her head. A surprisingly interesting concept. I hope that you decide to do more with this in the future.
5213082
Thanks! Though she's not actually a changeling. I think I will use her again.
...Now to think of a name for the character...
niiice!
I very much enjoyed the conflict between the different aspects of herself.
Well done!
5223149
Thanks!
AWESOME!!!
So far you are in the lead (seeing as how you are the only one who submitted so far... *sigh*
5226226
I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Hopefully someone else submits before the deadline. I'd hate to be the only one!
5226864 Yeah... It would stink to have you be the only one to submit... Deadline is end of November anyway so... On the plus side, you are so close to a virtual backrub and feature in the group!
5227946
So sorry for such a late, late, really late response to this, Twilight!
Anyways, I think this is really nice, only... I almost cannot see where this would be Celestia.
I wasn't lost while reading the story, just trying to put pieces together... The end was a fair wrap-up, though.
I a glad I finally understood at the end - although, as I said, I wasn't lost... just trying to figure things out. A few of the pieces don't seem to fit the puzzle in my head, though; - excess parts of the story; the stallion, the exploding ponies... Huh. Maybe I have to reread it.
But over all it was a good story, can't say I don't like it.
5403785
Oh - this isn't about Celestia, it's about an OC. In the sequel the explosions will probably be cleared up a bit.
Thanks for reading!
5404536 Oh... sorry.
5404820
It's okay.
5404982 Yeah...
5405555