The Darkest Time is Just Before Dawn

by bookhorse125

Now What Do I Do With All These Strawberries?

Funny how you can spin a story to fit what you want if you have enough influence to make it sound logical.

For instance, that unicorn that everyone saw? A freak accident. Some crazy person (a.k.a. me) was building a unicorn robot that was so lifelike and had such an advanced artificial intelligence chip that it decided to go out and explore the world after a freak malfunction. This crazy person went to go track down his unicorn robot before it could destroy the whole world with the laser beams it shot from its horn, and the police who had stopped him from getting this out-of-control robot were kind of idiots, and so the crazy man was bailed out of prison by a generous benefactor (a.k.a. Lissa), and he was left with nothing but some DVDs, a broken unicorn robot, and a whole bunch of strawberries to remind him of the experience.

I finished binge-watching the whole series again, and the moment Luster Dawn came onscreen in The Last Problem, my eyes started tearing up. I still couldn't believe she was gone. Our whole adventure had been reduced to nothing but a crazy guy chasing a robot.

All in all, I was still impressed Lissa managed to pull that off. But she hurried out into the streets where the press was gathered around the Bean and started screaming that she had seen an insane man chasing after a malfunctioning unicorn robot to protect the world. The press ate up her every word as she went farther and farther into crazy details that never actually happened. Lissa reminded me that, if a rumor was more interesting than the truth, people will act like the rumor is the truth.

I was now regarded by society as a madman, but it was okay, because I got plenty of space at the grocery store, and only Gill would provide me with any service. But it was okay. I told Gill the truth about what happened, and he seemed to pity me. He offered to lend me some money until I could get a job, or put in a good word for me if I wanted to work there with him, to which I accepted. I start restocking the shelves on Monday, and I'll finally be able to get some more income.

Someone knocked on the door. I went through my usual hide-everything-pony-under-my-bed routine and opened the door to find Lissa standing on the porch.

Holding a box of strawberries.

"Lissa?" I asked. "What are you doing here?"

She held up the box of strawberries, and I noticed that there was a tag attached to it. It fluttered in the breeze, and I couldn't see it properly, but I had a feeling of what was on it.

"Come inside," I decided.

The tag had a picture of a sun setting across a stretch of water, and I immediately recognized it. "That's Luster Dawn's cutie mark," I said, fingering the tiny card between my fingers.

"What?" Lissa asked, confused. I reminded myself that, while she was more open to things that were pony-related, she didn't know everything about the world with which we had just interfered.

"Sorry," I said. "A cutie mark is a mark on a pony's flank that represents their special talent and their destiny. They're usually always metaphorical, and the symbols usually mean more than meets the eye. Like, for instance, Luster Dawn is the protege of Twilight Sparkle, the ruler of Equestria, which means that when Twilight retires, Luster will probably take over. Her cutie mark is a rising sun, like at dawn, which means that, when Equestria sees dark times, she'll help bring the light of friendship back to the land."

Lissa blinked. "I'm just going to take your word for it. Um, do you have anything... pony here? Like, what did Luster find that made her run off like that?"

I opened the card and read what was inside out loud: "Dear Chardy and Lissa, thank you for helping me get back home, and thank you for the adventures we've had. As soon as I returned to Equestria, I remembered everything, but I miss your world. Maybe I can find a way back. In the meantime, here's something to compensate for everything I ate."

"Chardy," Lissa said softly, putting a hand on my shoulder. "You didn't answer my question."

I sighed. It was only a matter of time before Lissa found out about my pony stash, just like it had only been a matter of time before she found out about my pony obsession. I led her into my room and slid the mattress off my bed. My fingers thumbed the word pony into the lock, and opened the lid. Lissa came next to me and let out a soft sound of surprise as she stood next to me.

"Chardy..." She picked up the DVD for Season 1 and studied the cover. "I'm still kind of hurt that you didn't tell me."

"I was embarrassed, I guess," I said, rubbing the back of my neck. "I didn't really want you to know because I thought you would make fun of me. But... yeah, I should have told you. I'm sorry."

"I would never make fun of you," Lissa said passionately, taking my hand. "You could show up to a formal dinner in a Cinderella costume and I wouldn't make fun of you." She leaned her head against my shoulder. "You know why?"

"Because you love me?"

"Because I love you." Lissa gave me a kiss and walked back towards the living room with my DVD.

"Wait!" I said. "Where are you going?"

Lissa held up Season 1. "To watch this," she said, like it was obvious.

I blinked, shocked. My girlfriend, who a few days ago I thought would have publicly shamed me and broken up with me because I liked My Little Pony was now completely willing to give it a fair shot. I didn't know what to think. "W-what?" I stammered.

"I think I've been judging this show pretty unfairly," Lissa struggled to admit. She never liked to say that she was wrong. "I thought it would be boring and childish and lame. But I trust you, and if you like this show, then I think that means it must have at least some redeeming qualities. So... I don't know. After our little adventure, I saw that Luster was a decent character, and that this Equestria has some pretty good lore and story behind it. So... I think I'll give it a shot. You coming?"

I nodded and closed the lid on my bed safe while Lissa got the DVD set up. I took the box of strawberries that Luster had sent us and washed them in the sink. I didn't know where those had been. What if there were some kind of Equestrian sickness in the void that things went into when they were teleported? I popped one into my mouth and felt a smile curling at my lips. They were better than any Gill could have sold me.

"Chardy!" Lissa called from the living room. "You coming or what?"

"Just a sec!" I called back. I dumped the strawberries into a plastic bowl and carried them into the living room and snuggled next to Lissa on the couch as the first episode began to play.

"Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria..."

Author's Note:

Sorry this took me so long to finish!

Constructive criticism is appreciated. Thank you for reading!

Comments

[Pete100]

All in all, I was still impressed Lissa managed to pull that off. But she hurried out into the streets where the press was gathered around the Bean and started screaming that she had seen an insane man chasing after a malfunctioning unicorn robot to protect the world. The press ate up her every word as she went farther and farther into crazy details that never actually happened. Lissa reminded me that, if a rumor was more interesting than the truth, people will act like the rumor is the truth.

The sad truth about reality.

"I think I've been judging this show pretty unfairly," Lissa struggled to admit. She never liked to say that she was wrong. "I thought it would be boring and childish and lame. But I trust you, and if you like this show, then I think that means it must have at least some redeeming qualities. So... I don't know. After our little adventure, I saw that Luster was a decent character, and that this Equestria has some pretty good lore and story behind it. So... I think I'll give it a shot. You coming?"

This is the soulmate that everyone needs.

[MatTheBook]

10799405
It was ok, but I really want this story to be longer and a better apology scene