Apocrypha

by Somepony New

Chapter 2

“Great,” Alex muttered, “and now I’m hallucinating.”

He placed the back of his hand against his forehead, checking for a fever. With the rain beating down on him like it was, he couldn’t really tell if he had a high temperature or not. He held his breath as he quietly watched the unicorn, his eyes attempting to blink away the creature before him.

The unicorn’s flanks were graced by the shape of a magenta colored, six-pointed star, which was set upon a second offset white star, which in turn was surrounded by five smaller stars. Her violet mane was long, fairly well maintained, and had what appeared to be bangs. Narrow strips of purple and magenta strands ran down through it, highlighting the point where her horn protruded at the very top of her forehead.

Alex instantly recognized this unicorn; for he had seen her many times before, although never outside of a screen. He wondered how she could be standing before him, as real as the ground he walked on. It was simply beyond his ability to comprehend. When he felt that his jaw was hanging open in awe, he quickly closed it.

Her violet eyes darted around, glancing back and forth at her now unfamiliar surroundings in an attempt to gain her bearings. Alex could see a great deal of distress in those eyes. He wanted to try and calm her, but decided it would be best if he kept his distance.

“H-hello.” He closed his eyes, cursing inwardly. Why was he so nervous?

The unicorn, having not noticed the man standing mere yards away in the dark, seemed to jump at the sound of his voice. Her muscles tensed as she scanned the dark street, attempting to discover the origin of the voice.

“You needn’t worry, Twilight. I won’t hurt you.” Alex tried to keep his voice in a soft, calming tone, attempting to show her that he had no ill intent. He held his hands out to the side, showing her they were empty.

The shadows were beginning to clear as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. “Hurt me? Why would anypony... wait, how do you know my name?” She stared into his eyes intently, searching for the truth to his words.

Alex paused, confused by her question. Shouldn’t she know about her own television show? What was he thinking, how could she even be real? He thought that he must have caught some illness from being out in this weather, though there was nothing that he knew of that could set in this quickly with such a drastic symptom. Just to err on the side of caution, he decided it would be best not to be rude.

“Why don’t we get out of this rain, so we can dry off and talk? My home is right over there.” He lifted a hand, pointing at a dimly lit building in the distance.

She stared at him for a moment, still unsure of his intentions, before she finally answered him. “Fine. Please hurry.”

Alex had to practically jog to keep up with Twilight’s trot. She scanned both sides of the street as she moved, clearly not wanting to be seen by anything else. He couldn’t blame her. Even if she weren’t a figment of his imagination, no one had ever seen a living unicorn before. He couldn’t begin to imagine how someone else might react if they spotted her: a real, living unicorn. He was just grateful that she had the restraint not to break into a headlong gallop. As they moved, Alex spotted her occasionally glancing back; she was making sure to keep an eye on him as well.

By the time they both made it to the house, the weather was beginning to subside. The dark clouds remained, but the rain had all but vanished. Alex fished through his pockets for his keys and unlocked the door. Twilight looked at him, perplexed by his actions, but remained silent.

“Here we are.” He pushed the door open, and motioned with his other hand for her to enter.

Alex’s home was a meager dwelling, but it contained everything that he felt he needed: a bed to sleep in, a chair to relax in, a computer to keep in touch with the outside world, and a television to occupy his restless mind. The kitchen, however, was a bit understocked since he usually ordered takeout.

Closing the door behind them, Alex removed his shoes and headed toward the bathroom. Twilight studied his actions quietly from the hallway. When he returned with two towels and offered one to her, she relaxed slightly. “Here, you can dry yourself off with this.”

She gave him a slight smile, attempting to be polite. “Thank you.” Her horn illuminated with a translucent, magenta radiance as the towel lifted from his hand.

“Would you care for something to drink?”

Twilight’s tail swished as she considered for a moment. “Yes, water please, if it isn’t too much trouble.”

“Coming right up.” Alex smiled to himself as he opened a cabinet and removed a glass. He hardly ever had visitors, so he was overjoyed to have Twilight Sparkle as a guest, even if she was simply a fevered hallucination. Reaching into the refrigerator, he removed two bottles of water and opened one of them. He set the glass on the counter in front of her, and began to fill it.

The peculiar look returned to Twilight’s face as she watched him pouring the beverage. “You... bottle your water? Strange. We normally just use a tap.” She motioned with her head toward the sink. “Similar to one of those.”

He held the drink out to her, which she again took from his hand using her magic. “Oh, water comes from our tap as well, but it is heavily chlorinated to clean contaminants.” When he opened his bottle and stole a swig, she offered him another smile of thanks and took a sip from her glass. “I thought you might prefer water that has been purified over the bitter tasting water from the sink.”

Twilight nodded her head politely, but didn’t look as if she fully understood. “Anyway, you called me by my name before. Just how exactly do you know who I am?”

Alex swallowed another mouthful of water. “Well, to be honest, I have been a fan of your show for almost a year now. You and your friends' adventures helped to make my day brighter sometimes.”

“Show? My friends? What do you mean my friends?” Her brow furrowed with confusion.

“You know, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow, Flutter–”

“You know them too? Just who and exactly what are you?” Her eyes portrayed a mixture of fear and anger.

He wondered what she could be thinking and was a little dumbfounded. She apparently did not know about the show. “My name is Alex. Alex White. As for what I am... I’m a human. A man.”

Her eyes maintained their fire, as she stared at him. “And my friends? Have you been watching us?”

“Well, y-yes.” Alex swallowed the saliva that was building in his mouth. Why was he afraid? The Twilight he knew from the show wouldn’t hurt anyone, especially if they had done nothing wrong. But this wasn’t a show. Twilight was here, standing before him in his kitchen. He wondered how, or even if he should tell her. If she didn’t know, to hear something like this from a stranger would be devastating, but he would rather not lie to her. Besides, it was already too late to back out now. It would be best if he were to clarify the situation. “But so have a large number of people; too many to count, really.”

Her horrified rage looked to be at its limit. “Show me how, now.”

“Alright.” Alex walked into the living room and turned on the television. He couldn’t imagine what he would do if he found out that millions of people had been watching stories about his life without his knowledge. How could he do this to her? He swallowed again. She wanted to know; it wasn’t his fault. He grabbed the DVR remote, selected My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - Episode One, and pushed play.

The screen darkened and then displayed an animated story book. The music started, followed by the familiar introductory voice that originally helped to draw him into the world of Equestria. He couldn’t help but smile at the fondness of the memory. When he turned to look at Twilight, he noticed that every joint in her body was locked, her muscles tense with anxiety. Her focus was consumed entirely by what she was watching and hearing from the screen. Alex’s smile of joy quickly evaporated.

They both stood in silence for the duration of the episode. Her eyes never once wavered from the screen; his, occasionally glancing back at her, trying to spot a reaction. There was none. When the ending credits were rolling, she finally broke eye contact with the screen.

“Is there more?” Her words were completely flat. There was no emotion in her voice; no tone.

Alex slowly nodded his head. “Yes, much more. I have all of the first season, but I am missing the second.” His eyes were glued to the floor, unable to look her in the eyes.

For the first time in his life, he felt ashamed for watching the show, and not for the reasons that were normally associated with it. He never cared what other people thought about his preferences, but now he began to think that he had been spying on the lives of these ponies without their knowledge. He started to feel sick.

“Play them. All of them.”

Alex couldn’t look at her. He simply nodded and pressed another button. “You can sit here and watch them all, Twilight. They will all play, one after another.” Her gaze immediately returned to the screen expectantly.

Once the credits had finished, the second episode began to play. He couldn’t bear to watch them with her. His clothes were still damp, and he was tired from his walk home, but only now did he suddenly feel the need to shower. “I think I am going to go clean off and...” She didn’t seem to hear him. She was completely focused on the television screen.

Alex walked down the hallway to his room and closed the door. Grabbing a change of clothes, he headed to the shower. He needed to think, and he tended to think a lot when he was in the shower. Besides, he wanted to get out of his wet clothes. Twilight really had no clue this show was taking place. He began to wonder how it was made, where the ideas and storyboards came from. While the show was animated, and the Twilight standing in his living room was certainly not, too many of the features were exact: the size and placement of her horn, her cutie mark, her mane, and even the color of her coat. It was too much of a coincidence.

He finished showering and changed, but he still felt very dirty. He returned to the living room to check if Twilight was still there. She hadn’t moved from the rigid, uncomfortable looking position he had left her in.

“You can sit or lie down anywhere you like, Twilight.” She didn’t even acknowledge him. On the screen, Twilight and her five friends that made up the Elements of Harmony were activating the Elements for the first time. This was probably the first time Twilight had been able to witness from an outsider’s perspective exactly what happened when the Elements were called upon. Alex began to feel awkward again; he didn’t want to watch this with her. “I think I am going to head to bed. You are welcome to stay and watch. I have a guest room down the hall and...” His words were lost on her, her attention consumed by what she was watching. “Well... goodnight.”

Alex retreated to his bedroom once more, and climbed into bed. He was exhausted from the walk and his day at work. The events of the past week suddenly seemed all too inconsequential. Both his worlds, real and fantasy, were colliding in the form of Twilight Sparkle, who currently stood in his living room, watching a show about herself that she did not know existed. He was either having a mental breakdown or was incredibly sick. Those were the only things that made any sense. Either that, or everything that he had ever known was a lie, and he had a great deal of reevaluating to consider.

---

Moonlight still poured across his bed through the bedroom window, when Alex finally woke. He mused to himself that it all must have been a dream. That everything that had occurred from the night before had just been the stress from the past week and his imagination playing a mean trick on him. The thought was quickly shattered when he heard what sounded like muffled whimpering coming from the living room.

Alex quickly rose from his bed and threw on a nightshirt. He opened his bedroom door and made way for the living room. Twilight lay on the floor in front of the television, tears in her eyes, barely managing to hold back a tsunami of emotion. The very sight of it crushed his heart. He couldn’t bear to see her cry. He swallowed back his sorrow, working up the courage to speak.

“I am so sorry, Twilight. I had no idea.” She looked up at him, her eyes red from her quiet sobbing. “I should have known... I am so sorry.” At that moment, Alex hated himself. Of all the bronies in the world, he was the one responsible for making Twilight Sparkle cry.

“It’s not your fault.” she whispered. “There’s no way you could have known.” She took a deep breath, slowly rising to her hooves. As she stood, her entire presence altered. Her muscles tensed, almost as if she were ready to strike at some invisible foe. The fires of rage filled her eyes. “This is... unforgivable. I’ll kill her.”

Alex’s mouth dropped. Never before had he imagined he would ever hear those words come out of the mouth of Twilight Sparkle, let alone any pony from Equestria. “Twilight, you can’t mean that. Don’t ever say anything like that again!”

Her rage was immediately doused by his tone and replaced by the overwhelming sorrow once more. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. It’s just... I’ve never felt so betrayed in my entire life.” She couldn’t hold her tears back any longer.

Alex was almost brought to tears himself. He didn’t like to see anyone cry; be it pony or human, it mattered not. “It’s okay, Twilight. It’s okay. I understand, but no one should ever say something like that, especially you.” He grabbed a box of tissues from a nearby shelf and removed a few. “Please, dry your eyes and we can talk about it.”

She took the tissue from his hand before lowering her body back to the floor once more, apparently too exhausted to continue standing.

Alex could see from the television that she had watched every remaining episode he had recorded, the rest of the entire first season, while he slept. He sat down on the floor in front of her, his mind toiling with the idea that Twilight and her friends were real and that everyone who had watched the show had been spying on them. He pushed that sickening thought back and waited quietly until she was finally ready to talk.

Author's Note:

Pre-read by: NotSoSubtle, FrontSevens

Comments

[Dusty Sage]

I wouldn't want to be the object of Twilight's wrath right about now.