Imagine you were walking home after the worst day of your life, when a pony of all things jumps out, knocks you unconscious, then demands refuge. It can happen.
Just imagine that you were walking home after the worst day of your life, minding your own business, when a pony of all things jumps out, knocks you unconscious, then demands refuge.
Well...it can happen.
(For the record, this all happens between the end of Season 2 and the start of Season 3, if anyone wanted to know...)
My life. Not particually exciting. I wake up. I get out of bed. I walk to the bathroom. I brush my teeth, have a shower, leave the bathroom. I put my uniform on. I leave the house. I go to school. I finish school. I go home. I sleep. Day in and day out, that is my life. No excitement whatsoever.
When I was younger, I always used to see the stars when they came out at night from my bedroom window. I would look up at them, and I would wish - wish for excitement, for adventure, for a meaning for my boring life. Little did I know that that saying was right:
"Be careful what you wish for...because it might just come true."
BEEP BEEP BEEP
"Stupid alarm clock," I thought. I rolled over, pulled my arm out from underneath my quilt, and threw it in the direction of the noise. I picked up the clock to check the time.
"5.00! Remind me again why I have to wake up so early?" I exclaimed. No one replied of course, due to the fact that everyone else was fast asleep.
I got up, and started walking grudgingly to the bathroom. In my sleepy daze, I managed to at least do everything I needed to do - have a shower, brush my teeth - without anything bad happening.
Annoyingly, today was the day that I had to walk to school. I suppose you think 'it's just walking to school - it's not that bad', except my school is about 3 and a half miles away. And it was about 6 in the morning. So, I hoped that it would be a typical July day, and that the sun would actually be around. But of course, the typical British weather took charge and it was pouring.
On days like these, I'm just thankful that I have my i-Pod. Listening to music really cheers me up, even when the day really sucks.
The journey was normal, but that was to be expected. It was only when I got to London Road that things started to change. I was grumpy - as anyone would be - and I wasn't really paying attention to my surroundings. Why would I really? I had walked down that road about a billion times before - it wasn't like I was still marvelling at all the little newsagents and insurance places and stuff like that. No, I wanted to get to school as quickly as possible, without getting mugged, raped, hit by a car, or killed.
I had just walked past one of the alleyways when I saw a flash. A purple flash, reflected by the rain on the pavement. I stopped, and turned around. Nothing. I took a few steps back and looked down the alley.
Nothing.
I sighed and carried on walking. "Great, I'm seeing things now," I muttered to myself. "Can this day get any worse?"
And, of course, because I am myself and this kind of stuff just decides to happen on a daily occasion, a truck decided to drive past me right then and there. Now, trucks plus the English weather plus me always equals big splash, which ends with me soaked. And of course, today was no exception. The wave came and hit me, surprising me momentarily, soaking me from head to toe. I stood there, my horrible green uniform clinging to me, my bag filled with roadwater, and every single part of me dripping. I spat out the water that got into my mouth, shook my hands and looked back towards the road. The truck was speeding off up the road, and even though there was probably no way the driver could have heard me, I still shouted out, "THANK YOU VERY MUCH, YOU STUPID BASTARD!"
"Well, there's no point in this stupid thing," I said, putting the umbrella down.
This was not going to be a great day.
***
"Grace?" a voice said as I trudged into the classroom, still dripping. I looked to my left - a girl with long, light brown hair stood behind a desk, her mouth hanging open. "What the hell happened to you?"
"Hi Lydia," I said, sighing.
Lydia walked right up to me. "Was it another bus?"
I shook my head. "Truck."
"Figures. Do you have spare clothes?"
"Lydia, this is the 3rd time this has happened to me. Of course I have spare clothes," I said, dumping my soaking wet bag on the floor by my desk and walking back towards the door, on my way to the locker room.
"Well, I just want to make sure! I'll see you when you're changed," Lydia shouted.
As soon as Lydia's head popped back into the classroom, I immediately started sprinting down the corridor towards the locker room.
"I hope I have spare clothes..." I thought, as I ran.
Once I got to the locker, praying that the stupid person I am had accidentally left some clothes from past days in my locker for me to use now, I closed my eyes and opened my locker.
"Oh," I said, staring inside.
It turned out that Stupid Grace had accidentally left some clothes in her locker - these clothes were a hoodie that was way too small, and some pyjama bottoms that I left at someone's house when I went there for a sleepover.
"Well, at least there's something. And it's dry," I said, taking them out of my locker.
As I walked back to the classroom, I saw Lydia's head pop out of the door frame, as soon as she heard my footsteps. I saw the smile on her face disappear as she recognised exactly what I was wearing.
"Really, Grace? 'I have spare clothes'?"
"Look, they are clothes, and they are spare."
"They - you know what? I'm not even going to argue with you," she said, turning away and walking over to her desk. I walked over to mine, pulling the hoodie down a bit before sitting. It was going to be a long day.
***
School is never really a nice experience for me. I'm not popular, I'm not smart, I'm not sporty. I am the weird one who sits in the corner who watches My Little Pony. I am the nerd, and no one had ever let me forget that. Don't get me wrong - I don't get bullied. It's just that most people hate me. Well, hate is a bit strong. They really dislike me.
So today, with me being even more out of place than usual, I did attract some unwanted attention.
"What's up with your clothes, Brace Grace?"
I turned around to find Bella standing behind me, looking at my clothes with a smirk on her face. I quickly turned around, and started walking off. Bella has never liked me, and I don't expect that she ever will, and I try to avoid all contact with her. And today of all days, I really did not need any trouble from anyone.
But of course, she followed me.
"I mean, I know you really have no fashion sense, but this is bad - even for you."
I still just kept walking on, trying my very best not to reply, or react in any way. I was doing great, until she grabbed my arm, turning me towards her, throwing my bag to the floor.
"Don't ignore me when I'm talking to you!" Her hand was like a claw on my arm, squeezing it until I winced in pain.
I grabbed her hand, and pinched it until she let go, and once she had done that, I shouted, "Don't you dare touch me!" pushing her away from me. She stepped back, as I pushed her, and fell right into the corridor wall.
"GRACE BLACKWOOD!" I heard. I turned to find Mrs McFarland marching down the corridor towards me, with a seething look on her face.
"Oh, shit," I said, quietly to myself. I had a history with Mrs McFarland - it was pretty obvious that she didn't like me and, in return, I hated her. She was my history teacher for the first two years of secondary school (she was old enough to be speaking from experience whenever she taught)- luckily, she went on sick leave for my third year, and I gave up the subject for fourth and fifth. She has always been picking on me for things that other teachers wouldn't even notice - "Grace Blackwood, your heel is too high! Change them by tomorrow or I'll be sending a letter home!" or "Grace Blackwood! Young ladies walk down corridors, not skip! If I catch you again, it'll mean detention!" Yes, she actually told me off for skipping. But of course, that isn't the whole story. Bella is a favourite of Mrs McFarland - she adores her (not sure why). So, there was absolutely no way she was going to be civil about this. Of all the teachers to have seen this, it had to have been her.
It didn't take her long to get to where I was standing. She immediately went over to Bella, and asked gently, "Oh, dearie. Are you ok?" Bella put her 'trying to be brave' face on, and nodded. As Mrs McFarland turned to face me, I could see her smirking behind her.
"Miss Blackwood," Mrs McFarland started, her nostrils flaring and her eyes wide with anger. "Before I ask you why you are not dressed to uniform regulations, care to explain what happened between you and Bella?"
"It - it wasn't my fault! She grabbed me, and I pushed her off me! It was self defence, if anything!"
Mrs McFarland looked at me down her nose for a while, then turned back to Bella. "Is this true?" she asked.
Bella shook her head, a tear trailing down her cheek. "No! I was asking Grace why she wasn't wearing her uniform - I didn't want her to get into trouble or anything - when she just flipped out and rammed me into the wall!"
"What?!" I exclaimed. Mrs McFarland turned towards me, one eyebrow raised. "She grabbed me first. Right there!" I said, pointing to my upper right arm. "There's probably a mark there!"
"Well, show me this so-called mark then."
I immediately started rolling up my sleeve, to find that I couldn't even roll it up to my elbow, on account of the hoodie being too small. I froze. There was no way Mrs McFarland would believe me without seeing my arm, and there was no way I could show her the arm without taking my hoodie off, which I was not about to do in the middle of a corridor and, with Mrs McFarland being Mrs McFarland, she would refuse for me to go into a unused classroom or the locker room and take it off there.
"I...can't."
"As I thought." Mrs McFarland stood there with her arms crossed. "You know what I hate even more than students who brutally harm other students? Liars. I'm afraid this is rather serious, and will require more than just a warning."
I opened my mouth to protest, but she shushed me. "Do not interrupt me while I'm talking! You will come to Room 5 tomorrow after school for your detention, and a letter will be sent home to your parents."
"What?! Detention? But I didn't do anything!"
"4 o'clock sharp tomorrow. If you are late, don't expect me to be merciful." And with that, she walked away. I stood staring at her back until it disappeared around the corner. I turned to Bella and found her leaning against the wall, her arms crossed in front of her, with another stupid smirk on her stupid face.
"I guess that's what happens when you cross me. See ya, Gracey."
"Fuck you, bitch," I said, picking up my bag and walking to class.
***
"She did what?" Lydia exclaimed. Half the lunch room seemed to stop and take a moment to stare at us.
"Lydia," I said. "Quiet." We were sitting in the lunch room, when I decided to tell her about the events this morning.
"I'm sorry, but Mrs McFarland was definitely out of order. Pushing someone in the corridor is no reason to get a detention or a letter sent home! I could understand if Bella had actually gotten hurt-"
"You know exactly what Bella is like around teachers. She acts as if she's an angel when they're there, and as soon as they're gone, she might as well be punching you." I put hand on where she had grabbed me - it was still feeling sore.
"Not to mention Mrs McFarland had no right picking on you. If it was anyone else, I'm sure she would have just asked what was going on, or even just ignored it completely. You really should report her - it's unjust what she's doing!"
I looked down at the plate of lumpy mash and gravy in front of me. "Is anyone really going to take my word against Mrs McFarland's? You know she'll deny everything - probably say I'm exaggerating - and no one is going to think for a moment that she's lying, unless I have proof. And I don't! So there is absolutely no point."
Lydia reached across the table and took my hand. "I'm sorry, Grace. Today's been quite awful for you, hasn't it?"
"You could say that."
"It'll get better. I promise." She stood up, picking up her plate. "Now, I'm not sure about you, but this is disgusting, so I'm leaving. Coming with?"
I looked down at the food I had barely touched. "Yes. This really is awful," I said, standing up.
As I mentioned earlier, school never is a happy place for me. But the only reason why I keep coming back, apart from the whole 'compulsory by law' thing, is that I have the most wonderful friend in the world, who know exactly what to say to cheer me up.
***
Once it got to the end of school, and I had the long walk back home to face again, I started thinking about what happened earlier that day, and how crap that day really had been, when I passed the alley on London Road. I remembered seeing the flash of purple light, and not seeing anything that could have made it. I was just about to forget about it and go on with the rest of my life, when I heard a noise. It wasn't one of the usual noises you hear from an alley - a cat meowing, a plastic bag rustling in the wind, a rat squeaking. This sounded like a person - a person crying.
I immediately stopped, and looked down the alley. Again, nothing. But this time curiosity got the better of me, and I looked around to make sure there was no one around who could follow me, and started walking in.
Even though it was broad daylight outside, this alley was extremely dark, and quite cold. That plus the fact that I was chasing an unknown sound started reminding me of typical horror films, and I had just gotten to the point where the viewers watching this would be yelling at the screen "Don't go down there! Don't do it!" or "Turn back! Turn back now!" I was seriously considering turning back before a one-armed, chainsaw-welding maniac jumped out from behind a bin and hacked me to pieces. But then I heard it again.
"Oh, where am I? I just want to go home."
I instantly stopped and looked around. Even though I still could not see anyone, I couldn't help saying, "Hello? Is anyone there? Are you ok?"
At first, there was silence. Then I heard a scuff behind me. I whipped around towards the sound, then saw a flash of purple light. All of a sudden, I felt something heavy hit the back of my head. The next thing I knew I was lying on the cold, damp floor of the dark alley, with a stinging pain in head. The last thing I remember is thinking, "Well, today has just been great."
Waking up, I remember hearing this voice. Quite a familiar voice, although I couldn't quite remember where I had heard it before. Whoever the voice belonged to was pacing up and down in front of me, talking to themselves.
"Oh no. Oh no. What have I done? Oh, I've hurt it. Wait - is it...oh no...it's dead. I killed it. Oh dear...I'm a criminal. A cold blooded murderer. What am I going to do? Wait. Is it...oh, it's breathing. Thank Celestia."
At this point, I could hear this voice quite clearly, and that was when I realised that I was lying on the floor. On the cold, wet, quite dirty floor. My eyes suddenly flicked open, to see the dark alley completely empty. I tried sitting up, but I went up too quickly, and immediately felt lightheaded. In my confused state, I managed to push over a bin that was next to me, and as I looked towards the pile of rubbish that spilled out of it, I noticed something standing next to it.
A pony.
But not just any old pony. I knew this pony. I knew this pony's purple coat, her dark purple mane, streaked with light purple and pink, her amethyst eyes.
"Holy shit...it's Twilight Sparkle."
And that was when I collapsed. Again.
***
I don't know how long I was for that time, but it wasn't long. I woke up with a start to find Twilight standing over me, her horn glowing.
"ARGH!" I immediately started crawling back away from her, straight into the wall.
"Whoa! Calm down!" she said, taking a step towards me.
"Stay back! Stay back," I shouted, pointing my finger at her. Twilight stared at me for a few seconds, then took 3 steps back.
"You...are Twilight Sparkle. Why are you Twilight Sparkle? What the hell is going on?" I said, not taking my eyes off her.
"Err..."
"You are an animated pony! You don't exist!" I sat, with my back against the cold, quite flithy wall, just watching this...this impossibility. I could not understand how it was possible that a cartoon character could be standing in front of me, staring at me in as much confusion as I at her.
That was when I remembered the pain on the back of head. Raising my hand to it, I felt something wet. I immediately checked, and found blood on my hand. It wasn't a lot of blood, but it was enough to get a bit worried.
Of course, I never get a bit worried.
"WHAT THE HELL! I'M BLEEDING!" I screamed, staring in shock at my hand.
"Err...yeah. I might have had something to do with that." I looked up to see Twilight looking down at the hooves, one of them digging into the ground.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well, I was scared. You can't blame me. I had no idea where I was - I had been sitting here all day, alone - then all of a sudden, somepony just appears out of the blue and is standing right next to me! It is a natural reaction to fight back in any way."
I looked at her. "What did you do?"
Twilight looked up at me, then lowered her head once more. "I sort of...by accident, of course...hit you. With a rock."
"You did WHAT?!" And it was at about this point when I decided that this was either a dream, or a hallucination.
"Ok. This is not real. You don't exist. You are a figment of my imagination - well, Lauren Faust's imagination. I am still unconscious, or I have a severe concussion and I'm just seeing things. Really weird things," I added, looking at her.
"You are not unconscious - I woke you up with a revival spell," Twilight noted.
"So that's why you were standing over me, with your horn glowing."
"And I would know if you had a concussion - I've already checked you for any signs of long lasting damage. There were none." Twilight looked up at me, with that 'knowing' look on her face.
"Oh, well that settles it then. I've gone completely and utterly mad!"
Twilight sighed, then walked up to me and lay down beside me. "If you're mad, then so am I. One moment standing in Canterlot, demonstrating the power of teleportation to fifth year Magic students, then next standing next to a pile of bins in a cold, wet place that I have never been to before."
Sitting there, with Twilight lying next to me, I started thinking. Thinking, mainly, about what I had done to deserved such a fucked-up day. I sat there, recounting everything that had happened - getting knocked out by a pony, waking up and seeing that said pony, and consequently fainting, only to wake up with the same pony standing over me creepily. Although nothing could prepare me for what was about to happen.
"You know what?" I said, finally breaking the silence that had been created whilst both of us were deep in thought. "I need to go home." I had no idea what time it was, considering that I had no idea how long I had actually been out for both times.
I stood up, and began to brush the dirt and gravel off my clothes, when I noticed Twilight staring up at me.
"What?"
SHe cleared her throat. "Well, I am an Equestrian. I am not from your land. And it is Equestria tradition for ponies to welcome lost and weary travellers into their homes."
"Oh no-" I could see where this was going.
Twilight continued. "You, acting as an ambassador for your land, should welcome me into your home, and care for me, until I can find a way to return to Equestria."
My reaction was simple.
"NO WAY!"
Twilight looked shocked. I decided to justify my outburst.
"Twilight, if you were still living with your parents in Canterlot, and I arrived in Equestria, and you brought me home, what do you think their reaction would be?"
Twilight thought about it for a moment. "Well, initially they would be shocked, but eventually, they would welcome you warmly into their home."
"Well, my parents aren't like that. If they found a purple, talking pony, they would have a heart attack, think they've gone mad, kill you, or phone up Torchwood or something! They would not warmly welcome you into their home." I turned around and began to walk away, thinking that Twilight would follow me, trying out all sorts of persuasion techniques. After a while, I realised that she was being silent, and turned around to find no pony following me.
I walked back into the alley, to find Twilight sitting on the ground, her head hung, facing away from the entrance.
I still don't really know how I managed to walk home with a purple, talking pony beside me, with no-one seeing. I suppose I am just incredibly lucky that I live in the middle of nowhere, so there were a lot of unused country roads I could take, with literally no-one on them. Not only that, but the fact that it was actually overcast and raining meant that not a lot of people were out, which again helped a lot.
But somehow, I managed to get home with no-one catching a glimpse of Twilight, and as we arrived at the house, I just hoped it would be as easy with my parents.
I suppose I am quite lucky when it comes to my house. I live in a little village called Glenroe, and I live in a former farmhouse. Basically that means that we have a hell of a lot of land to use to our hearts' content, which really means setting up a swing-set for 5 year old me, which I used for two years then broke my arm on and never used again.
But as well as all this land, we have the odd building scattered around. My favourite is the Barn. It isn't actually a barn - we have no idea what it was originally used for, but it looks like it could have perhaps been a barn. Also, I was 3 when I named it, and the name stuck. We redecorated it a few years ago, and whenever the weather's nice, and I have friends staying around, we go in there for the night. It's awesome - it's pretty much like a den in there. My parents got it connected to the mains so we can actually use things like TVs in there, or projectors for awesome movie marathons.
"Ok, Twilight," I said, opening the front gate. "I really don't know how my parents are going to react to a pony strolling through the front door, so...wait here. In that bush," I added, gesturing to the rose bush next to us.
Twilight turned. "A rose bush? Really?"
I ignored her, and started walking towards the front door. As I opened the door, I was going through the conversation in my head - Grace! What are you doing home so late? Mum, I was just wondering whether you would let a friend stay here for the night...maybe forever? Who? Twilight Sparkle. She's a magical talking pony.
What parent would say yes to that?
I pushed open the heavy wooden door, and called out into the house.
"Mum? Dad?" I shouted.
There was no answer.
I immediately began checking in the downstairs rooms, but stopped when I caught sight of a note of the fridge. I walked over to it and ripped it off.
Grace
Your father accidentally somehow managed to seriously hurt himself while making dinner, so unfortunately I had to drive him to the hospital.
Be back as soon as we can.
Mum x
I stood there reading this letter, then burst into laughter. Most people would start panicking if they heard that their father had gone into hospital, but not me. Not because I'm a horrible person - I love my dad - but because this is the 2nd time this month he's had to go to hospital. And it's been a slow month for him. usually, it's about 4 times, maybe 5. He's pretty clumsy.
Anyway, knowing that my parents would be out for a while, I quickly ran to the door and ushered Twilight in, making sure none of the neighbours saw us.
"Wow. This is nice," Twilight said, taking in her surroundings. I saw her walk into the kitchen, and freeze for a moment.
"Err...Twilight, are you ok?" I said, immediately rushing towards her, fearing the worst - I really did not want to have a magical breakdown-prone pony actually have a breakdown in my house, or for her to suddenly drop dead.
The purple pony faced me. "Yeah, I'm fine." She started walking straight into the kitchen, and stopped beside the dining table. "Just a bit hungry."
I looked at the table. Sitting perfectly in the middle of the table (my mother is quite the perfectionist) was a fruit bowl, containing bananas, oranges, kiwis and, most importantly, apples.
I think I could guess what Twilight was looking at.
I reached over and grabbed two apples. I was just about to throw one to Twilight when common sense kicked in, and I realised that being a pony, she had no hands with which to catch said apple, so instead I held it out for her to grab with her mouth.
I was surprised at first to see Twilight take it not with her mouth, but with her hoof.
"How the hell do you do that?" I yelled.
She gave me a weird look. "I just pick it up. Normally."
I was just about to question it - surely it was impossible for ponies, with no opposable thumbs or anything remotely similar, to simply pick items up with their hooves? - when I suddenly heard the dreaded noise.
A car pulling up.
"Shit."
Before Twilight had a chance to question me, I immediately jumped up and ran to the window. Sure enough, that was my mum's car pulling up outside. I immediately turned back around, looking at Twilight for some inspiration.
"What's going-"
"THE BACK DOOR!" I shouted, pointing towards it. Twilight started at me, with a slightly scared, slightly confused look on her face. "The door! Out! Please!" I added.
Twilight was still standing here, staring at me as if I were crazy, so, in the heat of the moment, I ran over to her, picked her up and started carrying her to the door.
"What are you doing? Put me down!" she screamed, as she did her best to break free from my grip. And considering that I had no idea just how heavy she would be, and was already struggling under her weight, it didn't need much for me to drop her.
"Why did you do that?!" Twilight shouted, as we lay in a pathetic heap on the floor.
"My parents...outside...can't see you..."
Twilight stood up and began walking towards the back door. "Well, you could have just said so, instead of carrying me off like some trophy." She walked over to the back door, opened it with her magic, and began walking outside. I chased after her.
"If you walk that way," I said, pointing further into the garden. "You'll find one of the buildings and you can shelter from the rain there. I'll get you in a minute."
Twilight nodded, then galloped off in the direction I pointed. I quickly turned around to check that they were no obvious 'a pony has been here' clues, like muddy hoofprints all over the floor or unexplainable purple stands of hair, and quickly mopped up the wet patches on the floor, lest my father had yet another accident.
"Grace," my mum said, hugging me when I opened the door for them. "I'm so sorry. Your dad really needs to work on his clumsiness."
"It's fine, Mum. Dad was more important. Is he ok?" I asked.
"Sure am, pumpkin." I looked behind my mum to find my dad standing there, his left hand bandaged up, with a smirk on his face.
"What the hell even happened to you?" I asked.
He walked straight past me, and sat down in the baby blue armchair in our front hall, and said, "Well, perch here on my lap, and I'll tell you the entire story."
"Dad."
"I was making dinner, and it was getting a bit boring, so I put on some music, and started dancing, which probably isn't a good idea when handling hot breakable items, and I wasn't concentrating and accidentally burnt my hand which made me drop it on the other hand, where it broke."
I stared at my dad, then facepalmed. It was no wonder why the things that happen to me happen - it seems to be genetic, and there is no question where I got it from.
"Dad," I finally said after a few moments of disbelief at my father's stupidity. "That was really stupid."
About half an hour of that occurred - where I avoided telling my parents about my wonderful day and my impending detention - and then I remembered Twilight.
"I'm going to go and do some work in the barn - that ok?" I asked.
"Of course, darling. Spend as much time as you like - just be back before its dark."
I ran up to my room, and grabbed my laptop, and ran as fast as I could whilst hugging a very expensive and essential part of my life to myself, trying to shelter it from the rain, towards the Barn.
As I got close towards it, I began to think about what is really going to happen. I mean, surely Twilight couldn't live in the Barn forever? My parents would find out eventually, or she would get bored and run off.
As I opened the door, I had on idea how it was really going to work long term. But that was quickly put out of my mind when I saw the inside of the Barn.
I stood in the doorway of the Barn, staring in, not believing what my eyes were really showing me. I decorated the Barn myself, so I know exactly what it looks like usually. I spent months planning, and in the end just decided on a simple design. With the help of my friends, I decorated the entire room with different shades of purple (that was the only colour we could all agree on), with bean bags everywhere, nerdy posters everywhere and a projector set up to watch movies on whenever I had anyone over.
And in their place, tea tables and chairs. It looked sweet. Like a cottage. Like a typical English cottage. Like a typical English cottage, where the decorator had an obvious low budget.
It honestly looked like something out of a storybook.
Somehow, Twilight had managed to get rid of everything I loved about the Barn in 20 minutes and replace it with things that I didn't even know we owned. Seriously, I had never seen this stuff in my life! I had no idea where she got it from, where she put my stuff, or even how she managed to do that all by herself without anyone seeing.
I don't know how long I stood there, but I snapped back into reality when I felt my laptop slipping out my grip. Shutting the door, I looked around the room for a desk or any surface that didn't look like it was all set up for a tea party, and saw Twilight standing in one of the corners, staring at the wall.
"Twilight?" I said, my voice breaking slightly.
She whipped around and saw the look of panic on my face. "What?" Twilight said, looking annoyingly innocent.
"What the hell did you do?" I exclaimed, gesturing to...well, everything.
"Well, I had been studying home design last week; looking at the different styles we use in Equestria. Traditionally, homes have the 'traditional' style - first created in the third decade of Celestia's reign. Obviously, that is only used nowadays in towns like Ponyville and other places in or near the Canterlot province. In Canterlot, for example, they still used the same 'regal' look that the city is famous for. And in places such as Manehattan, they used a much more modernised ver-"
"Get to the point."
"Well, I thought, guessing that I would be staying here for some time, that I would at least make it look more...home-like."
A pony thought my room wasn't 'home-like', so redecorated. Facepalm.
But seriously though - why do things like this always happen to me? Just today, I got soaked by a truck, bullied by a teacher, knocked out by a pony, then had my style insulted by the same pony. How many other people can say that?
After that comment, I just sank to the floor, with my laptop conveniently landing on my lap. I stared at the floor, not really listening to what Twilight was still saying.
"I mean, I'm no Rarity, but I thought I could at least make a slight improvement; good thing I'd studied beforehand. Can't imagine what I would have done if I-"
I noticed that she had stopped, so raised my head. I found Twilight staring at me with a concerned look on her face.
"Are you ok?" she asked.
I paused for a moment, then said, "Yeah. It's just...a lot has happened today; usually, I don't have ponies appear from nowhere, knock me out, then accompany me home."
Twilight stared at me for a while, and just when I thought she was going to argue with me some more, she sighed.
"It's been an eventful day for both of us - I'm not used to randomly appearing in a completely different world, or having to walk to a total stranger's home - I just realised something," she said suddenly. I sat up straight against the wall, looking at her when she said, "I've gone all this way, hiding in your playroom, and I don't even know your name, or anything about you."
"Ok, 1. It was a pleasure to allow you to stay here. 2. It's not a playroom; it's called the Barn, and it's a sort of teenage room, I suppose. And 3. Grace. Grace Blackwood."
"Twilight. Twilight Sparkle," she replied, raising her hoof to shake my hand. "But you already knew that...how?"
I was in a pickle. On the one hand, I could tell her the truth, that her entire life is a children's TV show, watched by millions, including 40 year old men, potentially causing her to have a heart attack and die, meaning I cause the end of a show I (secretly) love, as well as many others.
On the other hand, I could lie and eventually watch my lie spiral out of control as I get deeper and deeper into it. This has happened before, when I would tell one little lie, as a joke, and then have to pretty much create an entirely new person to keep this lie afloat. Let's just say it did not end prettily. Also, what excuse could I possibly give her? I'm a psychic? I'm from the future? I'm actually her father?
"Right...at the moment, I feel that that is a topic that is hard to explain. I promise I will explain it to you, but later in time. But soon." I looked directly at her as I said it.
Twilight smiled. "I understand. You have your reasons - I won't rush you." I smiled back at her. This was going to be an interesting time.
***
It must have been at about midnight when I sat up in my bed, stayed there for a few minutes, straining my ears for sounds of any sort of movement. When I heard my father's snores, I knew that I was safe to get up. I threw my duvet off me, threw my dressing gown on, grabbed a torch, and slowly opened my bedroom door.
As I left my room, I shut my door again - the way I have it when I'm asleep - and began to slowly creep downstairs. In the kitchen, I finally turned on the torch, found the back door key, and opened the door. I then made my way to the Barn, as quickly as I could.
I would have loved to have taken the direct route from my bedroom window, but I felt that 'why are you in the kitchen' would be easier to explain than 'why are you climbing out of your bedroom window'.
I expected Twilight to at least be quite tired, if not asleep, by the time I got there, but no - somehow she had managed to stay up, sitting in a room all by herself for a few hours.
"Bit late, isn't it?" she said, with a smile on her face, when she saw me. I smiled back at her, then sat down next to her.
I have been in the Barn at this many times before, but this time felt different. I don't know whether it was because my friends weren't there, or because there was a fucking pony here, or something else, but it was different.
But a good different.
As I sat there, I wasn't thinking about how I'm going to keep Twilight a secret, or how long she could stay in an old building at the bottom of my garden, or even how stupid this all sounded. I thought about how, even though we had only known each other for a few hours, I felt as though Twilight Sparkle was my friend. And I hers.
"Grace?" Twilight broke me out of my trace.
"Yeah?"
"I...I still know nothing about you. And I feel bad about that. You pretty much saved my life-"
"Twilight," I interrupted. "You're sleeping in the Barn. In my garden. I wouldn't exactly say I 'saved your life'."
Twilight's look instructed me to shut up, and she carried on. "You left me into your home, after I...assaulted you, and scared the living daylights out of you, but I don't really know anything about you."
I was slightly stunned. I am used to being the person that no-one talks to, that everyone ignores, that everyone hates. And here was someone wanting to know all about me.
"Where would you like to start?" I finally said.
"Well, just stuff about your daily life - your friends, family, hobbies, anything."
"Erm...I don't really have many friends," I started. "But there is Lydia."
I looked towards Twilight, who was smiling at me encouragingly.
"We met about 5 years ago, on the first day of secondary school in a French lesson. We sat in alphabetical order, but because our teacher wanted to be different, she did it in a really weird order, so I ended up sitting next to Lydia, even though I'm Blackwood and she's Smith. I can still remember it, because the teacher said I had a 'flair for languages' and Lydia was half French, so the both of us kept getting all the questions right, and not letting anyone else answer them."
"Any others?"
I laughed. "Absolutely not. I am one of the most hated people in my year."
"'Hated' is a bit strong, you think?" Twilight said. "I mean, you seem lovely to me."
"Thank you, but everyone is my year is a bitc- a not nice person, and all they do is make fun of me." I looked over at Twilight, who had a shocked look on her face. "Oh don't worry, I'm used to it - it doesn't bother me anymore."
Twilight still looked slightly disgusted at what I told her, so I quickly tried to change subject. "Family-wise, it just me and my parents. My wonderful, slightly dysfunctional parents. They're great, just crazy. Mainly my dad; he's a klutz. I have never known anyone to get into some many accidents. We're on first-name-basis with the nurses at the hospital." I paused to watch Twilight laugh at that.
"My mother, on the other hand, is a lot more serious than my dad, which isn't really hard - this is the man who dressed up as Slenderman and hid in a bush at the bottom of the garden for 3 hours just so he could scare me. Granted, it did work; I have never been so scared before in my life than when I turned around to find Slenderman just standing at the bottom of the garden, watching me.
"My mother - she is lovely. She's the kind of parent that knows I'm not going to do anything wrong, so doesn't really 'parent' me. I'm not the rebellious type - I do my homework, I eat my vegetables, I don't come home at 3 in the morning. I don't even go to those sort of parties! So my parents don't really see the need to give me loads of rules and a curfew and things like that. Really, it's just 'come home' and 'don't do anything stupid that'll kill you'."
"You know," Twilight added. "You sound a lot like me when I was a filly and in my teenage years."
"I'm not surprised to hear you say that," I said, sitting back on a bean bag.
"Well, you don't really get to be the Private Student of the Princess by having fun. No, I worked hard to get where I am today - most ponies my age aren't as determined as I am. Hours of studying, day, weeks even! Friends weren't important to me - my studies were my life. And they still are, but so are Applejack, Rainbow, Pinkie, Fluttershy and Rarity. And of course Spike."
"You ponies are so lucky, you know. You have cutie marks that tell you exactly what you are good at. Me - I have parents that are bad at lying."
Twilight turned towards me. "They must be something you're good at. Everypony has their one special talent - it's just hard to find sometimes."
"Writing."
I looked down at the laptop resting in my lap. "This is Vinyl, and she is my entire life. I have around 5 years of writing on here - from the first story I wrote for Year 7 English to all the short stories I write in my spare time. I remember last term I got the highest mark in the year for my short story. But still I wasn't amazing. It's more of a hobby, with the occasional strike of luck. I'm no author, or anything." I looked up, my hand resting on the cover. "Singing wasn't much better either."
"You sing?"
"Of course I do. I've been singing since before I can remember. In primary school, I was known as the singing one. The one with the amazing voice. The one who kept getting solos. Not anymore. Now, people can't even seem to remember that about me. The number of times I'll mention me singing and people say, "I didn't know you sang!"" I could begin to feel the tears forming in my eyes. "Music was the only thing I ever felt good at. And now I don't even feel that."
I put Vinyl down on the floor next to me, my head turned away from Twilight. I didn't want her to see me like this - she had just met me, and now I was crying because people don't compliment my singing anymore? I felt so pathetic, which then made me even sadder.
I can remember how long I sat there in silence, but after a while I felt someone standing next to me. I turned to see Twilight standing right beside me. I wiped my eyes, and suddenly found myself in an embrace with the purple pony.
"Don't let anyone let you down. You are a lovely person - always remember that."
I laughed bitterly through my tears. "You hardly know me."
"You took me in," Twilight said, her beautiful violet eyes staring into mine. "You vowed to keep me safe, let me into the comfort of your home
"Twilight, I didn't vow any-"
"Am I not in your property? Am I not here at your suggestion? You allowed me to come here, and you are keeping safe. You don't know me. You let a complete stranger into your house. There are not many ponies who would do that, and I'm sure even fewer in your society. But you still did. And that makes you a wonderful, wonderful person."
We spent the rest of the night chatting about all sorts of weird stuff. She told me some gossip about some ponies in Ponyville (and, before you ask, my lips are sealed), and I told her all about Bella and Mrs McFarland and everyone else who hates me. Needless to say, I had more to talk about.
We began to eventually get really sleepy, and lay down on floor after I got a bunch of pillows and threw them down.
"Grace?"
"Yes, Twi?"
I could see her deep purple eyes looking at me through the darkness.
I woke up quite abruptly at 5, not really knowing where I was. After a few moments of blind panic, I realised that I was in the Barn. Then I remembered everything - Twilight, the knocking out, the redecoration of the Barn.
And then I remembered that I shouldn't be in the Barn, or even asleep right now. I immediately got up, and made my way to the door, as quickly and as quietly as I could. I ran through the garden, completely soaking my pyjama bottoms with the dew on the grass.
As soon as I got inside, I took my shoes off, insuring I didn't leave them by the back door, and crept up the stairs.
I'm not really what you would call a rebel, but I have done my fair share of 'rebellious' things - snuck down to the kitchen at night, had friends over while my parents were at work (maximum two), told my parents I was meeting one friend when I was actually meeting another. Little things like that.
What?! I'm a terrible teenager; get over it.
Anyway, even though I wouldn't be described as 'rebellious', I still know how to get away with stuff like this. Basically, you do it quickly, and you clean up afterwards. Then clean up little details - twice the number of plates in the sink, cake crumbs in the kitchen, a bit of mud on the floor. Little stuff that no one else thinks of, but can arouse suspicion.
And that is why I think I should be a spy. I would be an awesome spy. Just saying.
Anyway, to remove any suspicion, I crept into my room, messed up my duvet ,and left the door partly open, as I usually do. And then I started getting ready for the wonderful day that I had ahead of me.
Leaving the house, I suddenly remembered Twilight. I didn't really want her waking up, and freaking out because she had no idea where she was. Nor did I want her to calmly wake up and come into the house looking for me.
I grabbed a pen and a sheet of paper, and scribbled a quick note explaining where I was, and where she was, just in case she was panicking. I grabbed my bag and coat, and went out into the garden, hoping to drop the note off on a table and then take off for school.
But of course, nothing happens the way I want it to. Instead of quickly and quietly sneaking into the Barn, so I didn't wake Twilight up, I tiptoed in, only to be scared out of my skin.
"Morning Grace."
"ARGHHHH!" I immediately put my hand in my mouth, praying to God that I didn't wake my parents up. I turned around to find Twilight sitting on a bean bag, smiling at me.
"Sleep well?"
"How the fuck are you up at this time?" I exclaimed, quietly.
Twilight frowned. "Language, Grace. I'd appreciate it if you didn't use that word in front of me."
Great. I got told off for swearing. By a pony. A goddamn magical purple pony. What is my life coming to?
"How...are you up at this time?" I repeated.
"The early bird catches the worm," she replied. I've never liked that saying - it was just too cliched for me. "I'm used to waking up at this time. There's no point ruining a good day with a lie-in."
It was official - Twilight and I were from completely different worlds. I mean that's obvious, considering that she's an animated pony and I'm...not, but even more so now.
"Err...ok. I have school now, so I'm leaving. I'll be back some time after 5. Actually," I suddenly remembered. "I have a detention, given by an unfair, biased teacher to seems to hate my very essence and doesn't want me to have an iota of happiness!"
Twilight seems taken aback by all this. "Are you okay, Grace?"
I sighed. "I'll be fine. I just need to get through the rest of the day." I picked up my bag, and walked towards the door.
"Grace?"
I turned around.
"Have a nice day," Twilight said, giving me a sympathetic smile.
"Thanks." I opened the door and walked out. As I walked down the road, away from my house, I smiled to myself thinking about today, and how it couldn't possibly be worse than yesterday.
***
"Grace!"
This was not the usual welcome I have to school. Usually its whispers as I walk in, or sarcastic 'hi Grace's.
I turned around to find Miss Winchester running after me.
Miss Winchester has to be one of the nicest people I have ever met. And probably ever will meet. She was my English teacher in year seven, not to mention my Form Tutor for seven and eight. She is so unbelievably nice - a real contrast to the bitch of a history teacher I had around the same time.
Sorry - I'm still bitter.
But anyway, Miss Winchester ran down the corridor, shouting my name, causing others to stop and wonder why. Which was exactly what I did.
"Hi Miss Winchester?" I said, once she had finally gotten to me.
"Grace," she said, breathing heavily. "Lydia...told me...about...Mrs McFarland..."
"Oh."
"Don't worry. I had a chat with Mr Johnson - you don't have...to go to that detention. She had no right...to punish you for something she had no evidence you...did."
I was stunned. Nothing like this had ever happened before. Bella tormented me during the final years of primary school, and imagine my joy when I discovered she was also coming to my secondary school! She and her 'friends' bullied me for 3 years, and whenever I told someone, it was "Grace, they were only playing. They didn't know that what they were doing was upsetting you" or "It was a harmless joke. Everything's been straightened out". I had 3 years of that. 3! The teachers didn't seem to pick up on the fact that I was being bullied by a pack of stupid bitches, who honestly asked, "Is Hitler alive?" They only stopped because eventually they could see that nothing they could do could really upset me anymore - they had already done it all.
So this was a shock to me. And as I stood there, standing in the middle of a school corridor, staring at the one teacher who finally believed my side, I could feel the tears coming.
"Grace. Are you ok?" Miss Winchester said, with a serious look on her face.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, wiping the tears. "Hayfever, that's all. Thank you, Miss Winchester. This means a lot to me."
She smiled and put her hand on my shoulder. "You are very welcome, Grace. Enjoy your day." With that, she turned around and walked off.
"I know I will."
***
"Seriously, Lydia, how can I thank you enough?" I said.
"Grace. You are my friend. This is what friends do for each other. You don't need to thank me," was the reply.
Lydia and I were sitting at the back of the classroom, sitting with our backs against the cupboards, away from the crowd that was the rest of my class, talking about what Lydia did.
"But seriously, how did you even do it? All the teachers I've spoken to about Bella and Mrs McFarland have just said that I was over-reacting, being over-sensitive or just misunderstanding."
"That's because you've always gone to the wrong teachers. The ones who are already wrapped around Bella's little finger, or under the control of Mrs McFarland. I mean, she is Head of History, Head of Sixth Form, and in charge of all the other Head of Years. Not many teachers who aren't under her. It was either Mr Johnson, head of the school or Miss Winchester, English teacher and former form tutor when Mrs McFarland wasn't in charge of every single tutor. Miss Winchester just seemed like the right person to go to, especially since she adores you."
"She doesn't 'adore'-"
"Yes she does!" Lydia exclaimed, turning towards me. "You don't see it, because you never see it, but you are by far her favourite student. She would always ask how you were, and if you were ok whenever she bumped into you in the corridors. She would ask me how you were whenever she bumped into me in the corridors! Don't you remember? Year seven, your best subject was English. She adored you, because you were amazing at her subject."
I sat there in silence for a bit. Year seven wasn't a great year for me, so as usual, I had tried very hard to forget the entire thing. But what Lydia said had rung a bell - Miss Winchester did always give me amazing marks. Out of all my teachers, she was the one who stood out as the one I really remembered. I had never really forgotten any of the things she taught us - Shakespeare, essay writing, narrative writing. All of it was still in my memory. History, on the other hand, is just a blur of me glaring at Mrs McFarland and her shouting at me.
"I suppose you're right."
Lydia looked over to me, smiled and said, "As always."
***
During my next lesson, I had a bit of a revelation. Long story short, I didn't know much about Twilight, but there was a place that could provide all the information I needed, and perhaps a bit more.
The Internet.
Now, I knew about the real dangers of the Internet. Forget about weirdos stalking kids' chat rooms - I was talking about the fandom sites, the fanfictions, and the fanart - mainly the Weird Part of the Internet. I had made the mistake of searching 'Derpy Hooves and Doctor Whooves' on Google, as well as things like 'Applejack and Rainbow Dash'. Although, nothing can compare to when I discovered 'Cupcakes' - I couldn't eat cake for a week. My parents had no idea what was going on.
I hoped that just searching for Twilight wouldn't bring up too much from the Weird Part, as long as I didn't stay too long, or go on images. Because it is so easy to accidentally stumble into it, but once you're in the Weird Part of the Internet, it is incredibly hard to get out.
As soon as the lunch bell rang, I ran up to the computer room, found myself a computer in the corner, and logged on. I may be quite open about being a nerd, but being caught searching background information on a character from My Little Pony was something I wanted to avoid. Especially because of the way people found out I was a brony.
It was last year, November time, when I decided to watch the programme from the very beginning - something I had been planning to do ever since I watched half an episode with my 3 year old cousin. I watched 3 or 4 episodes, and fell in love. The next day, I was telling Lydia all about it, and telling her about the brony community. Of course, she was a bit 'WTF?' at first, but she got used to it. She never watched it though. To this day, even after everything that happened, she still has not watched a single episode. I'm moving away from the topic again - I always do that. As I was telling Lydia all this, Bella overheard the entire thing. By lunchtime it was everywhere - I was no better than 'paedophiles' and 'gay people' (because that's all bronies are, apparently). The number of people who came up to me and asked if I was a paedophile - it was one of the worst days of my life. I kept trying to explain that bronies are not a bunch of paedophiles, and they are not a bunch of gay guys in denial - they are normal people who just so happen to like a certain children's show - but it was no use. Bella's influence covers pretty much everyone associated with our school - teachers and students alike. The damage had already been done, and there was nothing I could do.
It took a long time for people to forget the whole affair, and during that time, I got countless emails saying that I should be ashamed of myself for 'groping innocent kids', 'being gay', and for 'watching a show meant for children half my age'. My school isn't really full of the brightest of bulbs. Half of them think being gay is 'bad' (I completely disagree, but nothing I can say can change their view) and all of them seem to think that just because I was associated with so called paedophiles, it automatically makes me one. I spent hours explaining that bronies are not all paedophiles, and that it is an unfair stereotype that it somehow associated with them (actually it is quite easy to see how it is associated with us), and that most bronies were probably pleasant people, filled with happiness, considering that they watch a show called friendship is magic, but it was no use.
And that is one of the reasons why I hate - no, despise - her. Because she makes my life a living hell.
Anyway, I found a page on Twilight that seemed safe to view during school hours, so quickly sent it to print, logged off, and ran to the printer to pick it up. I checked that I had all of it, and quickly left the computer suite, making my way down to the lunch room to meet Lydia.
Or at least, that was the plan. But instead, someone decided to pop out of nowhere, bumping into me, sending everything I was holding flying everywhere, myself included.
"Watch where you're going!" I heard from the person lying on the floor opposite you. I froze when I recognised the voice, and pushing my hair from face, it was confirmed.
"For God's sake, Grace," Bella said, pushing herself off the floor. "It's not my fault you got into trouble and now have a 2 hour detention."
I stood up, brushed myself off and smiled. "Oh. Didn't you hear? I don't have a detention. Not since this morning anyway. Miss Winchester and Mr Johnson both agreed that the detention was completely unfair, as there was no evidence to prove me guilty, so they said I didn't have to go."
I'm not really one to brag, but her face! I have never seen the look of complete horror mixed in with confusion on her face before, but I was so glad that I caused it. It was classic! Priceless! It honestly made my day.
"What?" she said, extremely quietly.
"Your plan didn't work. I'm off the hook." I spun around and began picking up my stuff from the floor.
And that was when I saw her walk over towards me, bend down and pick up a page just outside my reach. A page with Twilight's picture on it.
I immediately stood up. "Give me that."
"Why?" she asked, putting her sing-song voice on and putting the page out of my reach. "What could this page have on it that is so utterly important?"
"Bella, give it back. Now."
She smirked, cleared her throat and began reading...very loudly. "Twilight Sparkle is the main character from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. She is a purple unicorn from the city of Canterlot, who is sent to Ponyville by her teacher, Princess Celestia, in order to learn all about friendship. It is there she learns of her representation of the magical items called 'The Elements of Harmony' and meets her first friends - Applejack, the Element of Honesty; Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness; Rarity, the Element of Generosity; Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter; and Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty. Twilight is the Element of Magic."
She looked up at me. I looked around. A small crowd of people had began to form, all whispering to each other and some giggling. I turn back towards Bella.
"No friends, huh? Reminds me a bit of you, Gracey." She looked around the crowd. "Let's read a bit more of this then. See what being a brony is really about."
"OI!" a voice shouted out from behind me. "Leave her alone!"
A guy pushed his way through the crowd, rushing to get to the front. I didn't really recognise the voice, but as I saw him emerge from the crowd, I could recognise his face. I had seen him around the school, but never really spoken to him. All I knew was that he was in the year above me, and his name was something like Jimmy, Jacob, something like that.
He walked straight past me, towards Bella, and held his hand out. "Give."
Bella looked reluctant at first, but then handed it over to him. She then picked up her bag and walked away, not without bumping into me first.
"Oops. See ya, Gracey." And with that, she walked back into the dispersing crowd.
I turned to the guy. "Thanks. Thank you. A lot."
"No sweat. I live for saving damsels in distress," he replied, winking.
He handed me the page, which I quickly put in my bag with the rest of my work.
"But seriously though, I don't know what she would have done if you hadn't have come when you did. You really saved my neck out there."
"Oh please," he said, pushing his bag on his shoulder. "I was doing it for all us bronies. That girl's a right bitch. She gives us all a bad name."
I froze. "You're...you're a brony?"
"Well, it is 20% cooler than anything else."
Really, I didn't quite hear what he said after '20% cooler' - I was too busy squeeing.
"Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh!"
He laughed at that and then offered his hand. "I'm Josh. Josh Campbell."
"Grace. Grace Blackwood," I said, shaking it.
"Well, it was a pleasure meeting you, Grace Blackwood, but I fear I must leave you now." He bend down and picked up a page that I had missed, and handed it me. He then put his fist in front of him and said, "Brohoof?"
I brohoofed him, and he walked down the corridor out of sight.
"Wow," I said rooted to the spot. "My first brony."
This day just got cooler. Dare I say it...20% cooler.
When I got back home, neither of my parents' cars were in the driveway, so I ran straight to the Barn, thinking I could spend an hour or so with Twilight and then go back into the house before my parents arrived. As I walked in, I could see Twilight beaming at me.
"Good afternoon," I said, shutting the door behind me.
Twilight grinned at me. You know, for a pony who, until recently, had no friends, she sure is friendly. She looked so incredibly happy to see me - it was like seeing a little kid on Christmas Day.
"Have a nice day?" she asked.
"I did," I answered, throwing my bag on the floor. "I had a great day. Much better than yesterday."
"I had a feelng you might say that."
I grabbed a bean bag, put it in front of where Twilight was sitting, and sat down facing her. "So what on earth did you do all day?"
Twilight smiled. "Well, firstly, I thought I might as well get a good look at my surroundings. I heard both your parents leave, and then thought was safe enough to leave and walk around your garden for a bit. I then explored your house a bit-"
"Wait. You went into the house? How? We lock the doors. You don't have a key."
Twilight stared at me for a while then uttered one word.
"Magic," she said, pointing to her horn.
"Ah."
She rolled her eyes and carried on. "Opening doors is quite simple stuff. A level two, I'd say. Teleportation, on the other hand - now that's a challenge. It took me a while to get that right. What's even harder is the teleportation of other objects - animate and inanimate - without the transportation of yourself. Most people who can teleport can take other objects that they're holding or standing next to at the time, but not without moving themselves also. It is a skill that not many ponies can actually ach-"
"Twilight. Back to the point."
"Oh yes. So I walked around the house," at which point I made a mental note to check the house for muddy hoofprints, "and found your study. I looked at some of the books there, because I thought I should probably catch up with the local history, which I did - the ancient kings, the Tudors, the Stuarts, the World Wars. I also found out that one of your ancient civilisations is extremely similar to ours."
I was intrigued. "And what would that be?"
"The Romans," answered Twilight.
I was definitely listening now. Although I hate history and would rather not do it at all, the only part of history that I like was learning about the Ancient Greeks and the Ancient Romans. We did a bit of Latin when I was younger, and I loved every minute of it. I did so much research into Ancient Rome and found out so much - all their superstitions, their customs, their mythology, the political system, their legends. It was incredible how much came out of a tale so incredibly made up as that of Romulus and Remus, and, even earlier than that, that of Aeneas. I mean, how likely was it that Aeneas was the son of Venus, and that Romulus and Remus were raised by a she-wolf? And don't get me started on Romulus' death!
I'm rambling again, aren't I? Sorry, I get this way around things I'm passionate about.
"Equestria, many centuries before Celestia and Luna defeated Discord, before Discord was ruling over Equestria, the land was mainly populated by the Ancient Equinians. The city of Equinia, lost for centuries now, was founded by Equinius, who was thought to be an alicorn, and an ancestor of Celestia and Luna. Not much is known about his life, except that he founded Equinia, which was thought to be the best city of its time, and pretty much invented civilisation."
I made a mental note to find out more about this - it was quite interesting to see how similar Equestria's history was with ours, especially since I always associated Equestria with America, not us.
I was just about to ask Twilight more about this, when I saw something moving out of the window. I stood up, and looked out to find none other than my dad quickly making his way towards the Barn.
"Shit," I said.
"Err, language Gr-" Twilight started to say. But she didn't finish, on account of my dropping to the ground, quickly crawling towards her, and pushing her under a table.
"My dad is coming. Just stay still and don't make a sound."
Twilight nodded, and did as she was told, crawling further under the table. I immediately grabbed my bag, and ran out of the Barn back towards the house. As planned, I bumped into my dad on the way there, dangerously close to the Barn.
"Hey Grace. I was just coming over to check if you were in there."
"Well, I was," I said, smiling, trying to look innocent. My dad isn't very good at picking up secrets, or tension, or anything really, but I didn't want to risk it. "Anyway, I was just coming back inside now-"
"What were you doing in there anyway?" my dad said, looking behind me, through the window of the Barn. "You've been going in the Barn an awful lot recently. Something we ought to know?"
I quickly came up with an excuse. "Writing." My dad stared at me, with a puzzled look on his face. "Well, you know I've always liked reading and writing my own stuff, and, with summer coming up, I thought I could get a head-start, considering I have loads of spare time right now," I quickly made up.
My dad smiled and nodded. "At least you're planning on doing something this year - last year, if I remember correctly, we could hardly get you out of bed."
"Dad. It's summer. Of course I'm not going to do anything," I replied, winking.
He laughed and started walking back toward the house, with me following. "I want to read some of these stories. Let me know when you've finished one."
"Will do, Dad," I said, walking into the kitchen. Just before I shut the kitchen door, I turned around and looked towards the Barn.
"This is getting harder," I thought.
I needed help. Twilight was proving way to much to handle by myself. I could keep her company, and feed her, and entertain her for now, but soon enough my parents will start asking why I keep disappearing into the Barn, or where all these apples are going, or why all their books keep disappearing. There was no easy way to tell them about Twilight - either they accidentally stumble upon her, freak out, and maybe kill her or I tell them the entire story of how we met, they think I'm crazy, and have me sectioned.
Not good either way.
So this was what needed to happen. I needed to get someone else. Someone else who wouldn't freak out as soon as they saw Twilight. Someone who knew about this stuff.
Someone who was a brony.
And I knew just who that brony would be.
***
There was something about Josh, something I couldn't quite put my finger on. He seemed...different from everyone else. But I wasn't sure how exactly. But I felt as though he could be of some help, in the near or distant future. So I decided I would approach him. And talk to him.
And the next day would be that day.
So when I woke up the next morning, I prepared myself for what I would say to him. I couldn't exactly walk up to him and say, "Thanks for your help yesterday - why don't you come to my house today?" Because 1, that sounds a bit desperate; 2, he hardly knows me and it would be like a random girl to met the day before just wants to be best friends all of a sudden; and 3, it's a bit of short notice. I had to plan this properly, ease it into the conversation. Somehow.
Really, I was just going to wing it and hope for the best.
I was standing by my open locker, grabbing my books for the day when, just as I was about to shut it, the locker door slammed shut.
I turned, expecting to see Bella, ready for another round of 'Let's Bully Grace and Get Away With It', or some other past tormentor, but instead found Josh standing there.
"Erm...hi," I said, a bit confused.
"Best pony?" he said quickly.
I turned around and faced him properly before asking, "What?"
"Best Pony? he repeated, slower.
"Erm...background, Mane 6 or any?"
He laughed. "Oh, you know your stuff. Mane 6 first, then background pony."
"Rainbow Dash."
He smiled at me, and said, "Of course. Everyone's favourite. Mainly because...she's just so awesome. Background?"
"Vinyl," I said, without even pausing. "Definitely Vinyl 'DJ P0N3' Scratch. Well, its between her and Derpy. Because, you know, Derpy."
"Lyra," he said shaking his head. "I mean, Derpy's great and all, but come on! Lyra! Lyra and Bonbon? Sitting weirdly Lyra? Couch potato Lyra?"
"No way. I mean, Lyra's cool, but she's nowhere near as cool as Vinyl, or Derpy. Or even Doctor Whooves for that matter!"
Josh raised his hand to my face. "No. No way. Lyra is awesome. Don't diss Lyra."
I rolled my eyes, but smiled. It had been a while since I had fangirled like this. And I had never done it with My Little Pony before - I had never had anyone to fangirl with. So this was a great experience for me. And I was enjoying every moment of it.
"Maybe we can agree to disagree on this?" I said, wincing slightly as I said it. I have never liked that saying - to me, it was always bullshit. Although, nothing can be worse than when my Head of Year came up with 'learn to agree to disagree agreeably'. No. Just no.
Josh raised his eyebrow. "Or we could agree that Lyra is Best Pony, and you're just wrong."
Oh no he didn't.
"No, no, no. Lyra may sit weirdly, and may want hands, but Vinyl. DJ P0N3. 'Drop that bass'. And don't get me started on Derpy. She's Derpy, for God's sake! Everypony loves Derpy!"
"You do have a point there," he said. "Derpy is pretty awesome. But there isn't enough Lyra love in the world. I mean Derpy gets the Doctor Whooves' companion love, and Dinky Doo love, and loads of other things. Lyra just gets Bonbon."
This is when it hit me that we, me and this guy I met yesterday, were arguing, in the middle of a corridor, about which pony is the best.
Don't get me wrong - I was loving this. Every second of it. But it was still really strange to me, and I wanted to change the subject, before I start getting really into it.
"Would you like to come over to mine today?"
But not with that!
Josh stared at me. "A bit random. Why?"
I was a bit lost for words. Part of me couldn't believe I had actually said that, and another part of me could believe he had actually replied in a way that didn't translate as "What the fuck?!"
"Err...there's something I'd like to show you. I think you'd really like it. If you can't, it's fine - we can do it some other time," I added.
"No, that's fine. I'm free after school today, so I shall accompany you home. Meet you outside the gates at quarter to?" he said, smiling.
I nodded, speechless. It had worked. I, Grace Blackwood, had actually achieved something!
As I said goodbye, and he replied with "See you later!", and I walked towards my next class, I couldn't help but smile.
When my last class ended, I grabbed my bag, and ran out, Lydia closely following me.
"I still don't get it," she said, as we walked into our form room. "You met this guy yesterday, and now you're inviting him to your house?"
"It's complicated - he helped me yesterday, and I figured he would enjoy it. He's a brony too, you know," I quickly made up. I couldn't tell her the truth - she would think I was completely insane, or think I was lying to her, and that I thought she was stupid enough to think that was true.
"Are you going to have sex with him?"
"What?!" I exclaimed. "No. No! No! Oh my god, no! Why would you even think that?!"
Lydia just stared at me. "It's a legitimate question."
I opened my desk and shoved some books inside. "No it is not. It's a weird question!" I slammed my desk shut and went to the back of the classroom to grab my coat. Lydia again followed me.
"So there's nothing going on between you two? At all?"
I put my hands on both of Lydia's shoulders. "Lydia. You are my best friend. I would tell you ages in advance if there was a possibility of something happening between us."
"Ok..."
I turned around, picked up my coat and buttoned it up. It was July, the supposedly second hottest month of the year, and, of course, it was rainy and windy. It seemed that everyone else in the world was enjoying nice weather (except Antarctica, because, you know, it's pitch black darkness over there and probably constant snowstorms, but at least they were expecting it), and then there was us. Sometimes, the British weather really annoys me.
I picked up my bag, and turned back towards Lydia, who was standing at her desk, facing away from me. I could tell what was bothering her - she thought I was keeping secrets from her. Really, I was, just not about what she thought it was about. There was no way I could tell her about the Twilight situation - she wasn't a brony, there was no way she was going to be a brony. Luckily for me, she was accepting of my bronyness, unlike a lot of others in my year. But it was obvious that she would never be one herself. She has taken no interest in the programme at all, even when I've come in wearing a 'My Little Pony' t-shirt, all she does is sigh. But I'm not bothered - at least she isn't calling me a freak like the others.
I walked over to her, gave her a hug and said goodbye.
"If anything happens, you text me. Immediately. He is an older man after all," she said, winking.
Facepalm. Repeatedly.
***
When I got to the gates, I could see Josh standing there, waiting for me. I brushed my coat down, made sure my bag was properly on my shoulder, then walked out to greet him.
He was leaning on the railings, his headphones over his ear, his head bobbing in time with the music. The main thing I remember about how he looked was the fact that he was wearing a grey coat. I only remember this because I have a thing for guys who wear grey coats - I have no idea why, I just do. And that plus my previous conversation with Lydia meant instant-blush.
Ignoring my slightly red cheeks, I walked over to where he was, and waved.
He raised his hand up and said, "Wait."
I stood there for a few seconds, feeling quite awkward and confused, until, suddenly, he burst out in song.
"Discord! I'm howling at the moon, and sleeping in the middle of a summer afternoon. Discord! Whatever did we do to make you take our world away?"
"Discord! Are we your prey alone, or are we just a stepping stone for taking back the throne?" I joined in. "Discord! We won't take it anymore, so take your tyranny away!"
I started laughing, as he put his headphones around his neck and turned his i-Pod off.
"God, I love that song. And I take it so do you?"
"Of course. Love The Living Tombstone's remix. Pure awesome."
He raised his hand up for a High Five, which I accepted of course.
"Anyway," he said, putting a hand in one of his pockets and pointing with the other. "Onwards! To your house!"
"Yes!" I exclaimed, laughing as he began marching up the street. I ran up beside him and we began the long walk home.
"Actually," he started. "How far away is your house?"
"About 3 miles."
"Dammit."
***
The journey home was an interesting one. I had never walked home with someone before. All the times Lydia came over, we took the bus, or my mum or dad would come and pick us up. So this was a completely new experience.
Also, even though this was the day that both my parents were working late, there was still the possibility of them arriving early and finding Josh or Twilight or both here and freak out. My parents were quite cool with a lot of things, but I have a feeling that they won't like find Josh, a 17 year old male, with me in my room or in my Barn, which is pretty much my room.
But the main worry was Josh's reaction. I could still remember my reaction to seeing Twilight - I collapsed. I really didn't want Josh to do the same, or worse. The closer we got to my house, the more scared I got and the more I thought this wasn't a good idea.
Finally, we walked around the corner, and walking up the driveway, I knew it was way too late to back out now.
"Wow," Josh said, staring at my house, his eyes wide in awe. "You didn't mention you live in a mansion!"
"I don't live in a mansion," I said, rummaging through my bag, looking for my keys. "Granted, it's a big house, but not a mansion. It's a reasonably sized house for this area." I knew I was starting to bullshit, so I figured I should probably stop and shut my mouth.
I felt that the best idea was to not go straight to the Barn. I mean, if someone took you to their house and then introduced you to your favourite cartoon character, what would you do? Not just smile and say, "How do you do?" I felt that the safe option was go into the house first and gently ease him in.
As we walked through the front door, Josh gave it an approving whistle. I shut the door and turn to find him staring at me. "What?" I asked.
"Aren't your parents home? I can imagine they won't be too thrilled with me being here."
"Oh," I said, throwing my bag down, and hanging my coat up. "They're working late tonight - won't be back for ages. What about your parents - don't they care where you are?"
Josh shook his head. "Nope. It used to be annoying - I mean I did want them to care about me - but now, I love myself some freedom."
"Wow." I was genuinely impressed. I know that he was in the year above me, and most likely has more freedom than me because of that, but not that much.
I didn't know what the best time to show him Twilight was - granted, there could never be a good time to show someone an animated purple unicorn, but there must be a better time than just pushing him in as soon as he arrives.
So, we went into the kitchen and I got us each a drink, trying to delay it as much as possible. We both started talking about how we found the show and became bronies.
"My friend watched it, and then kept pressurising me into watching it. So I did - then fell in love with the community."
"I do have to say - the community is one of the best things about being a brony. Us bronies stick together!" I said, grinning.
Josh laughed. "The community is so awesome. Community is best pony," he said, winking. "What about you?"
"I actually watched it with my little cousin, because she wanted to watch it and I just watch whatever's on the TV, and it seemed interesting, so watched the rest, and...just loved it," I said, smiling to myself. It's funny that my 4 year old cousin is the reason I became a brony, because she had a tantrum because we wouldn't let her watch what she wanted to. What makes me laugh is that now, almost the age of 6, she doesn't like it anymore.
"Interesting. Most of the bronies I know watched it because of all the hype and hate around bronies, but then eventually became one themselves. The community probably had a large part to play in most people's bronification - I mean the number of meme's we've created."
"I have a couple of references on my wall." God dammit. Too soon.
Well, hopefully he won't say-
"Really? Can I see?"
Nope. He did.
"Yeah. Sure. It's in the Barn though, out in the garden," I said, hoping he might change his mind.
"Sounds awesome. Do mind if I see?"
"Absolutely not."
And with that, I grudgingly walked across the garden, Josh bouncing next to me, towards the Barn, where I knew something bad was bound to happen.
I can hear you ask now - if you thought it was such a bad idea, why did you even invite him over? Simple - I'm an idiot. I didn't think it through. I could remember my reaction - I could still feel her reaction - and I could imagine that this was not going to end well. Someone was going to freak out, and then we'll be left with either a scared teenage guy, or a scared magical pony.
We got to the Barn door, and I put one hand on the handle, then spun on the spot, and faced Josh.
"Now before we go in, I must tell you...you have to promise to not scream, or panic, or freak out in front of her."
"Her?"
"Please?"
"Err...ok. I promise. But who are you talking about?"
I put my hand on the door handle. "You'll see soon enough." I opened the door and walked in, with Josh following me closely, full of suspense.
As I walked to the middle of the room, Twilight came out. "Grace, where have you been? I've been worried that you weren't com-"
That was when she saw Josh.
"Twilight, this is Josh. Josh...I think you know Twilight." I looked over at Josh. He was standing there. Just standing there, staring at her - not moving, not saying anything, not doing anything.
"Oh shit," I thought. I walked up to Josh, waving my hand in front of his face. "Josh? Are you ok?"
And that was when he started laughing.
It was really quiet at first - really it just sounded like his breathing was a bit weird. Then, it just burst out. Both Twilight and I jumped back in fright at his manic laughing, and I felt so helpless as I stood there and watched him, bent over, clutching his stomach, laughing his head off. "This is it - he's lost it," I thought, as I watched.
After what seemed like ages, he finally stood up straight, and wiping his eyes, said, "Oh, that was a good one, Grace. How long have you been planning that?"
"Planning?"
"I mean, what a prank. With the mystery, and the suspense, and - where did you get this amazing robot?"
"Prank? No, Josh, this isn't-"
"I'm not a robot," Twilight said, not looking too happy.
Josh started laughing again. "She even responds! This is classic! You, my dear girl, are such a joker!"
"Josh, I am not kidding - this isn't a joke."
I was starting to get worried. Either he really believed that Twilight was just a practical joke I played on him, or the shock had gotten to him and he'd cracked.
In the end, it was Twilight who proved herself. She walked right up to Josh, stood on her hind legs with her front legs on his shoulders and said, "If I were a robot, could I do this?"
Twilight closed her eyes, and the look of complete concentration was etched on her face. Her horn began to glow, more and more furiously, and more and more Josh's smile began to fade.
Suddenly, all the items around us were surrounded by what I assume was Twilight's magic, and began...levitating slowly. I could feel my own jaw drop - I couldn't imagine what Josh was feeling right now. I looked over to find him froze on the spot, staring at Twilight in part awe, part fear.
Suddenly, Twilight opened her eyes, and the items all fell back to the ground, as she went back onto all fours. Everyone was silent for a while, until Josh turned me, pointed to Twilight, and said, quietly, almost a whisper, "That's Twilight Sparkle."
I nodded.
"This is...fucking awesome!"
Twilight still did not look happy. "Please, don't use that kind of-"
"How the fuck did you get the Twilight Sparkle here?" he exclaimed, running up to me and grabbing my shoulders, his face gleaming with happiness.
"You're taking this a lot better than I did. I collapsed."
Josh spun on the spot to face Twilight again. "Miss Sparkle, it is a pleasure to meet you. I'm Josh. Josh Campbell," he said, extending his hand for her to shake.
"It is lovely to meet you too. Especially now that you believe I'm real. Although, it's still better than when Grace and I met. I kind of hit her...with a rock. Then she collapsed from fright."
"Really?" he looked over at me, holding back his laugh.
"Well, what would you do if a pony knocked you out, then just appeared?"
"True..." He turned back to Twilight, with his face full of such awe, and amazement. He was genuinely happy. Watching him really made me think. I could do this. I could look after Twilight, with Josh's help, until she could go back to Ponyville. We could do it.
We hung out with Twi for about an hour, at which point, Josh figured he should probably head off home, considering that we both still had school the next day, and it would probably take him an hour or so to get home on the bus.
I walked him to the bus stop, and as we waited there, we began chatting again.
"How long has she been here?" he asked.
"About a week. She's lovely - we've really hit it off. You wouldn't have guessed it from the programme, but she actually really friendly."
"I can imagine."
Suddenly, the bus came hurtling down the road, and Josh started rummaging through his bag, getting the right change out.
Just before he got on the bus, I shouted, "Would you like to help?"
"Help?"
"With Twilight? She's great, but I really need someone to help with food and to help cover for me - stuff like that."
Josh look shocked. "Oh God. I've frightened him. He hates me," I thought.
"I'd love to," was the reply.
I threw myself on him, wrapping my arms around him in a tight hug, saying, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"Are you getting on, mate?" We both turned to find the bus driver staring at us, quite angrily.
"Oh yes," he said, jumping on. He waved me goodbye, got his ticket and then sat down. I waved him off, until I could no longer see the bus, then turned and walked back home.
"Mission accomplished, " I said to myself, grinning.
I immediately was broken out of my trance. "Sorry, Lydia. I've just got a lot on my mind right now."
We were both in school, just chatting at our usual place at the back of the classroom, when I started thinking about Josh's visit the day before. After I walked back home and into the Barn, Twilight immediately started asking me every single question she could think of - 'how old is he?', 'how do you know him?', 'where is he from?', 'how does he know me?', 'does everypony know me?', 'is he coming back?'. I answered them - well, all the ones that were easy to answer - and told her everything I knew about him; he's 17, in the year above me, he helped me with some bullies, and yes, he will be coming back. This morning, after I had arrived, he came up to my classroom, and we chatted, quietly, about Twilight. I told him exactly how we met and what happened, and he was amazed. I was just thinking about his reaction to it all when Grace broke me out of it.
"I hope this isn't you trying to get out of Lakeside. Because you promised you'd come this time, and you know how I feel about broken promises."
"I'm not trying to get out of Lakeside. Why on Earth would I-" I stopped. "Wait, Lakeside?"
Lydia turned towards me, her eyes burning with mild anger. "Do not tell me you forgot again!"
"Of course not." Truth is I had. But for the wrong reasons.
Every year, Lydia goes to Lakeside - a little town, remarkably, by a lake - with her family, and every year she invites me, and every year I can't go. Not because I don't want to; last year, my grandma died, so I was at the funeral. Year before, my dad broke his leg, while my mum was on a business trip, so I had to look after him. Year before that, I got tonsillitis and had to have my tonsils removed. But, because I never go on any holiday with her, Lydia somehow got the impression that I don't like her family. Which is complete and utter bullshit - I love Lydia's parents! They're so awesome! But she thinks they're weird, so she gets really nervous about people meeting them.
But because Lydia had been getting really annoyed with the fact that I had never gone on holiday with her family, she made me promise that I would come this year, no matter what. Obviously, if I was in a coma or one of parents was in one, she would let me off, but that was the only exception.
But of course, I made that promise before the whole Twilight situation occurred. There was no way that I could leave Twilight alone while I go to the South East of England for 5 days! Even if I had Josh on board now, my parents would think it was strange if he kept appearing at our house, while I'm not there! There was absolutely no way I could do this without my parents and others knowing. And it was pretty obvious that the more people knew about Twilight, the worse it was going to be.
"So you're telling me that you have not forgotten about Lakeside? At all?" Lydia said, staring at me quite furiously.
"No, I haven't. I will come this time. I promised you - and nopony breaks a Pinkie promise," I added.
Lydia stared at me blankly.
"That's a pony reference, isn't it?"
"Eeyup."
"Oh God," she said, her face in her hands. "You are lucky we are friends and I, by default, have to put up with that."
"That I am. I am lucky to have you as a friend," I said, resting my hand on her shoulder. "Now," I said, standing up, "if you'll excuse me, I have a maths lesson that needs attending."
I picked my bag, and walked over to the door, turning back to wave at Lydia. As soon as I was out the door, my smile faded as I began contemplating my options.
"I'm screwed."
***
I was walking out of Maths when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I spun around and found Josh standing behind me, grinning like a mad man.
"Oh, hey Josh," I said, turning back around and walking down the corridor.
"I had the best idea - how about we show Twilight all the Twilightlicious stuff? It would be so awesome!" he said, running after me
"I already told you - I haven't told her about bronies yet. I don't know how she'll react." Which was a valid point - imagine if someone came up to you and told you everything about yourself and then said they watched a programme about you. That would be creepy enough. Imagine adding the whole bronies thing on top of that.
Not a good idea.
I sat down on a bench and sighed. I was not in the mood to talk about this.
Josh sat down next to me. "What's up?"
That boy - he doesn't miss a beat.
I explained the whole Lakeside situation to him, and he sat and listened quietly throughout the entire thing. Once I had finished, he put his hand on my shoulder and sighed.
"Grace, I understand this a problem, but you forget one major detail."
I turned to face him. "What?"
"Me!" he shouted, throwing his arms in the air.
I just stared at him, with a confused look on my face, which signalled him to carry on.
"Well, Twilight already knows me, so that's not a problem. There's plenty of space at mine - she can stay in my shed, or even in my room,"
"Really? Won't your parents be...I don't know - freaked out to see a magical purple pony in you room?"
Josh shook his head. "My parents don't come in my room. Mainly due to the fact that I'm a 17 year old guy, and they don't know what, or who, they'll find in there," he said, winking at me.
...
Yes, he actually said that.
"Too...much...information. Way too much. Seriously, don't ever say that again. Ever."
He started laughing at that, as I held my head in my hands in embarrassment and awkwardness. Josh can be great, but sometimes...I wonder.
Why are guys so weird?
"But seriously," he finally finished. "It is no problem if she stays with me. I would be glad to do it."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course!" he said, grinning and resting a hand on my shoulder. "It would be so much fun! Just imagine it - Twilight Sparkle. As my room-mate! Talk about awesome!"
I looked over at Josh. He was smiling, grinning like his greatest dream was just about to come true, which, when you think about it, it probably was.
"Thank you," I said. He nodded and was about to say something in return, when I threw my arms around him in a hug. "Seriously, you have saved my life. And Twi's."
"I keep telling you - it's no big deal. Its a pleasure to it." But I still clung on, smiling. Because I now knew that for the first time ever, I had a best friend, who wasn't just stuck with me, but actually wanted to be there with me. And as I hugged Josh, I could feel the tears rolling down my cheeks - happy tears.
When I woke up, I had a strange feeling of excitement. But no recollection of what it was for. I lay in bed for a moment, and looked at the time on the clock on my bedside-table. It was really beginning to annoy me, so I got up, opened my homework diary and looked at the date.
July 7th - Last Day.
"No. No way!" I immediately ran to my phone and double checked the date. One word filled my head.
Summer.
"Oh my god."
Today was the last day of the entire school year. No more school for two months. Two months!
"YES!" I shouted, jumping for joy.
Most people wouldn't really get why I was so very happy. I had had a stressful year - filled with Bella, exams and normal teenage problems. The fact that I had somehow managed to get through all of that and now had two whole months ahead of me to relax and have fun, and not have to get up at 5 in the morning again - it was the best feeling ever.
I ran towards my wardrobe, flinging it open. End of term meant Own Clothes Day, and I was going to make the most out of this.
I would loved to said that I threw on an amazing brony t-shirt, but the truth is at that time, I didn't own any, and I'm not going to lie. I always try to look normal - as much as I can anyway - when it comes to Own Clothes Days, mainly because I get teased enough as it is, and no one wants to start their holiday sad.
When I got downstairs, I found my mother sitting at the table, with a mug of tea in one hand, and a book in the other.
"Grace?" she said when she saw me. "What are you doing down here so early?"
"Er...I have school?" I said, stating the obvious.
She put the book down and turned around to face me properly. "But you don't have to get up this early. School doesn't start till quarter to nine."
"Yeah but-" I started.
"You know you're not walking, right?"
To be fair, I had actually totally forgotten about our deal. Basically, every few weeks, my mother always has to go to London to do businessy stuff. And whenever she does that, she has the opportunity to drop me off at school. Usually, she goes the opposite direction from my school, so can't drop me, so it's either walking or bus.
"Oh yeah," I replied.
"Grace, it's been on the calendar since last month. I keep telling you to check for things like this." She got up, taking the mug to the sink
"I'm sorry - I'll check next time," I said. I looked down at my watch - we still had like an hour before we had to leave. "Err...Mum, it is ok if I go to the Barn? Just until its time to leave?"
"Yeah, sure, whatever," my mum said, waving her hand roughly in the direction of the Barn, too engrossed in her newspaper.
I ran out into the garden, running across the grass towards it. As I opened the door, I saw Twilight lying in the corner, curled up in a ball.
Ever since she arrived here, she had been waking up later and later - probably due to the fact that she no longer had an entire library to read every single morning, or had letters to write to Celestia, or friends to see. I do get worried about her sometimes - I mean she was away from her friends, her family, her life. I would lose it if it were me. But Twilight seemed...calm. But too calm sometimes.
I walked up to her, and knelt on the floor beside her. Her eyes flickered open, and she raised her head up and smiled at me. "Good morning, Grace," she said, sleepily.
"Morning," I said, smiling back at her, and stroking her mane. "Nice sleep?"
Twilight nodded and yawned. "Why aren't you wearing your uniform?"
I looked down at the blue shirt and the brown chinos I was wearing. "It's Own Clothes Day. Last day of the year. After today...holiday," I said, grinning.
Twilight smiled. "Sounds great. So, after today, no more school? At all?"
I nodded. "For two whole months."
Twilight perked up. "Two months? That's great! We get two months together!"
I looked at her face - she was ecstatic. I hadn't actually ever seen her like this in person. Occasionally, on the show, I had seen her like this, but it was nice to see her so happy, just at the prospect of getting to spend more time with me.
It was nice to have friends.
***
"You know, I should probably tell you something," my mum said.
I turned to her. "What?"
We were in the car, about halfway to school.
"You know my business conference in Manchester? Well, considering what happened last year while I was away, I have decided that this year I'm gonna do things a little differently."
Before I carry on, I should probably explain what happened last year. Well, you know about my dad's win at failing... Yeah, he broke his leg. And I had to look after him. Because Mum was somewhere north. So, basically, she meant that she was going to make sure something like that didn't happen again.
"Ok..."
"Your dad's coming with me this year and-"
"I'm not coming," I suddenly exclaimed. "I can't come." I was panicking now. There was absolutely no way I could do that. It was a stretch leaving Twilight with Josh for a week during Lakeside. There was no way I could possibly leave her alone for most of the summer! Especially since the conference was at the end of the week! Not to mention Lydia would actually come to Manchester and kill me herself if I told her I couldn't come to Lakeside again
"I know you're not coming," was the calm reply. "If you'd let me finish, I was going to say that your father and I are going and you'll be staying here. Your grandma's coming over," she added at the end.
"Grandma? Grandma Lil?"
She nodded. This was the best news ever. My mum's mum is pure awesome! Whereas my mother is really 'businessy' and can be really serious at times, my grandma is a complete laugh. Every now and then, my parents leave her in charge, and that pretty much means home alone until they come back. She's great - during the day, she'll be here, either sleeping or just sat in front of the TV, or she'll go out, but during the night, she is almost always out. I think there have been a total of 5 days where I can remember she actually sleeping in the house. Lil used to live near here, but then moved further north, but she still kept in touch with all the friends she made down here. So whenever she comes down here, she go and hangs out with them, and stays at their houses. I love it - it means I can have sleepovers to my heart's desire and even throw the odd wild party. I haven't yet but...I could. If I wanted to.
"Awesome," I said, sitting back in my seat.
"I knew how much you - and Lydia - want to go on the Lakeside trip, so I thought if Mum came over to look after you while we were gone, it would benefit everyone."
At that point, we drove into the school car park. I unbuckled my seatbelt, and threw my arms around my mum.
"Thanks!" I said, grabbing my bag, and stepping out of the car.
"Don't forget you're walking home. And I won't be back till late, so you'll have to remind your dad about dinner."
"Hey, Grace!"
I whipped around to find Josh running up to me, a guy following close behind.
"Hey Josh."
He lowered his head and waved to my mum in the car.
"Mum, this is Josh. Josh, this is my mum," I quickly introduced, putting my bag on my shoulder.
"Good morning, Mrs Blackwood," Josh said, waving.
My mum waved backed. "Please - call me Kate."
Josh laughed and nodded. My mum waved and drove off. I turned back to Josh, and smiled.
His friend came up behind him, resting his arm on Josh's shoulder. Josh took one look at him, and immediately introduced us.
"This is my friend, Jaime. Jaime, this is Grace."
"Are you...are you the Twilight girl?"
Wait. WHAT?
"What do you mean by that?" I said, my heart racing. In my head, I was just thinking, "Shit, Shit, Shit. He told him. He knows. Oh God, he knows about Twilight. He really does. Oh God." I started panicking. I had no idea what would happen if people found out about Twilight. Capture her? Persecute her? Experiment on her? Kill her? I mean, I've seen 'E.T.' The fact of the matter was that she was my friend, and I couldn't imagine anything bad happening to her.
"Aren't you the girl who likes Twilight?"
"What - the books? No way, they're shit. I would never associate with those...books. They don't even deserve to be called literature."
You do not want to get me started on Twilight. My Twilight rants have become somewhat legendary. Some people in my class do just like saying that they like it, just to see me flip out. But, I do have a point - they are awful. Its not literature. Simple as that. And the characters! Thank you, Stephanie Meyer, for the wonderful description of Bella that you gave us. Oh wait...that's right. You didn't give us one.. And don't get me started on Bella's personality. Probably the most two dimensional character I have ever had the misfortune of reading about. Yeah, I read Twilight - and only Twilight - because I felt that I couldn't say that they were terrible before I read them. It was horrible. I never want to see that book again. And Edward and Bella's relationship is not a good relationship. I'm sorry, but he is over 100. She is like 18. That's gross. So, paedophilia, necrophilia (because Edward's dead) and also just a sexist relationship, in which Bella is the defenceless woman, and Edward has to keep saving her. Bullshit. I should probably stop now, or I'll be going on for God knows how long.
Jaime laughed. "I meant Twilight Sparkle. Josh said that you were a big Twilight Sparkle fan. But totally agree with you on that point."
"Jaime's the one who made me a brony," Josh said, leaning on Jaime's shoulder. They then brohoofed each other, and I laughed.
Jaime sighed happily, then wiped his eyes. "Anyway, Josh, I gotta go. McFarland'll kill me if I'm late again. Even if it's just half a minute." He turned to me and waved. "Nice meeting you."
He walked off into the crowd, and I turned to Josh, and punched him on the arm.
"Ow!" he shouted in reply. "What did you do that for?"
"What the hell did you tell him?" I asked, trying to keep my voice down. We were still standing on the edge of the car park, and I really didn't want anyone to overhear us and start asking questions.
But it was still a serious issue. If he had been going around telling all his brony friends that he had met Twilight Sparkle, this was bad. I mean, I don't want bunches of bronies - or would it be a herd of bronies? - coming to my house, demanding to met her. She's not a circus freak - she's a person just like you or me...except she's a pony.
Then there's always the whole thing with the government. What would they do if they found out that Twilight was here? I know I mention it quite a lot, but I do worry a lot about it.
Ok - I really need to stop talking about it. It's freaking me out. Back to the story.
Josh put his hands on my shoulders and crouched down slightly so his face was directly in front of mine. "I swear I didn't tell him about Twilight. I told him you were a fan of her, just in case he ever overheard us talking about her - he would just think we were talking about a toy or just about the character, rather than the real Twilight Sparkle."
To tell the truth, I wasn't entirely sure that plan would ever work. But it was nice to know that Josh was actually thinking about things like this, so we were prepared in case something happened.
It was touching.
"Oh," was my reply. "Well, in that case, thanks. And sorry."
Josh grinned. "Don't worry about it. You're protective over her - it's understandable."
I started smiling at him, which made him laugh, which then made me laugh.
"Grace?" we heard behind us. We turned around to find Lydia staring at us, her mouth hung open in disbelief, which she quickly exchanged for a raised eyebrow.
"Hi Lydia." I turned to Josh. "This is my best friend, Lydia Smith.
Josh turned to Lydia. "You're the one who designed last year's Panto's costumes, didn't you?"
Lydia looked slightly shocked, then smiled at him. "Yes, I was. I'm surprised anyone remembers that."
"The costumes were the best part of it. By far."
That sounded like a compliment, but really, it wasn't. Our school Year 7 Pantomimes have a reputation for being...for lack of a better word, shit. But last year's was the worst we have ever seen. The acting was terrible, the script was a pitiful excuse for a script (the drama teacher in charge couldn't decide on which panto to do, so put them all together) and Aladdin and Father Christmas got into an argument half-way through, and basically started a fist fight on stage, which lead to Peter Pan and Cinderella falling off the stage, and breaking an arm each. At the time, all the teachers went completely mad, sending all the Year 7s and Year 8s to their form room, and recruiting the Sixth Form and my year to help clean up the mess.
But Lydia designed and made all these amazing costumes for the 'actors' (they shouldn't really be called that, but they were Year 7s after all) to wear, and they were, in short, stunning. She is a textiles genius after all. But they were the best I had ever seen her do. Her GCSE textiles work was amazing as well - I would probably say that it was just better, but it's close. She made the costumes fit not just the description of the character, but also the personality of the character. Whenever a character walked on, the audience would be in awe at the costume, and not really pay attention to what they were saying. Obviously, when the fight started, no one was concentrating on the costumes. They were concentrating on jolly Saint Nick beating the crap out of the Prince of Thieves. Well, I suppose that's one way to let them know they're not on the good list...
But while it was still calm and peaceful, it was Lydia's proudest moment. It really reminded me of when Rarity got her cutie mark - I told Lydia this, but she told me to shut up. Mainly because I told her after the performance and the scars were still fresh. When the fight broke out, Lydia was running out on stage, doing her best to keep her costumes in perfect condition. But in vain - Aladdin had a nose bleed and stained his white pantaloons.
"Thank you," Lydia said, smiling politely. She turned to me. "Ready, Grace? Nearly time for registration."
"Oh yeah." I made sure my bag was properly on my shoulder and waved to Josh, who then gave me a hug and walked off towards his classroom.
I turned to Lydia, and immediately she said, "You bitch."
"What the hell did I do?" I asked, my mouth open in shock, running after her as she start walking towards the main building.
"You said you would tell me if something happened between you two!"
"What?" I said, dropping my bag in shock. "Lydia, are you serious? You really think me and Josh...no. No. No!" I picked up my bag and ran in front of her, grabbing her shoulders so she couldn't just walk away from me. "Lydia, you are my best friend. There is no way I would ever keep a secret from you." I then realised what I had just said, and quickly added. "Like this."
"Then how do you explain all that?"
I sighed. "Lydia, do you know how many people actually like me? As a person? One. You. You are my friend - my only friend. Because every other person I meet thinks I'm weird or crazy or childish, and ultimately makes fun of me, some even bullying me, just because I watch a 'little girls' show'. Josh is a brony. A brony. He knows exactly what it's like for most of the world to be against you. He understands."
Lydia stood there, silent. I had never been like that to her before. I had never been like that before full stop. Usually, I'm silent about the way others treat me, except here obviously. I've never had the need to go on about it, and no one has ever really cared, so why bother? Lydia's known how I felt about the bullying, but not how I feel about everything else.
"You hang out with him, because he knows how you feel?" she finally asked, after a few good minutes.
"Yes. Exactly."
"So, it's just because you guys are bronies? Nothing else."
"Nothing else. I assure you. And if there was, you'd be the first to know," I added, smiling at her. "I promise."
It was a few moments after that bell rang that I came sprinting out out the building, with others following closely behind.
I had never been so happy to actually finish school, and go on holiday. What with Twilight and Josh and Lakeside, I knew this was going to be the best holiday ever. And probably the strangest holiday ever.
It was only a few minutes after midday, so I debated for a while whether to meet up with either Lydia or Josh and see if I could kill a few hours in town with them or whether just go straight home. No one would be home right now, so I would have plenty of unquestioned time with Twilight, to spend in the Barn or even in the house.
"Hey, Grace!"
I turned around, and saw Josh waving at me as he walked towards the gate, Jamie walking next to him.
I waved back, and he gestured for me to join him. I jogged over to him and waved at Jaime. "What's up?"
"We're going to town for a bit, and you don't look like you had any other plans - you're welcome to join," he said.
"Oh, cool. I'd love to, but," I said, smiling at him. I walked a bit closer to him and lowered my voice. "I'm just not sure how long I should leave Twilight completely alone, when I could be there with her," I added, quietly.
"I understand," he replied, at the same volume. He turned to Jaime. "Parents," he said, gesturing to me and rolling his eyes. He turned back to me and said, "Have fun, and hopefully I'll see you soon." He pushed his bag back on his shoulder, and walked towards the gate.
"Wait!" I found myself yelling. Both of them stopped and turned to me. "I'll come. What better way to start the holiday off?"
Josh smiled at me. "Great."
I joined them, walking in between them both, as we walked out of the gate.
"So," Jaime said. "How long have you been a brony?"
"Since September. Just before the start of Season 2. Which meant I got to watch it all on time as a brony. You?"
"About this time last year. Annoying, just after the Season 1 finale. But it meant I had pretty much the entire summer to persuade this guy to join in on the fun," he said, jokingly punching Josh's shoulder. "He sure was stubborn."
"Oh, please. It took you ages to tell me to watch it - you wanted to be a brony by yourself. You wanted all the girls to yourself, you dick."
"You still didn't want to watch it."
"That's because you said, and I quote, 'Hey Josh, you should watch this show about magical unicorns and friendship and shit.' What guy would say yes to that?"
We began walking down the hill and just talking in general. I hadn't really hung out with guys before, but it was great. Jaime especially wanted to know pretty much everything about me, but it was great. I felt...liked.
"Grace! Wait!"
I turned around, and found Lydia running towards me, with a few girls I recognised from our year behind her.
"Some of us are going to the cinema, and...we were wondering if you want to join us," she said, smiling.
I looked behind her, at all the smiling faces staring at me.
I knew exactly what Lydia was up to - she felt guilty about what I said earlier today, and this was her way of making up for and trying to make things better. You have to give her credit though - she works fast. But I wondered just how many of that group really wanted me to go with them.
Probably none.
"Oh, Lydia," I started. "That's so lovely. I would love to, but," I turned to Josh and Jaime. "Josh already invited me to go with him to town. I'm sorry."
"Oh, that's fine," she said, smiling at Josh and Jaime. I knew she would say that know, but she would be texting me later to find out everything. "I'll see you next month. For Lakeside!"
I turned back to Josh, who smiled and then said, "To town!"
Yes, Josh. To town.
***
"Grace?" I heard as I walked in. "Is that you?"
"Yeah."
I had spent a few hours in town with Josh and Jaime and then thought I should probably get back. My parents aren't usually strict about things like that (they like encouraging me to have as many friends as possible), but I didn't want to worry them - my dad does have a tendency to worry about certain things a bit too much. I mean he worries where I am after I've told him that I'm at Lydia's house, but doesn't seem to worry about his own clumsiness. I mean at all.
I walked into the kitchen to find my dad sitting at the kitchen table, with a sandwich on a plate in front of him.
"Ooh, sandwich," I said, reaching forward to take a slice. My dad hit my hand away.
"Hey! This is my sandwich, thank you very much. I made it for myself."
"Fine," I said, pulling up the chair next to him. I know my dad quite well - if I stay near enough to him, he'll give in. I will get my bit of sandwich. "So how was your day?"
"Brilliant. Made a sandwich. Yours?"
"Fantastic. Broke up for the Summer holidays."
"Sounds fantastic. So, what is Grace planning for this summer? You're not just going to sit inside all day like last year, are you?"
"Probably not," I said. To be honest, I hadn't really thought about what I wanted to do this summer, even before Twilight. The only plan I had was Lakeside. Other than that it was just 'do something involving Twilight'.
"So, what exactly are you planning?" he asked.
"No idea whatsoever," was my reply. I wasn't going to lie to him.
"Oh." We sat in silence for sometime, until he went, "Your grandma's coming tomorrow."
"Yeah, Mum mentioned it this morning in the car. I can't wait to see her."
"Yeah." More silence.
Then...
"Sandwich?"
"Don't mind if I do," I said, reaching over and taking a slice. "Hmm," I said, taking a bite. "Cheese."
"Yeah."
It seems like my dad and I can be quite awkward sometimes, but really, we don't have much to say. I quite like the silence and I know he does too. My dad is awesome and I love him - we don't have to talk all the time, because he knows me. My mum, on the hand, is a completely different story.
After a while, I stood up, and walked towards the back door. "I'm just going to the Barn for a bit."
"Ok," Dad said, standing up. "I should probably start packing. You writing hard now."
"What?"
"You know, writing all those award-winning novels and all that."
"Oh. Yeah." I quickly left before I could question any other cover story I told him.
When I got to the Barn, Twilight was waiting for me. I walked in, walked up to her and sat down next to her.
"Afternoon, Miss Sparkle," I said, smiling at her.
"Hello, Grace. Nice day at school?"
"Brilliant. Went into town with Josh afterwards - it was great. I haven't really done that before - go into town with friends."
"So, you're a bit like me then?"
I raised my eyebrow. "As great as you are, Twilight, I'm not sure how I, a human being, a hairless bipedal ape, am in the slightest bit like you, a purple magical talking unicorn pony."
"I mean, with friends." Oh. I still can't believe I didn't think of that. I was quite slow that day. "Believe it or not, I didn't get friends until I was into my twenties. Growing up, it just didn't seem important. I had friends - don't get me wrong - but mainly just my parents and my brother, and later on, I suppose Princess Celestia. But once I got them, I really didn't want to let them go. I love them dearly - Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, even Pinkie Pie. Not to mention Spike." She sighed.
"You miss them, don't you."
She nodded. I put my hand on her mane, trying to comfort her. In retrospect, it was probably a bit condescending, since I accidentally stroked her a bit.
But it didn't seem to affect her. She just sighed again, looking down at her hooves.
"Tell me about them," I said. Twilight turned and looked up at me. "Tell me all about your friends - I want to know. Little anecdotes you have, their personalities, anything."
Twilight looked at me for a while, not really reacting, then all of a sudden laughed, cleared her throat and began. "I should probably start with Spike, considering I met him first. It was back when I was a filly, before I even had my cutie mark, and my parents had just enrolled me in Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. But, in order to get in, I had to pass an entrance exam. I am good at exams, and even then exams didn't frighten me, but that exam sealed the fate of my entire future and of my greatest dream. It was time for the entrance exam to, and I was just about to flunk my test. I had a dragon's egg and my test was to hatch it, but I couldn't. I tried and tried, but in vain. I just could not do it. I turned to the examiners and I said, "I'm sorry I wasted your time." My heart was broken - this was everything I had dreamed of and I had failed, when suddenly an explosion caused my magic to go out of control. The egg not only hatched but I also cause the baby dragon to grow into a full-sized one, started levitating the examiners and also turned my parents into cacti.
"The next day, I woke to the sound of my parents calling me downstairs. I ran down to find my mom, my dad and my brother all surrounding the kitchen table. I looked down to see a letter addressed to me. I open it and read it aloud.
"Dear Twilight Sparkle, it said.
Congratulations on your entry into my school. I am sure you will enjoy it here greatly, and I am willing to bet a million bits that you will come out of it as one of the best unicorns in Equestria for magical ability.
It is never too early to start your lessons, and seeing your capability for myself yesterday, I would like to start as soon as possible. At the start of next week, you may come to the castle, and we may start your studies immediately.
When you reach the castle, present this letter to one of the guards, and he will show you the way to my chambers.
Her Royal Highness, Princess Celestia of Equestria, Princess of the Sun and Day."
"How did you remember all that?" I interjected.
"Photographic memory. Also it was such a big moment - of course I'm going to remember exactly what the letter said."
"Anyway, back to story."
"Yes," Twilight continued. "I read the letter, and my parents were 'so proud to their little Twilight' and Shining Armour - my brother - he ruffled my mane, saying, "Knew you'd do it."
"The next day, we arrived at the castle, me being weighed down by my saddle bags completely full of quills and parchment. It was my mother and father, and Shining Armour tagged along too. We got the castle gates, where one of the guards stopped us. We immediately showed him the letter, and he looked at it, then smiled.
""So you're the lucky filly the Princess has been talking about?" he said. I nodded, shyly, and the guard grinned at me.
"Follow me," he said. He turned around and began walking into the castle. I remember seeing this amazing decor - the windows telling tales from Equestria's past, the pure gold detailing on the walls, the sparkling marble flooring. I saw it everyday for years afterwards, but even now, it still does amaze me. It wasn't long before we got to a large door, with two large suns on them - one on each. The guard knocked on the door, and stepped back. We heard a voice say, "Come in," and the guard opened the door for me to step inside. I stepped in a took my first glimpse at a sight I would see hundreds, maybe even thousands, of times again.
"Inside, Celestia herself sat in the middle of the room. She was levitating a piece of parchment and a quill, writing some important letter. At the time, I thought it was to some foreign leader somewhere, like Saddle Arabia or perhaps from even further away."
"Wait," I interrupted. "Saddle Arabia?"
"Err...yes. Why, what's wrong?"
"Nothing," I said, smiling. "Carry on."
Twilight gave me a weird look, rolled her eyes, and continued. "She lowered the letter down and turned towards me. "Ahh, good morning Twilight Sparkle. Ready?" I stood there, on the spot, not really sure what I should do. Celestia just looked at me and laughed. "You have no need to be afraid of me, Twilight. You can be sure of that." I turned to my parents, who nodded and gestured for me to go. Celestia turned to my parents. "You can be sure that Twilight will be safe here in my care. Don't worry - I shall send the royal carriage to take her home at the end of the day." My parents nodded, and began backing away. Until, that is, they saw Shining Armour, just staring at the guard who accompanied us in complete awe.
""Shining!" my dad shouted. "Come on." Shining looked over at our father, sighed and began walking towards them. Until something stopped him.
"Celestia stood up, and walked over to him and whispered something in his ear. His eyes suddenly widened, and he nodded enthusiastically. She turned to my parents and said, "Would it be ok if Shining Armour stayed here with his sister? I can guarantee that nothing at all will happen to them - they shall definitely be safe here with me." My parents looked at each other, then my mother turned to the Princess and said, "Of course, Princess." They left after that, leaving me, Shining and Celestia.
"Celestia called the guard over, and said to him, "Golden Arrow, would you mind looking after Shining Armour here. I hear he has ambitions of joining your guard."
"Golden Arrow, who turned out to be Captain of the Royal Guard - something Shining has not forgotten to this day - agreed and my brother went with him, his face taken over by his grin. It was brilliant - just as my dream was starting to come true, so was his. After that day, as soon as he became old enough, he joined the Royal Guard, and when the time came for Golden Arrow to retire, he was made Captain at the request of both Celestia and Golden Arrow. His proudest day.
"As soon as he left, I turned to Celestia, who smiled at me, turned, and began walking towards a door at the back of the room. She turned back to me and gestured for me to follow, so I galloped towards her. She took me into another room - darker than the main one and with a slightly mysterious aura. I was intrigued and wanted to know exactly why she had brought me here.
"The princess walked into the middle of the room, turning towards me once she reached the middle. "I have something I would like to give you," she said. I walked up to her, excited. She turned around, facing a table that I had only just noticed, covered with a cloth. She lifted up the cloth with her magic, and instead of looking to see what was underneath, I was so amazed at seeing Celestia herself's magic being used directly in front of me. It wasn't anything amazing, but for a filly whose greatest dream what to be just like her, it was amazing.
""Twilight," she said, focusing my attention back on what it was supposed to be on. I looked towards the table and gasped. On top of the table was a small dragon, no bigger than a baby. It lay on a small pile of blankets, fast asleep. I walked closer to the table, completely in awe. I had only seen a dragon once before - during my exam the week before.
""Wait a minute," I said. "Is this...?" Celestia nodded. "Yes, this is the dragon you hatched last week. The very same one." She walked over to the other side of the table. "You see, dragons have an extraordinary communication ability - if a certain spell is cast upon them, the letters can be sent to that dragon. When dragons use a certain flame, objects that are caught in that flame, most likely letters, can be transported to other places. Once a spell has been casted upon that dragon, letters that are caught will automatically be sent to whomever cast the spell." And of course, that was what she had done. She wanted us to have the ability to send each other letters magically, without the need to using a mail-mare or any kind of pony messenger. This plan enabled us to immediately send and receive letters from one another, with no effort at all.
"So, I'm sure you can guess, this dragon was Spike. And he has been with me ever since the Princess gave him to me. He started off as really just something to help with communicating with the Princess, but he ended up being more than that. Unlike me, he would talk to the ponies I grew up with, becoming friends with them, to an extent. But even so, he always had time for me, no matter what. Before I moved to Ponyville, as I was growing up, I had only two real friends. One being Shining Armour - my BBBFF. The other, Spike. I don't know what I would have done without him all these years."
All throughout this, I was smiling. I knew the first half of the story - there was an episode where Twilight told the Cutie Mark Crusaders that story - but it was wonderful hearing the rest. I'm probably the only person - well, human, really - who knows that. And it was an amazing feeling.
"What about the others? Like, Rainbow Dash. I think you said. Something like that," I said, trying so very hard not to smile.
"I had picked up a book that I hadn't read before, so took it to one of my favourite reading spots. It told a tale of two royal sisters who came to a disagreement of sorts. One was a Princess of the Day and the Sun, the other of the Night and Moon. The Night princess realised that her subjects would play and have fun during her sister's day, but would sleep through and ignore her night. It started to get to the pony, and eventually she refused to raise her moon to give way for the sun. Her sister tried reasoning with her, but it was no use. In fact, the hatred for her sister had engulfed the once quiet pony, and she became a monster, run on her hatred. She became Nightmare Moon."
I sat listening to this, in awe. On the outside, I just looked interested and intrigued, but the fangirl in me was squeeing, quite loudly. Of course I had heard this story before - I had watched the first episode many times while trying to introduce others to the fandom - but it was completely different hearing coming out of Twilight's mouth in person. I smiled, thinking of how every brony in the world would kill to be in my position. But, I wasn't taking it for granted - oh no, I knew that I would never forget this moment for as long as I lived.
"Her sister," Twilight continued, "torn between fear for her subjects and love for her sister, did not know what to do. Eventually, she felt she had no choice but to get rid of the menace that used to be her sister. Using the power of the Elements of Harmony, she banished her beloved sister ironically on her favourite place - her moon. After this, she herself took over her sister's role, raising and lowering both the Sun and the Moon. Her sister became something of legend - the Mare in the Moon - until eventually she was thought to be nothing more than an old ponies' tale.
"As I read this, I came across the term 'Elements of Harmony' and became intrigued. I had heard of them before, but I could not remember exactly where, or why. I became curious, so I ran towards the library in search of more books on the topic. I found Spike inside, and immediately asked for his help to find a book which I knew would have more on the topic. He found it, and looked up Elements of Harmony inside. It led me to the entry for Mare in the Moon - a myth from olden pony times. The myth was about a powerful pony, who wanted to rule Equestria with eternal night. She was defeated by the Elements of Harmony, and imprisoned in the moon, where, the legend has it, that on the longest day of the 1000th year after her imprisonment, the stars will aid her escape and she will bring about night-time eternal.
"I immediately ordered Spike to take a letter to the Princess, warning her of the danger. After a few...communication difficulties, we finally had the letter ready. Of course, I wanted to send it immediately, but Spike thought otherwise. He said that the Princess was busy with the Summer Sun Celebration, and would have time to deal with this. But I reminded him that this year would be the 1000th Summer Sun Celebration - meaning that if the legend was true, that would be the day that Nightmare Moon escaped.
"We sent the letter, and I got a reply immediately. Spike read it out aloud, as I walked around the library."
"What did it say?" I asked, even though I knew all too well.
"She...didn't believe me. Well, she made out that she didn't. She said that I should 'stop reading those dusty old books'. She went on to talk about how she admires my dedication and enthusiasm to my studies, but I had to stop. There was more to a young pony's life than studying, so to show me that, she sent me to Ponyville, that year's host for the Summer Sun Celebration. I was to oversee the preparations, and, as an extra mission, to make some friends.
"Of course, I was not happy at this. I of course would do my duty to the Princess, and do what she asked, overseeing all the preparations, but I felt that friends were not important. I would spend all my free time finding out more about Nightmare Moon, as I felt that the fate of Equestria did not rest with me making friends.
"When we landed in Ponyville, I was not in a good mood. Spike was determined that I should do everything the Princess instructed me to do, especially making friends. He had insisted on reading the end of that letter during the carriage ride to Ponyville. And of course it was him who insisted I tried talking to some of the ponies who lived there. Just my luck that the first pony I met was Pinkie Pie. But I had told him that I would do what the Princess asked as my royal duty, but then run to where I was staying - at the Ponyville Library - and do research on the myth behind the Elements and the Mare in the Moon.
"First on my list was to check on food. That meant Sweet Apple Acres, and Applejack. The first time I saw her she was right in the middle of her apple bucking routine. I was a bit shocked at first, but then approached her, a bit defeated though. I introduced myself, and told her why I was there. She immediately took my hoof and shook it, introducing herself. I was again shocked at her upfrontness, but retained my composure once more. She asked if I wanted to taste some of the food, and I said yes, hoping it wouldn't take too long. That was when she brought out the entire family. It just so happened to also be the day of the Apple Family Reunion, so pretty much her entire family was there. It was shocking. Extremely. It felt far too rude to leave, so I was forced to stay and eat everything I was offered. Meaning I ended up with an awful stomach ache.
"The next pony I met was Rainbow Dash." I perked up at hearing this. As much as I love the Mane Six, Rainbow Dash is my favourite, as I told Josh earlier. And hearing about Rainbow meeting Twilight from her own mouth was an amazing prospect. "Spike was reading off the list, informing me that Rainbow Dash was in fact in charge of the weather team. And on that cue, Rainbow, of course flew straight into me almost at full speed, sending me straight into a mud puddle. Head first.
"Of course, she apologised, but then decided to try and make things right. She grabbed a rain cloud, and began jumping on it to make the rain fall directly on me. But of course, she overdid it and I was soaking. She looked down, saw her mistake and again tried to fix it. Using her 'own patented Rainblow Dry', she flew around me extremely fast, hoping that the fast moving air would dry me off. And it did. Just ended up completely ruining my mane at the same time.
""Don't thank me - you're quite welcome," Rainbow said, landing in front me. She opened her eyes, and was stunned for a few moments at the sight of my mane all tangled up and making me almost twice as tall than usual. Then she and Spike both burst into laughter.
""Let me guess - you're Rainbow Dash," I said, not particularly happy with this situtation. She immediately jumped up at the sound of her own name. "The one and only! Why? You heard of me?" she said. I told that yes, I had heard of her - heard that she was the one that was supposed to be clearing the sky, which at the moment had not been done. Obviously.
""Oh, that," she said, flying back up to her cloud. "I'll do it in a jiffy." This was not going the way I wanted it to. I had wanted to get this list checked off with quickly and get to the library as soon as I possibly could. I couldn't check the weather off if Rainbow Dash had not cleared the sky like she was supposed to. But then I heard a little more from her.
""Right after I'm done training."
""Training?" I asked. I was quite intrigued. She replied that she was training for the Wonderbolts - the fastest flyers in Equestria. They were due to perform at the celebration afterwards, and she was going to show them exactly what she could do, hoping they'd let her in. I was surprised - almost every pegasi foal dreams of joining the Wonderbolts, but most grow out of it when they realise that they aren't meant for that. I told her that I knew that the Wonderbolts would never accept a pegasi that couldn't keep the sky clear for only one day.
""I could clear this sky in 10 seconds flat," she retaliated. I narrowed my eyes and gave her a little smirk. "Prove it."
"Immediately, she jumped into action. Whizzing around the sky like a bullet! It was incredible. Finally, she finished, landing on the bridge in front of us. "See, 10 seconds flat. I'd never leave Ponyville hanging." She looked over at Spike and I, and we were both amazed, our mouths hanging in complete shock. She started laughing, and flew over to me. "You're a laugh, Twilight Sparkle. I can't wait to hang out some more." And with that she sped off.
"After that we made our way to the Town Hall, where the ceremony would first start, in order to check on the decorations. As Spike and I walked in, we admired the beautiful decorations that had already been put up. Well, I was - Spike had eyes for something else. Or somepony else. On the other end of the hall stood a white unicorn mare, and it was this mare that was making Spike swoon. It was quite funny watching him actually.
""Out of my hair? What about your hair?" she exclaimed. And she began pushing me towards the exit, on the way to her boutique. I shouted to Spike for help, but no luck - he was in a dreamy daze. As soon as we were inside, she immediately set to cleaning up the mess Rainbow had made with my mane. But she didn't stop there - oh no, she then put me in all sorts of different outfits.
""Go on, my dear. You were telling me where you're from," Rarity said, adjusting my outfit once more. I say adjusting - she was actually suffocating me.
""I've...been sent...from...Canterlot...to-" I struggled to say as my lungs collapsed. But as soon as I had said the word 'Canterlot', I felt Rarity let go, causing me to go flying forward, as she gasped.
""Canterlot?!" she exclaimed. Turns out that was the wrong thing to say. "Oh, I am so envious! The glamour, the sophistication! I have always dreamed of living there! I can't wait to hear all about it!" She ran out soon after that looking for some rubies to decorate my outfit with, and I took that as my queue to run out before she started dying my coat a completely new colour.
"The final thing to check was the music. It wasn't long before we found Fluttershy and her birds. The yellow pegasus mare was of course practising for the big day with her birds. But, there was one that sounded ever so slightly off.
"She immediately stopped them, and flew up to the bird. " Excuse me, sir? I mean, no offence, but your rhythm is just a teeny, tiny bit off." The bird nodded and she flew back down, ready to start up the choir again.
""Hello!" I said, taking advantage of the break to announce myself. She screamed, and the entire choir flew away in fright. Leaving Spike by the bushes, I walked up closer to her. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten your birds. I'm just here to check up on the music and it's sounding beautiful. I'm Twilight Sparkle. What's your name?"
"She instantly looked down at the ground and mumbled something. "Sorry, what was that?" I said. This time, it was even quieter. "Didn't quite catch that." She crouched down and began squeaking, exactly like a scared little animal would.
"I had no idea what to do - I thought I was bad with ponies, but this was something completely different. I looked up and saw that one by one her birds were coming back. "Well," I said, slightly relieved. "It looks like your birds are back, so I guess everything's in order. Keep up the good work!"
"I walked back over to Spike, when suddenly I heard somepony yell, "A baby dragon!" Suddenly, that same pony charged straight into me, knocking me a few feet away. I looked over, still sprawled out on the floor and saw Fluttershy staring at Spike excitedly. "Oh, I've never seen a baby dragon before. He's so cute!"
""Well, well, well..." Spike said, looking directly at me.
""Oh my, he talks. I didn't know dragons could talk. That's just so incredibly wonderful, I just don't even know what to say!"
""Well, in that case we'd better be going," I said, lifting him up on to my back, and started to walk away. "Wait, wait!" I heard behind me. Fluttershy had followed us. "What's his name?"
""I'm Spike."
""Hi Spike, I'm Fluttershy. Wow, a talking dragon! And what do dragons talk about?" She sounded absolutely amazed. "Well, what do you wanna know?" Spike said, turning to face her. "Absolutely everything," was the answer.
"My instant thought was 'Oh Sweet Celestia, please no.' But of course, with that encouragement, how could Spike say no? He started telling her the story of his life - the entire story.
"It was only when we finally got to the library that he had finally finished. "Do you want to hear about to today?" I heard. "Oh, how did we get here so fast? This is where I'm staying while in Ponyville and my poor baby dragon needs his sleep," I quickly said. ""No I don't-" Spike started, but he didn't get a chance to finish, since I threw him off my back. "Aww, wook at dat," I said, lowering my head down to his level. "He's so sweepy he can't even keep his widdle bawance!"
"Fluttershy immediately swooped down, picked him up and flew him inside. "Poor thing, you simply must get into bed."
"Yes, yes, we'll get right on that. Well, good night!" I quickly pushed her out and slammed the door shut. I turn around and made out Spike quite close by in the darkness. "Rude much?"
"Sorry, Spike, but I have to convince the Princess that Nightmare Moon is coming, and we're running out of time! I just need to be alone so I can study without a bunch of crazy ponies trying to make friends all the time. Now, where's the light?"
"Suddenly the light turned on, and we froze at the sight of probably every single pony in Ponyville surrounding us. "SURPRISE!" they shouted. We both stood there, completely shocked for while, especially me. All I had wanted all day was to just go home and read up on the legend, and here I find a crowd of ponies, most of which I had never seen before, crowded into the room. And if it wasn't bad enough, a pink earth pony jumped in front of us, yelling, "Surprise!"
""Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie, and I threw this party just for you! Were you surprised? Were ya? Were ya?" Pinkie said, pretty much bouncing about the place. "Yes," I said. "Very surprised. Libraries are supposed to be quiet."
""Well, that's silly! What kind of welcome party would this be if it were quiet? I mean, duh, boring! You see, I saw you when you first got here, remember? You were all "hello" and I was all GASP, remember? You see I've never saw you before and if I've never saw you before that means you're new, 'cause I know everypony, and I mean everypony in Ponyville! And if you're new, that meant you haven't met anyone yet, and if you haven't met anyone yet, you must not have any friends, and if you don't have any friends then you must be lonely, and that made me so sad, then I had an idea, and that's why I went GASP! I must throw a great big ginormous super-duper spectacular welcome party and invite everyone in Ponyville! See? And now you have lots and lots of friends!"
"That was a bit too much for me, and I immediately stopped drinking. But because this wasn't any kind of soda I had ever tasted before. Turns out it was actually hot sauce, and I had just drank a glass of it. That, and on top of the hot sauce thing, caused me to lose it, and I ran upstairs into my room and slammed the door shut.
"That was how I met them all, but as you can tell, we weren't exactly what you would call 'friends' on that first day. They may have thought that, but I thought exactly the opposite."
"But why?" I said. I was actually curious - I had seen the first two episodes so many times and I knew the stories off by heart, but there was a single moment when Twilight wanted them to be her friends, and everything she thought previously changed. "I mean, now you talk about them as if you couldn't bear to be without them. How could you have been so against having friends then?"
Twilight sat there for a while, thinking. "I...it's...For me, my magic was everything. After Celestia accepted me into her school, I finally had the chance to do everything I had hoped and dreamed to do, and I didn't want to let her down. And so I put everything into concentrating on my studies, and other things became either not as important or distractions. I couldn't afford to have those risks."
"Hmm... carry on."
Twilight smiled at me. "I spent that entire night lying on my bed, furious. One thing I wanted - to have some time to research the Elements and Nightmare Moon by myself - and all this 'friend-making' had kept me from that. I didn't want friends. I didn't need friends. I had my books and my ambitions - that was all I required. But no - I couldn't even have a few minutes of silence to myself.
"I heard the door open and sat up to see Spike walking in, with a lampshade on his head of all things. He asked me to come and join the party, which I point blank refused. It was late, I was tired and I hadn't done anything I had hoped to do so far. "But Twilight, it's the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration. Everypony has to stay up, or they'll miss the Princess raise the sun! You really should lighten up, Twilight. It's a party!" And he left.
"I lay back down, staring at the ceiling, thinking about what he had said. He was a baby dragon and here he was telling what to do! I was more than twice his age! I looked out of the window, looking up directly at the moon, as I recited the legend. "I hope that the Princess was right...I hope it is just an old ponies tale."
"Soon after that, Spike called, saying the celebration was about to start. We all made our way to the Town Hall, where Princess Celestia was due to appear any minute. Usually, whenever I watch Celestia at the Summer Sun Celebration, I'm reminded of my first Sun Celebration, the one that inspired me to start up magic. But today, nothing of the sort popped into my head - I was terrified, and worried. Looking around, I could see that nopony else had read the signs like I had - they were all smiling laughing, staring the necks to catch the first glimpse of the Princess. It was just me.
"On the stage, I saw a grey pony walk on and address the town. I guessed this was the mayor of Ponyville, and was correct. "Fillies and gentlecolts," she said. "As mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration! In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the sunrise, and celebrate this, the longest day of the year! And now, it is my great honour to introduce to you the ruler of our land, the very pony who gives us the sun and the moon each and every day, the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria...Princess Celestia!"
"The music started and the curtains were pulled apart to reveal...nothing. Completely empty. The Princess was gone."
It was this part when even I started to get worried. The way Twilight told the story, it was as if I had never heard it before. I was extremely worried all of a sudden, even though I knew everything would be absolutely fine in the end. I even found myself at this point holding my hand up to my mouth in shock.
"The entire room gasped and began muttering nervously as they searched for their beloved Princess. I started panicking - I knew exactly what was happening. Then Pinkie Pie gasped, and the entire room turned to look at the stage. There, coming out from behind the curtains, was some mysterious black smoke. "Oh no," I said. My worst fears were coming true.
"Suddenly a pure black alicorn appeared out of the mist, the mist becoming her mane, with a splash of dark purple on her flank as part of a crescent cutie mark. A periwinkle headdress was covering most of her face, but her eyes - those sharp, teal slits - still shone brightly. She looked around the room and smiled. "Oh, my beloved subjects. It's been so long since I've seen your precious sun-loving faces."
"Suddenly, somepony called out. "What did you do with our princess?!" I turned and saw Rainbow, trying her hardest to fly towards her, but Applejack had a strong hold on her tail and was not letting her. Nightmare laughed. "Am I not royal enough for you? Do you not know who I am?"
""Ooh, Hokey Smokes? How about Queen Meanie? Oh, Black Snooty, Black Snoo-" Pinkie started, until Applejack shoved an apple cupcake in her mouth to shut her up.
"Does my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years? Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?"
""I did," I shouted. "You're the Mare in the Moon. Nightmare Moon!"
""Well well well, somepony who remembers me. Then you also know why I'm here."
""You're here to...to..." I couldn't bring myself to carry on. She laughed. "Remember this day, little ponies, for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night will last forever!" She raised her horn, laughing manically, causing her misty mane to soar up and bolts of lightning struck down around her. The mayor called for the guards to seize her, but of course her magic was too much for them. As they lay on the ground, completely dazed, she turned back into her smoke form and flew out of the town hall.
"I ran straight back to the library, focused on finding out more about the Elements. I instantly put Spike to bed - the poor thing had completely tired himself out - and ran around the library looking for the book I wanted, when suddenly I was ambushed. I turned to see Rainbow Dash staring at me accusingly. She had seen me running from the town hall, and had followed me, hoping to find out exactly what was going on. Suddenly, they were all there - Rainbow, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity - and they were all looking to me for answers. So I told them what I knew - the prediction of Nightmare Moon's return, how the Elements were our only hope of stopping her and getting our Princess back. "But I don't know what they are, where to find them...I don't even know what they do!"
""'The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide'," we heard. We turned to find Pinkie standing by the bookcase, staring in. I ran over, and saw the book I had been searching for. "How did you find that?!" I exclaimed.
""It was under E!" It hit me then that I forgot to check to see if the library had some form of alphabetically system.
""There are six Elements of Harmony," I read. "But only five are known: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty and Loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery. It is said, the last known location of the five elements was in the ancient castle of the Royal pony sisters. It is located in what is now The Everfree Forest."
"They were not too thrilled with entering the Everfree Forest. It was different to anything that they were used to - the clouds moved by themselves and the animals don't need anypony to take care of them. Creepy. So I turned to them and I said that they did not need to come any further with me. This was a problem that I was fine with sorting out myself. I didn't need or want anypony to join me, especially if we were going into a dark creepy forest. But of course, they still carried on.
"We all walked through the Everfree Forest, on our way to the castle, each one of us quite scared. Well, not all of us. You see, Rainbow Dash thought it would be a good idea to scare us a little on our way. I had just asked them if any of them had ever been in here before, and as Applejack was explaining how the forest works differently to the rest of Equestria, Rainbow slowly flew towards us through the mist. "Nopony knows," she said, eerily. "Why? Because everypony who comes in here never comes out!" she ended dramatically. And at that exact moment, the rocks beneath us suddenly gave way, sending me, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity sliding down the cliff-face. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy swooped in, picking up those they could carry - Rainbow saving Pinkie and Fluttershy Rarity
""Applejack!" I screamed. She held my hooves tight, looking for a way to help. "What do I do?"
"She looked down at me and said, "Let go."
""Are you crazy?" I screamed. Here I was, clinging on to the edge of a crumbling cliff face, and here she was, telling me to drop down to my doom. "No, I ain't" she said calmly, then promised that I would be safe. But of course, I didn't believe her - how could I? I was terrified, and I knew that if I didn't act now, I was going to die.
""What I'm sayin' to you is the honest truth." I looked at her, her face looking so trustworthy and I believed her. So I let go.
"I fell for a bit, screaming as I flew to the ground, then suddenly I felt two pairs of hooves around me, holding me up. I opened my eyes and saw both Rainbow and Fluttershy holding me from opposite sides, slowly lowering me to the ground. As soon as we landed, I looked back toward the cliff, where I saw Applejack climbing down by jumping from rock to rock. I found myself smiling for what must have been one of the first times that day.
"We began walking again, making sure we didn't walk over any more cliffs. But just as we were about to walk through between some trees, a manticore jumped out. A manticore is a wild creature native to Equestria, with the body of a-"
"Yeah, I know what a manticore is," I said. I certainly knew my mythology well enough to know what a manticore, and it seemed unnecessary to make Twilight explain what it was.
"Oh, do you have manticores here?"
"Err...no. Not really."
"Oh, ok." Twilight wasn't exactly sure how to respond to that. So she just carried on. "The manticore jumped out, and began roaring and charging at us. We needed to get past it, so we all started attacking it ourselves. Rarity was first, strangely, charging at the manticore. Until the manticore roared so loudly that it ruined her mane. As it chased Rarity, Applejack landed on its head, attempting to use her rodeo skills to subdue him. That didn't end well for her - the manticore launched her off its back, sending her flying. Rainbow took her chance, flying around it a high speed, until the manticore stuck its tail out, knocking out of the air, hitting the ground in front of us. I knew then it was my turn, but I wasn't going to be alone. All the girls followed my lead, as I charged at the creature. All except Fluttershy.
""WAIT!" she cried, jumping in front of us. Everypony stopped and watched as Fluttershy slowly walked towards the manticore. "Shhh... It's okay. Oh, you poor, poor little baby," she said, softly. In its paw was a thorn, stuck firmly in. It all made sense now - why the manticore attacked us for no reason. "Now this might hurt for just a second," she said, warning him before bending down and pulling the thorn out. The manticore suddenly roared at her, causing us all to shout and prepare to defend her. But just as suddenly, the manticore began licking her, obviously thanking her. We all stood in complete awe and shock, until the manticore let her go and we could carry on.
""How did you know about the thorn?" I asked her. "I didn't. Sometimes, you just need to be shown a little kindness," she said, walking past me.
"We then began making our way through the thick part of the forest towards the castle. Rarity was complaining about the mud when suddenly it got very quick and we found ourselves suddenly in pitch black darkness. We were determined to keep going, so slowly made our way through the trees in the dark, until suddenly each of us found ourselves face to face with monsters!
"We all screamed and froze on the spot, completely unable to move. As we sat cowering in the semi-darkness, I caught sight of Pinkie. Instead of being completely terrified like the rest of us, she stood making faces at them and laughing. I yelled for her to run away. She just laughed and said, "Oh girls, don't you see?" Then she burst into song. "Tell me she's not..." I said.
""She is," Rarity said, simply."
"Sing it," I said, a stupid grin on my face. I could imagine nothing better than hearing Twilight Sparkle sing 'Giggle at the Ghosties' live. But she had other ideas.
"No."
"Pleaseeee?"
"No."
"Pretty pleaseeeeeeeee?"
"You're starting to sound like her. No."
"Fine."
"The story behind the song was that when she was that when Pinkie was young, she got scared a lot, until her grandma taught her to laugh in the face of danger and fright. But with that song, she made every single one of us laugh so hard we were rolling about on the forest floor.
"We continued on, still laughing, knowing that we were getting closer and closer. Suddenly we came to a river, and we halted to a stop. The water was rushing very fast and it was impossible for us to cross. We had no idea what we were going to do about crossing, but then we heard some wailing closeby. We walked around the corner, and found a purple sea serpent with a ginger mane crying in the water, his tail splashing about in the water. We slowly approached him to find out what was wrong.
""Excuse me, sir," I asked him. "Why are you crying?" The sea serpent said, "Well, I don't know. I was just sitting here, minding my own business, when this tacky little cloud of purple smoke just whisked past me and tore half of my beloved moustache clean off, and now I look simply horrid!" He threw himself into the water, crying again, splashing us with a wave of water.
"Rainbow Dash looked completely shocked. "That's what all the fuss is about?" Applejack said, not entirely sure what to make of the situation. Rarity gave them both an evil look. "Why, of course it is," she said, walking up to him. "How can you be so insensitive? Oh, just look at him. Such lovely luminescent scales."
"The serpent sniffed. "I know."
""And your expertly coiffed mane."
""Oh, I know, I know."
""Your fabulous manicure."
""It's so true!"
"Rarity sighed. "All ruined without your beautiful moustache."
""It's true, I'm hideous!" he yelled, hiding his face with his arms.
"Rarity's eyes narrowed. "I simply cannot let such a crime against fabulousity go uncorrected!" With that, she ripped out one of the serpent's scales. He shouted in pain, but then soon turned back to see what Rarity was up to. We all watched as Rarity lifted the scale with her magic and brought it swiftly down, slicing her tail off. She lifted the cut off tail and raised it to the remains of the sea serpent's moustache, attaching it to it.
"The serpent looked at it and his face lit up. "My moustache!" I immediately walked up to Rarity, shocked that she did such a thing to her beautiful tail. But she wasn't worried - she was more concerned about the happiness of the serpent.
"I turned to the water noticing that the waves had stopped, allowing us to cross. I began walking across, when suddenly something emerged from underneath me. I looked and the serpent had swam underneath us and emerged, creating a bridge for us to cross. So we all jumped across him, and carried on our quest.
"We walked on a little further when I caught sight of some ruins on the other side of a bridge. "There it is!" I shouted. I was over the moon and began galloping towards it. I turned back and saw the others running after me, but as I turned back, my hoof, which was supposed to land on the bridge, was suddenly landing on nothing. I stopped running, as I started falling down and was pulled back up by Rainbow. "What's with you and falling off cliffs today?" she said, smiling.
"The others soon drew up along the edge of the cliff, all looking down the cliff towards the remains of the broken bridge. "Now what?" Pinkie said. Rainbow opened her wings, gesturing to them. She jumped into the air, as PInkie said, "Oh yeah." She flew down, just past the clouds, and flew back up, carrying the fallen bridge.
"Rainbow landed on the other side, just about to tie the bridge for us to cross, when something stopped her. She heard a voice - barely a whisper at first, but then seemed to get closer and louder.
""We've been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the best flyer in Equestria."
"Rainbow was confused. "Who?" she asked.
""Why, you, of course."
""Really?! I mean, oh yeah, me. Hey, uh, you wouldn't mind telling the Wonderbolts that, would ya? Because I've been trying to get into that group for like, ever."
""No, Rainbow Dash. We want you to join us, The Shadowbolts."
"Out of the shadows came 3 pegasi, dressed similarly to the Wonderbolts, but instead of the Wonderbolts' signature electric blue uniforms, these were dressed in a dark purple version of the uniform - so dark, it was almost black. The pegasus mare in the middle started talking again. "We're the greatest aerial team in the Everfree Forest, and soon we will be the greatest in all Equestria, but first, we need a captain. The most magnificent...swiftest...bravest flyer in all the land."
"The shadowy pegasus flew up to her ear and whispered, "We need... you."
"WOOHOO! Sign me up." Obviously, I wasn't there to hear all this, but Rainbow Dash swears that this is exactly what happened. Thinking that they were trying to get her to join them, she was probably telling the truth. "Just let me tie this bridge real quick and then we have a deal."
""No!" the mare shouted, running towards her. "It's them or us."
Meanwhile, we all stood on the other side, getting quite anxious. Eventually, I called out to her, hoping that she was ok. I looked over towards where Rainbow was, and saw 3 pegasi talking to her. I instantly guessed what they were up to, and immedately started shouting over to Rainbow."Rainbow! Don't listen to them!" But as I shouted, the clouds suddenly grew thick and we lost sight of her completely, and I didn't know if she had even heard me.
"Rainbow stood, not sure what to do. On one side was her friends, ponies who were depending on her. But on the other, her greatest dream was about to come true. She was stuck. Finally, she said, "You."
"The shadowbolt smiled, until she heard Rainbow finish. "Thank you. For the offer, I mean. But I'm afraid I'm going to have to say no." And with that she tied the bridge up and flew off towards us.
"She landed on the other side, and the clouds parted, letting us all cross. "See," she said, flying past me. "I'd never leave my friends hanging!"
"We had finally arrived at the castle of the Royal Pony Sisters and we walked into the main hall of the ruins. In the middle of hall stood a great statue holding the Elements of Harmony. Rainbow and Fluttershy flew up and brought them down. We realised that there were only five of the six here, and I remembered about what the book said. "When the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth element to be revealed." I had an idea of what that meant, but I wasn't completely sure. I told everypony to stand back, as I started casting the spell, but Applejack told everypony to leave, so I could have total concentration.
"As I put all my might into my spell, I heard a noise. I opened my eyes to see the Elements swirling around in a purple whirlwind. I yelled in surprise, and as I heard the others running towards me, I jumped into the whirlwind as it disappeared.
"When I reappeared, it took a few seconds for my sight to readjust. I looked up and gasped as I saw Nightmare Moon herself standing on the other side of the room, on a stone pedastal, with the Elements hovering around her.
"I didn't know what to do, so I did the only thing that I thought would be most likely to work. I charged at Nightmare, my horn glowing. She couldn't believe that I would actually try something like this, but nevertheless she did the same. My horn glowed brighter and brighter as we drew closer, until finally I performed my spell, teleporting me to the Elements.
"Nightmare looked around and finally saw me as I appeared by the Elements. I quickly lowered my head to create a spark spell, and tried as hard as I could to perform it. Nightmare turned into her cloud form and zoomed over towards me, and as she returned to her pony form, the Element started glowing, and a spark went from Element to Element, until finally it hit me, sending me flying backwards.
"I sat up, looking over towards the Elements and Nightmare. Nightmare looked down, at the glowing Elements, horrified. But suddenly, they stopped glowing and sparking. I was shocked. The sixth element was still nowhere to be seen. Nightmare Moon laughed and stomped hard on the ground, causing all the Elements to shatter.
"As I watched the shattered pieces fall to the ground, I felt my own dreams shatter. My last hope had been ruined and now I would never again see Celestia, never again see the Sun, or Celestia raising the Sun at the Summer Sun Celebration. "You little foal!" she exclaimed. "Thinking you could defeat me! Now you will never see your princess or your Sun. The night will last forever!"
"Suddenly, I heard voices. I turned around and saw the shadows of Pinkie, Applejack, Rainbow, Flutttershy and Rarity calling for me, coming up the stairs. As I saw them, a sudden realisation hit me and I gasped.
"It was then that I realised what everything meant, and exactly what I had to do. I looked directly at Nightmare Moon. "You think you can destroy The Elements of Harmony just like that? Well, you're wrong, because the spirits of The Elements of Harmony are right here!"
"Nightmare's face dropped as she saw the other appear behind me. Suddenly, the shattered pieces of Elements started hovering in mid-air. Nightmare looked at them in shock. "What?"
"I turned to look at them individually. "Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of honesty! Fluttershy, who tamed the manticore with her compassion, represents the spirit of kindness! Pinkie Pie, who banished fear by giggling in the face of danger, represents the spirit of laughter! Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift represents the spirit of generosity! And Rainbow Dash, who could not abandon her friends for her own heart's desire represents the spirit of loyalty!" As I spoke, the shattered pieces of Element flew over to the ponies, circling them. "The spirits of these five ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us."
"Nightmare Moon looked terrified, but then a sudden realisation gave her some relief. "You still don't have the sixth Element! The spark didn't work!"
""But it did!" I continued, a smile forming on my face. "A different kind of spark. I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear you, to see you, how much I cared about you. The spark ignited inside me when I realized that you all are my friends!" Suddenly, there was a flash of light and an Element appeared, floating down towards me. "You see, Nightmare Moon, when those Elements are ignited by the... the spark, that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the sixth element: the element of... magic!" I raised my horn towards the incoming Element, and as I did so, the pieces circling my friends suddenly flew together, forming necklaces in the exact shape of their respective cutie marks. The final Element floated down to just above my head, where it transformed into a beautiful tiara, which gently landed on my head.
"We all floated up in the air, and drew closer and closer together. Suddenly, we were engulfed in a bright light and a rainbow suddenly burst out heading straight towards Nightmare Moon. "NOOO! Nooo!" I heard her shout.
"I can't really remember much after that. When we all awoke, it was still dark, but Nightmare was nowhere to be seen. Instead a small navy blue pony lay in her place. But we didn't notice her at first. We were to engrossed with our brand new necklaces. "I thought you were spouting a lot of hooey, " Applejack said. "But I guess we really do represent the Elements." Suddenly, a voice spoke. "Indeed you do." We looked to the east, where we suddenly saw a golden light, and as the Sun rose in the sky, our Princess appeared before us. "Twilight Sparkle," she said, smiling at me. "My faithful student. I knew you could do it." I looked at her in confusion and she explained. She had seen the signs of Nightmare Moon's return and she knew that I was the one to the magical ability to defeat her. But of course, I could not do so until I made some friends, something that I had not yet done at all.
""Now if only another will as well," she ended. She turned to the pony lying on the floor right where Nightmare had been standing. "Princess Luna," she said. The pony's eyes opened in an instant. "It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this. Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister. Will you accept my friendship?" We all stood, in suspense as to what the reply would be.
""I'm so sorry!" Luna ran to Celestia, in tears. "I missed you so much, big sister!" Both Luna and Celestia stood, embracing each other, tears streaming down their faces.
"After that, we all went back to Ponyville, where we were greeted by crowds of celebrating ponies, including Spike. It was then that I remember that I would soon have to return to Canterlot. I couldn't believe it - right when I had finally made friends I had to leave them. But Celestia had other ideas. She announced that I was now going to study the magic of friendship in Ponyville, and I was overjoyed. Since then, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity and I have been the closest of friends."
Twilight was silent for a moment. I understood why - she was reminiscing. It must seem so long ago to her, especially since she had been away from them for so long. I thought she might start crying herself, and I put my hand on her back in comfort. She looked up and smiled at me.
"My friends are the best friends I could ever hope to have - they are true, true friends. Applejack can be as stubborn as a mule sometimes, but her heart is always good. Rarity is...for lack of a better word dramatic, but always knows how to make things better. Rainbow is... definitely a hot-head, but her dreams inspire all of us, and I know they will come true one day. And Pinkie...well, she's Pinkie. But I wouldn't ask for them to be any different. Not even Pinkie Pie."
"Twilight," I said, once she had finished. "You are one amazing storyteller. I could never tell a story like that."
"Oh, it's easy. Why don't you try? Tell me about your friends."
I was a bit stuck.
"I...I don't really have any-"
"Nonsense. You have Josh. And you mentioned a Lydia. And, of course, you have me."
"Grace? Grace! GRACE!" I woke up with a start. I sat up in bed, slightly confused. Turning to my alarm clock and checked the time. 8.00 in the morning. I groaned and lay back down again. First full day of the holiday, and I was woken up at a ridiculous time.
Suddenly, my door burst open and I opened my eyes again to my mum standing on the doorway. "Grace," she said, her hands on her hips. "Get up."
"But it's summer..."
I dived under the quilt again, and was in peace for a few seconds, until my mother pulled the covers off me. I sighed and sat up properly, rubbing my eyes. "Remind me why you're making me get up at such a ridiculous time," I said.
"Your grandmother will be here in half an hour," she said, turning around and walking out.
Of course I jumped up. My grandma is brilliant and lovely and just great. And every time she comes here, it turns into a brilliant time. She's not the usual knit-a-jumper, bingo playing, constantly medicating granny. No, she is so much fun - when it's just me and her in the house, she lets me have parties, and stay up late, and eat whatever I want. The only thing is I'm too good to use them. I never have wild parties - I'm far too unpopular for wild parties and I would much rather just watch loads of Disney films by myself. I hardly ever stay up late - I like getting up early, especially in summer. Summer mornings are great, and I feel as if I've wasted the day if I don't get up at a reasonable time. I don't mean at like 6 of course - I tend to wake up around 9 or 10. Any later than that, and my day is wasted. I tend to eat quite healthily - I like fruit and stuff, and occasionally I'll make myself pancakes in the morning, but only occasionally. I'm not saying I don't eat cake and stuff - just not a lot. My parents tend to not buy that kind of stuff, so there's never anything like it in the house. But usually, if I'm hungry, I would just go eat an apple, or a salad.
Yeah, I know I'm boring and an awful teenager, but I would love to actually do something this year. If Twilight wasn't in the way. I can't have friends over for a party if Twilight is still here. They could easily come across her, and that would require a lot of explanation.
I ran out of my room to the bathroom and started getting ready. I had just about finished when I heard a taxi pull up outside our house. I looked of my window and saw my grandma, shooing the driver away from the boot. "I can carry them myself! I'm not an invalid!" I heard.
I instantly ran downstairs, bounding down them two at a time, and sprinting out of the door.
"Grandma!" I shouted as I ran out to greet her.
"Gracey!" she said, greeting me with a hug. As I hugged, I had a perfect view of the Barn, and to my horror, I saw Twilight, trying to look out of the window to see what was happening. I felt a jolt in my stomach, and immediately started waving for her to get down.
My grandma broke apart, and looked at me strangely. "What are you doing?" she asked.
"Oh, er...there was a fly. You know me, I hate bugs," I said, waving the air a bit more.
"Hello, Mum," my mum said, smiling at Grandma. Grandma immediately forgot about the strangeness of her granddaughter, and went over to greet her daughter.
"Hello, Sweetie. How are you? And Will?" She said looking at each of my parents.
"Morning, Lillian," Dad said. "Nice journey?"
"Lovely." This was a typical Grandma move - acting like an adult in front of my parents, then as soon as they're gone, she starts acting like a teenager. Well, like a grandma behaving like a teenager.
But don't get me wrong - I love her to bits. She's the only grandparent I have now, and I honestly don't know what I'd do without her. She's awesome.
Dad picked up one her bags, and started to take it inside, while my mum paid the taxi driver. "I wish you had told us you were almost at the station - I would have come to pick you up. There was no need to get a taxi."
"Now really, Will. It is 8.30 in the morning. If it was up to me, I wouldn't even be up now, and us pensioners are supposed to be 'early birds'."
It didn't take long for Grandma Lil to start settling in. She was used to coming here - it was her second home.
I walked into the Barn and saw Twilight, lying on the floor, her head on her hooves. As she saw me, she sat up. "What's going on?"
"My grandma's here. She'll be here for some time, while my parents go to a conference in Manchester."
"Oh, ok. Does she know about me?"
"No, not really," I said. "So, if she ever comes in here, either hide or just don't draw attention to yourself."
Twilight nodded. "Also," she continued. "There's something's that been bugging me."
"What?"
She walked over to the far side of the room, the gaming part of the room. "What is that?," she said, stopping in front of the TV. At first, I thought she was talking about the TV, when I realised her hoof was actually pointing at something else.
My Wii.
"Oh, that's my Wii." I knelt down and switched everything on. Picking up the remote, I said, "It's a games console. You play video games on it."
Twilight sat in front of the screen, completely mesmerised by it. That was when it actually hit me what I was doing. I just showed a pony video games.
"Can I try?" she said, still watching the screen.
And she wanted to play.
Part of me was cheering inside, another thinking, "There must be some kind of fan-fiction on this," and the other part of me was thinking, "Too bad this isn't Luna."
"Yeah, although, it's not really made for a pony to use. You'll probably have some trouble."
Right then, I heard someone shout my name, and I walked over to the window and saw my mum walking towards the Barn. I immediately grabbed Twilight, putting her in the corner and throwing a blanket over her, and running back to the TV. I started to turn it off, and was just about to when my mother walked in.
"Grace? Your grandmother has just arrived. You can wait to play video games tomorrow. But for now, spend some time with her."
"Oh, ok." I got up and followed my mother out of the door. As I shut the door, I saw Twilight emerge from underneath the blanket, her purple and pink striped mane messy from hiding. She looked up at me, her eyes questioning what I was doing.
"I'll be back later," I tried mouthing. I have no idea if she understood what I said because I had to run after my mum straightaway.
The rest of that day was spent talking about the plans for tomorrow - parents leave, Grace and grandma stay. Although, I knew that wouldn't be the case. I gave her 5 minutes - 10 at max - before she leaves for the entire day, or two. Of course, my parents don't know - they think she goes out to visit friends for a couple of hours only, coming back straightaway.
But I was excited. This holiday was the first one where I was basically going to home alone. And it was going to be brilliant, and amazing, and I couldn't wait.
Of course, it was going to be so much more than I expected to be.
The next day, I woke up - normal time, thankfully - and went downstairs to find my parents sitting in the living room, with my Grandma, surrounded by an awful lot of bags.
"Morning," I said, walking into the room.
My grandma immediately looked over to me, and waved, turning back to my parents. My parents were in the middle of a conversation about which route they were taking, and where they should stop for breaks and stuff like that, and didn't actually acknowledge my existence until they finally finished, agreeing to stop twice along the way, and turned towards me standing just inside the threshold.
"Oh, good morning darling. Have a nice sleep?"
Ladies and gentlemen, Kate and Will Blackwood - the kind of parents that hardly acknowledge their only child's existence. And this isn't the first time. Oh no, I've been forgotten about many times. Once, when I was about 12, we were at a restaurant with a few family friends, and towards the end I went to the toilet, only to find, when I came back, that they were all gone.
Then there was the time when my dad forgot to pick me up from school when I was 7 and I had to sit there for 3 hours after school finished before he came speeding down the road, stopping directly in front of the fence I was sitting on, and threw the passenger door open for me to climb in. When I did, he just smiled at me and asked, "How was school?"
But I digress. I stood there in the living room, shaking my head slightly, as my parents looked at each other confused as to why I was doing that, while my grandma laughed to herself.
Suddenly, she stood up. "Don't you two have a Manchester to be driving to?"
And with that, they immediately went into leaving mode. They grabbed their bags, fitting them into car, double and triple checked their route, stocked up on food, double checked that they had their chargers and stuff, and finally, after about an hour and a half of me coming down, they were finally in the car, starting to drive away.
"Don't annoy your grandmother too much. Don't forget about Lakeside - Lydia's parents will pick you up here on the day and drop you off again, I've already arranged it. We'll call you when we get there," my mother semi-shouted at me out of the open passenger-side window.
"Mum, don't worry. I'll be fine. What could I possibly get up to?"
"I know sweetheart, but I worry." Dad just chuckled to himself, and smiled at me. "Bye, Grace," he said, before starting the car and driving off.
"Bye! Have fun in Manchester!" I shouted at the car.
"Behave!" Mum shouted as they drove away.
Grandma and I stood there, and kept waving them goodbye, until the car disappeared around the corner.
"Right," Grandma Lil said. "I'm leaving. Don't burn the house down. Don't die. Don't get pregnant. If you have a party, try to clean up afterwards. Oh, and make sure they bring their own booze." She went inside, grabbed a bag she had ready, then walked straight past me towards the road. "Bye."
I stood there for a bit, not too surprised. She usually did this - she likes going out, and doesn't like staying inside at all. But it meant something - I was alone. A teenager, with the most friends I've ever had, alone at home. I grabbed my phone, brought out Josh's number and dialled.
"Hello?" was the answer.
"Would you like to come over? I'm sure Twilight would love some more company."
"Won't your parents question it?"
"Hope not. They're on their way to Manchester right now. Just me at the moment. By myself. Alone."
There was a short silence. "Sure. I'll be right over."
"Great. See you soon." I hung up, and walked towards the Barn. I walked in and turned towards Twilight.
"Morning, Twilight. Guess who's coming over?"
***
The doorbell rang, and I saw Twilight freeze. I had taken her into the kitchen, because there was no point her sitting in the Barn when she could be in a real house. She had spent enough time in the Barn as it was.
But of course, she knew that no one could see her. She was worried about my parents walking in, or my grandma suddenly coming back. I assured her that they wouldn't but no - she was still worried.
I ran to the front door, swing it open, and smiled as I saw the tall figure of Josh standing there, his hair in its usual tidy mess. He opened his mouth and pointed at me, as if he had something really important to say, but that moment I heard a bang come from the kitchen, so I sprinted back in, with Josh following me.
As I ran into the kitchen, I found the entire contents of one of the cupboards lying on the floor, with the cupboard shut, and Twilight nowhere to be seen. I walked up to cupboard, jumping over the stuff on the floor, and slowly opened it.
"Twilight? What are you doing in there?"
I swung the door open fully to show the cowering purple unicorn crouching in a cupboard. I turned around and saw Josh standing there, very confused.
"Twilight?" he said.
"I was hiding."
"From who?"
"Whoever was at the door," Twilight said, starting to climb down from her high cupboard.
"You mean Josh?" I said, lending an arm to help her down.
I could see Twilight was embarrassed - she went pink and lowered her head down, not looking at us. I could understand why she did it - she was scared. She had always had me and the Barn. That was her haven. And taking her away from that was not easy for her to handle. Especially after what happened the last time she came into the house, when she first arrived.
I took a mental note.
"Hey, come on. Let's go over to the Barn," I said, hoping that would make her feel more at ease.
And it seemed to work. We all sat in the Barn for hours just talking - about plans for summer, about previous summers, about Lakeside. And throughout it all, I could see Twilight really relax. And that was when I realised that I felt relaxed too. More so than usual. I was with my friends, and I felt that nothing could go wrong. It was the best fun I had had in a long time.
When I woke up, I was slightly disorientated. Not 'woke up in Vegas with no recollection of the previous night, a pounding headache and a mysterious ring on my finger' disorientated. Just that I knew I wasn't in my room, and I was confused as to why I found myself suddenly waking up in the Barn.
I sat up, and saw that I was also still in yesterday's shorts and t-shirt. "A bit weird," I thought. Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I pulled myself up, and started walking to the door.
I tiptoed quietly around the sleeping Twilight curled up on the floor, making my way to the door, when I saw something in a reflection on the window. A body, lying right next to where I was. I spun around and couldn't help but yell out.
"Josh?!"
He woke up with a start.
"Wha?"
"What are you doing here?" I said, half-shouting.
"You invited me over?"
"I mean, why are you still here?"
Josh rubbed his eyes and sat up. "Err...we were in here, and we started...I think we were playing on your Wii. And then you fell asleep, and then Twilight fell asleep, then I fell asleep. I think."
"Okay, fair enough. One more question though."
"What?"
"Why are you in your boxers?"
Josh looked down, and saw himself only in his boxers. Going a bright red, he grabbed his t-shirt from a small pile by his side, and quickly put it on. "I...I tend to get hot when I sleep, and I usually wake up and...er...take some clothes off..."
I raised my hand up to my face, trying my best not to laugh. Eventually, I needed to turn away from him; I was so scared that I would just burst out laughing.
"Come...on..." I said, taking pauses to hold back the laughter. "Let's go...and...get breakfast."
I opened the door, and waited for Josh for get changed, then started walking back towards the kitchen.
I had my hand on the door handle when we heard something that made both our hearts stop.
"And what's this?"
Both of us froze. I slowly spun around to find my grandma standing behind us, hands on her hips, eyebrow raised.
I completely froze. I could sense Josh doing the same next to me. Which is understandable. I mean, what guy wouldn't? And I can hear you now - why was I suddenly so terrified of my grandma? It's not like she forbade me from having friends over, or that anything happened between Josh and me. And I wouldn't have been, if it weren't for that tone.
I have never heard her use that tone with me before. She sounded...angry. And I had no idea how to react to that.
"Err...we..."
She suddenly started laughing, and we both just stood there, so very confused.
"Oh, I'm just messing with you two. Nice to meet you - I'm Grace's grandma, Lillian," she said, extending her hand to Josh.
Josh stared at it for a few seconds, frozen in shock, until he finally took it, shaking it slowly, and said in a quiet voice, "I'm Josh."
"Well Josh, are you staying for breakfast?"
Josh nodded, acting in a way that immediately reminded me of Fluttershy. "Yes, please."
The poor thing. My grandma actually broke him. He just sat in the kitchen with an apple in his hand, slowly eating it, as my grandma smiled at him. As soon as he finished, he pretty much ran out of the house, with a quick goodbye and nothing more.
"Well," my grandma said, once he'd left. "He seems nice. Good boyfriend material."
"He's not my bo-"
"I know, sweetheart."
"Wait. You do?"
"I know my little Gracey. I know when she does and doesn't like someone. And I know when that someone feels the same way."
I smiled. My grandma actually gets me. She is the only one in the world who actually understands what is going on in my head. She's not worried about leaving me in the house because she knows I'm not going to do anything stupid. She gives me permission to have parties because she knows that that's not really my thing, and even if it was, I don't have any one to invite. She trusts me bringing the few friends I do have over because she knows I would not be friends with someone who took advantage of me or would wreck the house or anything.
And this is why I love my Grandma Lil.
I realised, a few hours later, that I probably owed Josh an apology - I mean, he was probably just rocking back and forth in his room, completely broken. So, I called him.
It didn't take him to long to answer.
"Hello?" I heard his voice say.
"I am so sorry Josh."
"About what?"
I paused for a second or two. "My...grandma...?"
He laughed. "Oh, that? It's fine. I mean, it's kinda funny now."
"Okay...?" I will never understand guys.
"Anyway, what's up Grace?"
"No, I just wanted to make sure my grandma didn't break you or anything. We wouldn't want that now, would we?"
"Absolutely not." I could almost hear him smiling on the other side. "Oh, by the way, I'm going into town with Jaime in a minute or so. Wanna tag along?"
"Oh, I wouldn't want to intrude on you guys spending time together."
"Oh please. We'd both love for you come. So, what d'ya say?"
I thought about it for a moment. "I'd love to. I need to get some stuff for Lakeside anyway, so two birds, one stone. Thanks."
"Don't worry about it - we'll come pick you up in like 10 minutes. See ya."
A trip to town doesn't seem like much, but to me it was. Lydia, unlike me, was actually popular amongst the girls in our years. She was always invited to parties and trips to various places, whereas no one ever even considered me as an option. But Lydia was always great and did her best to include me when she could, which was mainly on trips into town. And I knew that all those trips I had been invited on were just out of pity and not much more - she tries to deny it, but I've seen the looks on her friends' faces when I walk up to meet them. They don't want to spend time with me, and let's face it, I don't want to spend time with them really. But sometimes it's nice to feel included, even if it's false.
But I could tell this was different - Josh actually wanted me there, because...we were friends. And I imagine Jaime thought the same. They actually wanted to hang out with me, spend time with me, be a friend to me. And it was fantastic.
After a few minutes, I was outside waiting for them. Josh knew the way to my house, so I wasn't worried about that. But I was a bit worried about how he was getting here. As I was thinking about that, I heard several high pitched beeps from behind me. I spun around to see a small red car, rattling down the road towards me.
Now when I say it was a car, I mean it in the broadest term - it was more like a rusty metal box on wheels that was somehow (probably through luck or maybe magic) moving. I stood there, my mouth gaping wide open, as it pulled (or rather, sputtered) up next to me. The window rolled down and I saw Jaime sitting in the passenger seat. He smiled and waved at me. I was just about to wave back when I saw Josh sitting next to him.
"Yo Grace! Get in!" Josh shouted out to me.
"Yeah, about that. There is no way on Earth I am getting into that."
He sighed. "Hey, this is my baby we're talking about. Don't judge a book by it's cover - she's perfectly safe."
I hesitated for a moment and then grabbed the handle. "Fine, but if I die in this thing, you're explaining it to my parents."
Josh laughed. "Oh come on. Where's your sense of adventure? 'You Only Live Once' after all."
"Don't you dare..."
And with that, Josh sped off, yelling 'YOLO' at the top of his voice, with me sinking into the back seat, wincing. He stopped after a few minutes (thank God), so I asked a question I had been meaning to ask.
"How long have you been driving? I didn't know you had even passed your test."
"A few months now," Josh said, not taking his eyes off the road. "Didn't seem much point in driving into school for the last few weeks, but I drive everywhere else. Jaime'll be passing soon too, hopefully."
Jaime sighed. "I would have passed before you if it wasn't for that stupid examiner." He turned in his seat to look at me. "She's an absolute bitch. She's failed me twice now, for the most ridiculous things. But this prick over here," he pointed to Josh, "he went to a different centre. So he didn't get Mrs 'You Made One Very Minor Mistake That Could Potentially Lead to a Serious Accident So I'm Failing You' - instead, he got a nice one."
"Really? Only one minor?" I asked. That really did not seem fair.
"Well, more than one, but still. I deserved that pass. Well, probably not..."
"Well, I'm sure you'll pass next time. Hopefully you won't get such a horrible examiner." I was still too young to drive. I still had a few months until I could even get my provisional, but driving seemed so difficult - I would not trust myself behind the wheel of a car. At all. I can barely tie my own shoelaces without them coming undone immediately and me tripping over them. Knowing me, I'd probably crash a car after 30 seconds of me touching the wheel. I wouldn't even trust myself to wash a car - I'd probably still end up killing someone.
Despite the feeling of impending doom I got from that metal death trap, Josh was actually a fairly good driver. He never looked away from the road once, never stalled the car or even cut a kerb. However, no amount of safe driving could make me feel at ease, and when we finally parked, I jumped out of the car, practically throwing myself to ground.
Shopping with the guys was an experience I had never had. With Lydia and her friends, it was always that stereotypical girl nonsense - 'let's go bra shopping!' or 'let's go bikini shopping!' and the dreaded 'let's get makeovers together!'. Oh, and don't forget that ridiculous day when we went to a bridal shop and browsed the dresses. I kid you not - they were so close to trying on wedding dresses.
But with Josh and Jaime, it was completely different. The first time I went with them, I could only stay for a short time, so we only really went for some food. But I had all day with them this time, and I was really excited. Actually being able to spend some time with people who were like me... I couldn't ask for anything more.
To get us started, we stopped off to grab some milkshakes first. This was going to be a long day, and we were gonna make sure we had enough energy to take us through the entire day.
The guys ordered their milkshakes first (chocolate-banana and vanilla-caramel) and then I went up to order mine.
"It's quite cramped in here, we're gonna wait for you outside Grace," Josh said, trying his best to move against the river of people entering the shop.
"That's fine, I won't be long." I didn't blame him - this milkshake bar was extremely popular. It was only been open a couple of months but it had literally the best milkshakes in the world. I would queue up for years to get one of these milkshakes and a lot of people would agree with me.
But since there were a lot of people, it was taking them a little longer to get my order ready. They gave me a complimentary chocolate bar and told me to sit down and they'd get it to me as soon as they could. I was debating running outside to tell the guys or just to sit and wait with my chocolate, so I was looking to see just how easy it would be to get out to the door and then back.
And that's when I saw the worst possible thing that could possibly happen.
"Oh shit," I said, quickly turning away, praying to God it didn't see me.
"Gracey."
Fuck.
I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and turned around.
"Hi Bella."
That stupid little smirk. The number of times I've seen that directed towards me, and it still drives me crazy.
"Fancy seeing you here, Grace. Shopping by yourself? Well, I don't blame you - you need to buy those rags from somewhere, right?" she said, that terrible false smile plastered on her face.
That was the worse part about Bella. What she said wasn't really the issue, it was how she said it. Anyone walking past would hear her tone, and assume she was a great friend of mine, saying such kind things. When in reality, every word that came out of her mouth directed at me was some horrible insult, disguised as either a false compliment or, even worse, an almost caring sentiment.
"No, I'm actually with some friends," I said, trying to glance around to see if I could find either of the guys around to save me from this bitch.
"You, with friends?" she laughed. "Now that's a sight I'd like to see."
And here it was. The reason I cannot stand this girl. Because every time it feels like something good is happening to me, she always somehow seems to swoop in and ruin it. My God, I remember when I first discovered MLP - I felt like it was such a great sweet show and it genuinely made me happy. Happier than I had been in a while at that point. Lydia could see that I was much happier at school, and my parents were shocked at how much I had changed at home.
Then Bella found out.
Granted, I've never been particularly popular when it came to school - people have teased me about all kinds of things, but this was a whole new level.
Just imagine walking into school, noticing that people are staring at you, some of them whispering to each other as you walk past. There are girls shaking their heads and the guys are straight up laughing. And then Bella appears and straight up tells you. That she knows.
The thing is...she didn't just tell people that I watched a kids show. Like people wouldn't care about that, and she knows it. So she did her research, found out about bronies and...well, the reputation that some of them have.
And that's what she tells people.
So then I'm branded as a paedophile and the scum of the Earth, because that is what Bella has told everyone. And they all believed it.
Now I know that bronies are not paedophiles and they're not all gay (even if they were gay, there is also nothing wrong with that) but it is very difficult to explain that to a bunch of teenagers who already dislike you.
This girl has been the bane of my life for years - it seems like it is her goal in life to upset me, to make me feel like I'm worthless, like the world would be better off if I wasn't there.
But that's not true.
"You know what, Bella," I said, refusing to let her mind games work this time. "Shut the fuck up."
I was in the middle of an extremely busy shop, with people around me on all sides, but at that moment it felt like the world had gone silent, and the only two people standing there were me...and Bella.
"What...did you say?" she said, slowly stepping towards me.
I froze with fear. I quite honestly have no idea what came over me - yes, I've said things like that to her, but always under my breath, or after she had walked away. Never actually to her face, though. Saying something like that was always the kind of thing that I thought about 5 hours after the conversation had ended, and wished that I could go back to scream in her face.
And here I had just done it.
And she was furious. My god, if she looked any angrier, she might have burst into flames then and there. I had no idea what to say or do to make this situation any better, until...I thought of Twilight.
I hadn't known Twilight for particularly very long but I had spent a fair amount of time watching her grow up with her friends in Ponyville. And seeing how she had changed from the solitary pony she was, to being surrounded by friends... I knew that I had always found it difficult to make friends, but now I didn't just have Lydia. I have Josh and Jaime, and of course Twilight herself. If I could do what I had always thought was impossible, then maybe that wasn't all I could do.
I looked Bella right in the eyes and spoke the truest words I had ever said in my life.
"You have spent every waking moment of your life making sure that mine is as miserable as it can possibly be. You have tormented me, terrorised me and turned everyone against me. But I'm not taking it anymore. I am not some worthless piece of crap, like you always say I am. I am not some crazy girl, and I am not unwanted or ugly or stupid or any of the other things you call me on a daily basis. I am me - I am kind, I am caring and I am done with your bullshit. So yeah, Bella. Shut up. Shut up, and fuck off."
There was silence for a short while, until I heard someone clapping. I turned to see a few semi-familiar faces standing not too far from us - people I had seen around school - staring directly at me, applauding. Slowly but surely, the applause tricked around the room, until everyone, including the waiters and baristas, was cheering for me, some even shouting 'you go girl!'.
Bella looked startled, and almost scared, as she turned to look around the room. But, for probably the first time ever, there was no one here to support her. There was no one willing to stand with her in her corner.
At this point, she knew exactly what it was like to be me every day of my life - to be heckled by near-strangers while someone you know torments you.
I almost felt sorry for her. The only difference is that she doesn't have to relive this for the rest of her life. I know that I will.
Bella finally had enough and ran out, pushing against the huge crowd, screaming at people to 'get the fuck out of her way', until she was gone.
I turned around to collect my milkshake, and was immediately congratulated by (what felt like) hundreds of pats on the back - "Good for you for standing up for yourself!" "You should never let a bully rule your life!" "Don't let the haters get you down, that was brilliant!"
It felt like they were still cheering when I finally left to rejoin the guys.
"What the hell happened in there?" Josh asked, raising an eyebrow.
"The little guy finally stood up," I said, walking straight past them. I carried on walking as I heard 'what the hell is that meant to mean?!' shouted in my general direction. I laughed and gestured for them to follow.
I honestly can't tell you much about what happened for the rest of the day. We went all around town, visiting all the best shops and spots, but I was in such a daze of happiness that I was essentially on autopilot for the entire day.
I am not the kind of person to stand up for myself. On the contrary, I have buckled under more people that I can't even count. I am not someone to seek out conflict, so I tend to just stay quiet when things happen. God, if Bella had said what I said to me, I would have been completely silent and probably would have just apologised to her, just so it would stop. And here I was, finally standing up for myself. This was a huge step for me, a turning point in my life, and honestly...