Notice: This story contains mild language, and some dark themes
***
Even in the darkest times, there will always be someone to show you the way.
***
Lost, left with nothing, that was Ricky. He worked at a restaurant down the street, flipping burgers, and got paid barely enough to survive. His parents had been killed in a car accident a year ago. He was in three thousand dollars in debt, and his job wasn't enough to cover it, so it would only get worse. No one cared about him either. He never had any friends but he sure had gotten a lot of enemies in middle and high school who had ridden him every day, taking his lunch money a lot and beating him up at least once every two weeks or so, sometimes bad enough to put him into the hospital. His grandparents on his dad's side hated him because they had never wanted his dad to marry his mom but since he did anyways, and they had Ricky, they hated Ricky and wouldn't give him a single penny to save his life, and his grandparents on his mom's side were both dead, one killed from cancer, the other killed from being hit by a drunk driver.
Another thing that greatly affected Ricky's life was that he had never done well in school. His grades, through kindergarten all the way through twelfth grade, had always been less than average. Because of this, there was hardly any college that would accept him, and even if there was one, he didn't have enough money to pay for it. Hell, he had barely enough money to pay for the tiny, crappy apartment that he lived in. He didn't know what the point of his life was, or even if there was one. All he knew was that the shotgun in the closet was seeming more nicer every day...
The only thing that still made Ricky happy was his favorite TV show, My Little Pony. No one else knew he watched this, and he was glad. If anyone else knew, he knew people would only hate him more. On the weekends, he spent entire days just watching the show, and he even cried sometimes, seeing how good the lives of the characters in the show were compared to his. He wanted his life to be like Rainbow Dash's, popular and well-liked, known by everybody, or like Pinkie Pie's life, who was friends with everyone. He knew this was impossible though. He was... no one.
A normal day for Ricky was waking up, getting dressed in his old, worn-out clothes, and walking down to work. He was lucky his job was right down the street because he didn't even have enough money to own a car. He would work, take hate from his fellow workers who tried to humiliate him whenever they got the chance (simply because he was easy to pick on) and then home to his lonely life. He would go to bed and the whole process would repeat, except if the next day was a weekend. Everything Ricky saw through his eyes was worn out, the whole damn world was worn out, his life was worn out. He was a nobody, living in a world where if you weren't somebody, you were screwed.
One Friday morning, Ricky was awakened by his alarm clock which was sitting on the bedside table. He rolled over in bed and shut it off. He groaned, sitting up, stretching out his arms. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and slowly got out of bed.
It's Friday, just this last day of work, then I can get some peace, finally, Ricky thought to himself.
Ricky went over to the closet, grabbed a random selection of clothes, and headed into the bathroom to shower. When he was done with that, he went to eat breakfast but all he could find was a stale biscuit in the pantry. He didn't even have enough money to get a good amount of food for himself, as he used most of it to pay for his tiny apartment. As Ricky ate the biscuit, he glanced over at the closet where his shotgun was kept. Not yet, he thought to himself. I'm not going to be driven to that yet.
After eating his excuse of a breakfast, Ricky walked to work. It was kind of cloudy, and the air was chilly. The people who walked past Ricky on the sidewalk who didn't know him simply ignored him, however, the 20 year old newspaper guy who stood on the sidewalk every morning snickered at Ricky as he walked past.
Look, there goes little scrawny brainless Ricky in his old hobo's clothes, Ricky could almost hear the news guy thinking. The news guy snickered some more, and Ricky made a rude hand gesture at him. The news guy simply grinned, and stuck out his tongue.
How mature of him, Ricky thought to himself.
Ricky finally stopped at the front of his restaurant where he worked and walked inside. Several workers were already there. One of them, the cashier who was a 19 year old girl named Alexis, glared at him. Ricky ignored her and walked past all of them, wishing that the day was over so he could go home and watch his show.
Ricky walked into the back room of the restaurant and just stood back near the stove, waiting for it to open so he could start cooking.
A little while later, after the restaurant was open and people were coming in for lunch, it was almost Ricky's break time. Just as he was about to leave to go back for his apartment for awhile, his boss stuck his head into the room.
"Ricky! Keep those burgers coming! People are getting impatient!"
"It's my break time, though," Ricky said.
"Not for you! You're going to keep cooking!"
"But it's my break time!"
"I don't give a damn if it's your break time or not!" the boss shouted at him. "You keep freakin working, or I'm not paying your ass a cent this week!"
Ricky knew the boss was serious, so he agreed, and worked throughout his whole break time.
Ricky was finally done working at five that evening. As he walked home, he passed another familiar news guy, who stood out there in the afternoons. Even though he didn't snicker or stick his tongue out like the morning news guy did, he was sure to step back away from Ricky several steps, as though Ricky had some dreadful, contagious disease. Ricky didn't care, at least this guy left him alone.
Ricky got back to his apartment and did the same thing he did every day: He stared at the closet that his shotgun was stored in, and wondered if he should just end his miserable life. His heart was exhausted from everything and everyone, and he felt like there was nothing left. Nothing except...
Ricky went over to the old couch in the living room, and looked for the remote for his old TV. He couldn't find it.
As Ricky looked for the remote, his phone rang. Annoyed, he went over and answered it.
"Hello? Ricky, is that you?"
It was Ricky's boss.
"Yeah, what do you want?"
"I'm not paying you this week."
Ricky gasped. "What?"
"I don't think you worked hard enough this week to get paid," the boss said nastily. "Maybe you will get paid next week if you actually get off your ass and do something."
Ricky slammed the phone down. No money, no food, no hope. That did it. He headed for the closet. Maybe the boss would feel sorry for him when he was dead... But Ricky doubted it. He opened the closet and reached for the weapon inside as someone stepped into the living room behind him.
"Ricky? Is your name Ricky?" a familiar voice asked.
Ricky gasped, turning around, and stared at a purple unicorn staring at him from the center of his living room. For a moment, he just stood there in shock. "Twilight- um, Twilight? Twilight Sparkle?" Ricky stammered.
The animated-looking unicorn smiled at him. "That's me."
"But- but- but how did you get here?" Ricky asked, still not believing what he was seeing.
"Dimensional Shunting spell," Twilight said proudly. "It took a lot of magic to get it to work, and it was seriously complicated."
"But- how the hell is that possible? You're not real! You're a fictional character from a TV show! Am I going crazy?"
"I'm really here."
"But- why me? If you're real, why me? Why, out of all people, visit someone like me? I think, whoever you came here for, you got the wrong person, because nobody knows and nobody cares about me!"
"I got a letter from my teacher, a princess who rules the land where I come from," Twilight said. Her name is Princess Celestia. Anyways, her letter told me how to do a Dimensional Shunt spell, how to concentrate to end up in a particular place, which is here- and it also told me of a human who was in trouble, who needed to be saved from himself. That would be you."
"But-"
"You were just about to kill yourself, weren't you?" Twilight interrupted sadly. "Please don't do that. I'm here to help you."
Ricky had finally decided that Twilight was actually here, and he spoke to her. "Yes, I was about to kill myself," he said in a dark voice. "Oh Twilight, if only you knew what my life has been like..."
"What's your worst memory you can imagine?" Twilight asked. "I want to see it, if that's ok with you."
"Um, I guess you can, but how are you going to see it?" Ricky asked.
"Just think of it," Twilight said.
Ricky thought of the worst memory of his life, and thought of it with some difficulty, as he didn't want to relive it.
"Are you thinking of it?" Twilight asked.
Ricky nodded. Twilight closed her eyes, her horn glowed purple, and a second later, she was in Ricky's head, and she saw
a classroom, full of kids. Ricky was sitting in the back, a year younger, only seventeen years old. He sat in the back of the classroom, obviously not wanting any attention. The teacher at the front of the room was teaching the class about something called 'calculus'. Suddenly, the door of the classroom opened and someone walked in. The class stared with interest at the man who walked over to Ricky.
"Ricky, I don't have time for sympathy or details, because I got a meeting to go to in fifteen minutes, so I'm telling you flat-out. Your parents are dead. They were killed in a car accident on the freeway. You can go home for the day, just sign out at the office."
The man turned and left the classroom.
A kid sitting next to Ricky turned to him and grinned. "Why did yo parents die, dawg?" The kid asked. "Were they drunk or somethin'? I bet yo parents do drugs, just like you does."
Ricky couldn't take any more, and he payed his head down on the desk and cried...
and Twilight came back out of Ricky's head and into her own mind again.
"I saw that," Twilight whispered. "I can't believe how little that one guy cared when he told you, or how mean those kids were to you afterwards."
"I told you, Twilight," Ricky said with tears in his eyes. "You wanted to see my saddest memory, and you saw it."
"Ricky, I know it's hard to lose loved ones, but you can't kill yourself over it."
"I CAN if I WANT TO!" Ricky shouted angrily.
"I guess you can," Twilight said, "but what would your parents think of you if you ever did such a horrible thing?"
Ricky's angry expression softened as he realized what Twilight was saying. What would his parents think of him if he killed himself? But there still was the fact-
"But Twilight, even though that was my saddest memory, you still don't understand one thing. My whole life's been a bad memory. Back when my parents were alive, they loved me and everything, but we were poor and barely had enough money to survive, kind of like me. And now that they're gone, I feel like I'm left with nothing."
"Ricky, bad things happen to everypony- everyone at some point. Some ponies I know where I come from are just like you, but they don't kill themselves over it. They get help from their friends, and they feel better. Sometimes, all it takes is a bit of advice."
Ricky laughed bitterly. "I don't have any friends. I never have, and I never will. And in your world, you all have good lives. Nothing bad ever happens to you."
Twilight stared at Ricky for a moment. "Ricky, as hard as it is to believe, bad things do happen to us where I come from."
"Yeah? Like what?"
"Believe it or not, I'm not liked by some ponies where I come from. They tease me because I love to read books, and I get called 'egghead' a lot because some ponies think I'm a nerd. And there's one pony named Trixie, who humiliates me whenever she has the chance, just because she can."
"But Twilight, you have a great life-"
Twilight shook her head. "Not all of the time. And I have a friend, Rainbow Dash- me and my friends kind of stole her spotlight one time by playing superhero, and everyone ignored Rainbow Dash. She told me that what we did made her feel hated, like she was no one, but it was all ok because we had taught her an important lesson."
"That's great, Twilight, but I don't see how this is supposed to help me with my life currently," Ricky said sadly. "My damn boss isn't paying me this week, and I need money to survive."
"I may be able to help you with your money problem," Twilight said. "Do you have any money with you right now?"
Ricky reached into his pocket and came out with a ten dollar bill.
"Hold that still," Twilight said. Her horn glowed, and a second later, a thousand ten dollar bills fell out of Ricky's hand, fluttering to the ground.
"Wow," Twilight said. "I don't think that spell works on the money in Equestria."
Ricky gasped. "Twilight- I don't know how to thank you. That's more money then I've ever had in my whole life."
"It was no problem," Twilight said. "Now, the last thing I can tell you to help is to stand up for yourself. I learned how to do that against Trixie. Don't let anyone bring you down."
"I'll try, Twilight."
"Well, there is one other option, too," Twilight said. "I could take you back to Equestria with me."
Ricky gasped. "You really could?"
"I believe so," Twilight said. "I've given you all my advice, but if you still think you would hate living like this, you don't have to die, just come with me."
Ricky thought for a moment. He had dreamed about himself living in Equestria before, but now...
"I'd really love to go to Equestria, Twilight," Ricky said softly. "It would probably make me happier than anything else."
Twilight opened her mouth to talk.
"But," Ricky said, "That advice you gave me gave me something to think about. I can't run from my problems, and killing myself would be the last resort only. I think I want to stay here. I think I finally know how to live."
"Are you sure?" Twilight asked.
"I'm... I'm sure, Twilight. Thank you so much for all of your help. I'll never forget you."
"I'm so glad I could help you, Ricky," Twilight said, smiling with tears in her eyes. "I'll never forget you, either."
Feeling sad, Ricky said his good bye to the unicorn one last time. Twilight's horn glowed purple, and the light spread over her body, and for a minute, the unicorn just stood there, glowing with violet light. Then, the light flashed, and she was gone.
For a long time, Ricky stared at the floor of the living room where Twilight had been, then he came to his senses. He went over, not to the closet where his gun was, but back to the phone. He had to find a good school to go to, and he wanted to invest some of his money in the bank.
Tomorrow, Ricky decided, The only My Little Pony episodes I'll watch are the ones with Twilight as the main pony.
When Ricky walked back to work on Monday, the news guy on the sidewalk was so surprised to see Ricky with nice, new clothes, he forgot to make fun of him. Ricky waved brightly to the news guy.
"Today is going to be the best day ever!" Ricky said to himself. "I finally know how to live my life... Thanks to Twilight Sparkle!"
With those thoughts in mind, Ricky walked happily into work, hardly waiting for the great day ahead of him.
EPILOGUE
Ricky did NOT kill himself, then. He invested the money he had gotten wisely (about fifteen thousand dollars) and was able to pay off his debt and survive. He still had to live in his apartment, fifteen thousand was nowhere near enough to buy a house, but he was happy. He stuck up for himself and didn't let anyone bother him, and within days, the people who had given him a hard time were treating him with a kind of respect. He also went to school again and, inspired by Twilight Sparkle's love of books, worked hard to become a writer and he soon was able to, quit his job as a burger-flipper at the restaurant, and became an author for young kids. Many of his books became popular quickly, and he earned even more money and was finally able to buy his own car and a nice house. He was successful and happy throughout the rest of his life, and even though he never saw her again after that one day except in the TV show My Little Pony, he never forgot the pony who had saved his life and inspired him, Twilight Sparkle.
