December 23

Sarah's mom picked her up from work today. She offered me a ride home, but I was fine with walking.

When I got home, I saw packages on the front porch. Sarah's candy, it seemed. Also Twilight's books. Twilight would be downstairs and Sarah wasn't here to see them. Lucky... I placed the books behind the tree and put the candy in the freezer so it wouldn't melt. I still felt kinda bad that I only got Sarah candy, but honestly, I've done enough for her already.

I headed down to the basement through the open door. Twilight was still working diligently. She was looking through the beginnings of the books, though...

"What are you working on, now?" I asked.

"I've been testing the spell while you've been gone, but I haven't made any progress. I thought that..."

"Maybe we missed something?"

"It's possible. I don't know if Discord kept his word, either. Celestia doesn't know yet, or if she does, she's too busy to speak with us. It shouldn't have taken him this long."

I shrugged. "It's not all bad. We can make it a surprise."

"We might have to. I can't believe..." She sighed. "Why would he lie about this?"

"Asking why Discord would lie?"

"I don't know why I thought he could be trusted."

I shrugged. "Well, she could still be busy."

"You don't sound like you believe that."

"Fair enough."

"I know how much you want to want to help, and I appreciate all you've done for me, but I don't know if you'll be able to help with this anymore, Phil. I'm sorry."

"Ok." I shrugged. "Want a sammich?"

"Oh, thank you." She seemed surprised by my complacency. "That sounds good."

"Yep. Be back soon."

I returned to her with a plate with two sandwiches and a glass of milk, which she thanked me for once again.

I headed back upstairs and took in a breath. We were nearing Christmas, and at the same time, depressing thoughts filled my head.

"Hey Twilight, I'm going to the store!" I called down to her, "Be back soon!"

She didn't respond. She was busy.

I grabbed my keys and left to a nearby gas station to picked up a twelve pack of beer. I sighed as I packed the box into my car. After I got home, I put the box into the fridge. Soon...

I guess I'll just play Mario Kart.

Sarah came back late, the corded handle of a nondescript paper bag in her hand. As she saw me on the couch, she hid the bag behind her legs.

"H-Hello, Phil."

"Hey, Sarah. Wanna play?" I asked.

"A-Alright. That sounds like fun."

"Twilight's still working downstairs. She's so busy all the time."

"Y-Yeah..."

She walked around the table and sat on the far end of the couch. I wonder if she thought that I didn't notice her dropping her package between the couch and the tree...

"It's close to Christmas." she said to me, picking up her controller.

I started a race for us. "It is, it is... Are you excited?"

"A little. I... I got you something. For... For putting up with me."

"Oh, that's very nice of you. I got you something, too. It's nothing special, it's just..."

"Don't tell me!" she blurted out, cutting me off.

I glanced at her. She looked away, her face turning red.

"Alright, I won't say it. But thank you, Sarah."

"Y-Yeah... I wanted to let you know how much I appreciated your... your help. Your... letting me stay with you... here. Here. Letting me stay here."

"It's been nice having you hang around."

"Thank you... I'm still looking for another job, but I'm not having any luck. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, I know it's not easy. You're welcome to stay as long as you need. Twilight will be going home soon, so it'll just be me and you here. Celestia might show up here soon enough, though. Well actually, I know she will. It's not a might. Now that I think of it, you've only ever met Celestia once."

"That was a very scary 'once'."

"Yeah, she can be a bit scary sometimes. She's usually really nice."

"I bet she is. She let you eat with my family, even after everything I did."

"Oh, don't worry about that. You didn't mess up too much."

"Too much?"

"You did mess up, but we fixed it up and everything turned out..." I paused. "I don't think I wanna say 'good'."

"It's for the best."

"Mmm... I guess."

"Do you think I did the right thing?" she asked.

"I dunno. That's something you'll have to find out on your own."

"I thought you'd say something like that."

"You know, I have a story about this kinda thing. If you'd like to hear it."

"I... suppose."

"My, uh... My dad, he told us this story about his dad, my grandpa, who left him when he was young. His mom tried getting him back into the kids' lives, but he was just a failure through and through. About forty years later, they reconnected a bit. They talked on the phone, my dad was talking about going down to see him. He hasn't done it yet, but I think you get the point. Sometimes family isn't all it's cracked up to be, but at the end of the day, it might be all you have. I'm not saying that you should forgive him, but think it over, you know?"

"Your... grandpa... left your grandmother?" she asked.

"Yeah. He was a cunt though, from what I heard. I never wanted anything to do with him."

"Doesn't th-that go against what you just told me? That family is important?"

"He's no family of mine." I said, "Even you're more family than he'll ever be."

"M-Me?" she asked, surprised.

I shrugged. "I've never met the man. Really, even Twilight's more family than him and I've only known her for like three weeks." And with any luck, she may actually become part of my family through Celestia.

"Are you sure you're not... mistaking... f-friend for family?"

I shrugged.

"Y-You know, I n-never thought that I would f-find someone like you. Someone that... I could... just t-talk with..."

"You aren't looking hard enough." I replied, "Life isn't given to you, Sarah. You gotta go out and take it."

"I know... I... I know... I've never done it, though... I've never... gone out and taken anything."

I nodded. "I hear ya. I hear ya. I was the same way."

"Y-You told me that. You told me that you g-got better." she said, "You... You said that getting a job... being in the real world... It helped."

"It did, it did."

"I'm still having trouble, though."

"You'll always have trouble. But you're doing a lot better."

"Thank you... B-But it isn't enough. I'm still... scared."

"What's there to be afraid of?"

"I'm... I'm afraid of talking to people. I'm afraid that they'll... m-make fun of my stutter. That they'll... That they'll laugh at me if I do something stupid..."

"Oh Sarah, come on. Those things aren't as scary as you think. I know how you feel. You don't want to go out and make new friends because you don't know how. I don't know how, either. But you just gotta keep moving forward, you know?"

"That's not the only reason."

I nodded.

"I... I don't want to open up to someone only to have them hurt me."

I nodded again.

"I don't want to realize that someone I thought was a friend has never really cared about me."

Another nod.

"I don't..." She took in a breath. "I don't want to be an annoying person that just bothers their friend whenever they try to talk to them."

I noticed that she was slowing down in the game. She set her controller down. I looked at her. She looked upset. Oh no... Poor Sarah.

"I'm... I think I'm going to go to bed early tonight." she said, not looking at me. She got up and started towards the room.

Oh... Oh, no... I quickly stood. "Wait, Sarah..."

She stopped, then turned to me, not meeting my gaze.

I gave her a smile. "Sarah, You're a great friend. I keep saying that I know what you're going through. That's because I really do. You're just nervous about things. Things you can't control. So, until you learn to let go of that nervousness, it'll keep coming back."

She gave me a small nod. "I know. Thank you, Phil."

I sighed. "Yeah... Uh... Don't forget to brush your teeth."

A small smile crept over her face. "Thanks for reminding m-me."

"You too Twilight, don't forget to brush your teeth before going to bed!" I called down to her, as if she were a part of this conversation.

"I won't forget!" she called back.

I just smirked to myself.

Sarah went into the bathroom, and as she passed me to go into my room, she bade me goodnight. I did the same for her.

I leaned back against the couch. Sarah's gonna be pretty bummed out when I leave... Oh well... Sucks for her. I should at least let get know.

December 24

"I can't believe we have to work on Christmas Eve." Sarah said to me on our walk to work.

I shrugged. "It's not like you had anything else to do."

"I know, but it's Christmas Eve! We shouldn't have to come in today."

"Yeah, I know. Sucks, don't it?"

"And I do have things to do, thank you very much!"

"Oh... Ok then. Wait, what? You have things to do?"

"Well, yeah... Of course I d-do..." she replied, not really convincing me with her shy tone.

"Mmm... Yeah, I have something to do, too."

"Really?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I have this... I have a little... thing that I do on Christmas Eve. Later in the day. It's... kinda personal, but you and Twilight are welcome to join."

"How personal?"

"Mmm... It's... hard to explain."

She noticed that I was uncomfortable talking about this, which is something she hasn't really seen before.

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll tell you about it, later."

I let myself smile for the first time today. I couldn't tell if it was fake or not, but I smiled for Sarah. I smiled to cheer her up. It seemed to work. And seeing her smile back at me cheered me up as well. It was nice, having a friend like her.

Every single person on my shift complained about having to work on Christmas Eve. In fact, we were actually missing a few people. They called in, but still. Come on guys, you have work to do. There's no work tomorrow, stop complaining. I think I'm a workaholic...

When I got back home, I went downstairs to check on Twilight. She told me that progress has been slow, which was unfortunate. Nevertheless, I encouraged her on her journey for knowledge.

I guess it's time. The weather was perfect for this.

I went to the garage and rolled out the fire pit, moving it to the center of the driveway. It was... quiet. There was a weight in my stomach. She wouldn't want me to feel like this... I gave myself a small smile. That's right...

I saw Sarah at the doorway as I hauled wood to the front yard.

"So it was a bonfire?" she asked me, watching me work.

"Yeah, something like that."

"Can I help?"

"Uh... Yeah, sure. In the garage, there are some lawn chairs. They shouldn't be too hard to find."

She gave me a smile. "Alright, I can take care of that."

I brought out some more wood as Sarah got some chairs out of the garage and set them around the fire pit.

"Isn't it a bit cold for a bonfire?" she asked, "Aren't they better for the fall season?"

I shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not. I'll be back."

I went inside and retrieved my recycle bin. It was full of paper and cardboard, ready to be burned. I sprinkled some loose pages along the bottom of the pit and arranged some small sticks in it, just like at my grandma's house.

"Will it start? The wood looks wet."

"Ah, we'll find out." I took my lighter from my pocket and did my best. The paper lit immediately and the small sticks soon followed.

It was dark. The fire provided most of the light around us, aside from the front porch light.

"It looks nice." said Sarah, staring into it.

I nodded. "Yeah. One more thing. I'll be back."

Our conversation was quiet. She seemed to understand my mood, but she didn't know what caused it.

Stepping away from the fire brought me back into the coolness of the winter night. It was a shocking contrast. I went back inside and retrieved the beer I had bought. As I passed by the basement doorway, I stopped.

"Hey Twilight, there's a bonfire outside." I called down, "If you wanna join, you're more than welcome."

"Oh? Alright. It's about time I took a break anyways." she replied.

I returned to Sarah. She looked to the box I was holding. "Beer?"

"What's better than beer at a bonfire?"

"I didn't know you drank."

I shrugged.

I sat down in one of the chairs she sat out, placing the box on the ground to my side. I opened it, then got out two cans, then held one out to Sarah. She eyed it for a short while before taking it. I cracked mine open and took a drink. Not the best, but it did the job.

"So... this is what you do? On Christmas Eve?"

I shrugged. "Yeah."

"It... I suppose."

I gestured to the other chair. "Gonna sit?"

"Right." She sat in the chair, then opened her can. She took a drink.

I sighed. Christmas Eve bonfire...

A short while later, Twilight joined us. A third chair was set out for her to sit.

"Do you... want?" I asked her, gesturing to the box.

"What is it?"

"Beer."

"Beer? Oh, I... don't usually..."

I shrugged. "Suit yourself." I downed my first can and set it to my side. I picked up another can and opened it.

I looked to the pile of wood next to me, then got up and added a few pieces to the fire to keep it going.

"The wood is probably too wet for it to grow any larger." said Twilight, "It looks like it was covered in snow."

"Maybe... Maybe. Man, I love bonfires. They're so relaxing, aren't they?"

"Yeah, I... guess they are." said Sarah.

We barely spoke for the longest while. I reached my third can of beer before Sarah finished her first. I asked Twilight again as I picked it up. This time, she accepted my offer. Sarah had another can, as well.

"It doesn't taste very good." said Twilight.

I shrugged. "Eh, not really."

"Then... why are you drinking it?"

I shrugged again. "It's how you celebrate a bonfire. At least, it's how my family does."

Though it was quiet, it was still very nice. Sarah and Twilight seemed to enjoy it, at least. The smell of burning wood, the heat of the fire against the cool winter air... It relaxed them almost as much as it relaxed me.

"You two don't do this too often, do you?" I asked them.

"No, not really." said Sarah.

"Not very often, no."

"I used to do it a lot when I was younger. All summer long. The bonfire pit in the backyard always lit up the dark nights. At least until about ten. Then we'd have to put it out because we were tired and wanted to go to bed." I chuckled.

"Phil..." started Sarah. Her voice was soft.

I looked to her.

"What is... this about?" she asked me, "You don't... look... You seem... strange."

I blinked, then briefly glanced downwards before looking at her. "My mom always had a bonfire going in our backyard. It was one of her favorite things. She would spend time with friends and family around a bonfire, have picnics, cook marshmallows... Our whole family loves them. Really, they're great." I let out a sigh. "My mom passed away on Christmas."

They both took in audible gasps. Sarah covered her mouth with a hand, saddened by my reveal. Twilight's eyes were wide, her mouth open in shock.

I continued. "So... I sometimes have a bonfire in her memory. I grab a chair and some cheap beer and I just... relax. And it... keeps her memory alive. You know?" I smiled. "It feels good to be by a fire like this. On a night like this. With some good friends. Feels nice."

"I-I didn't know! O-Oh my god, I'm so s-sorry!" Sarah blurted out.

I smiled at her. "It's alright, it's alright. It's a part of life. It was a long time ago, Sarah. You don't have to feel bad."

"Does... Celestia know?" asked Twilight.

I nodded. "Yeah, she knows. She knows. I want to thank you two for joining me for this holiday season. You've really made it something special for me. I'm sorry for dropping this kinda thing on your plates like this, but... I appreciate that you listened to me. I really do." I smiled. "What's say we have a toast?"

"A toast? A toast to what?" asked Sarah.

I chuckled. "I dunno. Pick something."

"A toast to Celestia." said Twilight, holding up her first and only can so far, "Because without her, none of us would be here right now."

"Well, I would." I said, smirking.

"Besides that." she said.

"I like it." I said, "To Celestia. Hold on, I need some more beer. Sarah, do you..." She shook her head. "No? Ok. Twilight? No, no... Ok."

I got out two new cans. One for me... One for my mother.

I opened them both. "Cheers." I said, holding the two of them up.

Sarah and Twilight reached their cans towards mine.

"To Celestia." the two of them said, tapping theirs against mine.

"To Celestia." I replied.

I brought my can to my face and started chugging it as I tipped the other one over, letting it spill onto the ground.

My eyes started to water as I downed the can. The carbonation burned a bit as it went down, but that wasn't the only reason.

When it was finally empty, I pulled it away from my face and took in a big gasp of air. I caught my breath, wiping my eyes. When I was done, I looked up again. "Ahh... What a good past few months." I said with a smile.

The two of them smiled at me.

We made light conversation as it got later and later. Twilight was the first to go back inside, having drunk a total of one can of beer. She left Sarah and I outside on our own. I was into my fifth can and was a little tipsy.

Sarah, on the other hand, who probably weighed less than 120 pounds, around half of what I did, was clearly drunk. She swayed as she sat in her lawn chair.

It was quiet right now. We haven't said a word to each other in a while. I was almost surprised to hear Sarah speak.

"I don't feel like my dad loves me anymore." Her voice was a little slurred.

"Sarah, you know he does."

"Yeah, well it doesn't feel like it. When I'm a mom, I'm gonna give my kids everything they want... No. That's a bad idea. 'Cause then they'd end up spoiled. Like me. I'm a spoiled child. A spoiled rotten little brat that pushed her dad too far."

"That's not true, either."

"Well, tell me what is true then, Mr. Know-it-all, since you're so keen on who I am. You don't know what kind of life I've lived."

"You've already told me a lot about you, Sarah. You just feel guilty because you're drunk."

"So what? I should be guilty. I've never given my dad a reason to be proud of me. I'm a deadbeat. I still live with my parents and I've only just got my first job. First! At 23!"

"Sarah, your dad is proud of you. You've been a full time student ever since you graduated high school. You couldn't get a job."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes, Sarah. Yes."

"Well... maybe you're right. But I just don't see how he could've put up with me for all those years."

"Parents learn to live with it."

"Mmm... This is too much to think about, right now."

I just shrugged.

She visibly hesitated before saying anything else.

"Hey... Phil? I think... I need to tell you something else."

"Yeah?"

She stopped, still staring at me. Unlike when she's sober, she was looking right at me, no signs of nervousness in her eyes. But... there was something else in them. Tears...

"Phil... I... I think I love you..." she blurted out. Her bottom lip quivered. She took in a breath. Tears started to drip down her cheeks.

I blinked as I looked at her. How in the fuck do I respond to that...

"But you have Celestia!" she loudly let out, "You have Celestia and I knew that! I knew that, Phil! I knew that you had a girlfriend! But it didn't stop me. It didn't stop me from feeling this way about you..." She wiped her tears on her sleeves, but more just took their place. "I don' wanna hurt you or Celestia! An' I don't wanna get hurt! But it hurts. It hurts knowing that you're not gonna love me back. And I don't expect you to love me back. I don't want you to love me back. Not while you have somebody of your own. I know I'm not as good as she is. I'm not as pretty as her, I'm not as smart as her... My boobs aren't as big as her's are... But I'm smart enough to see that you don't care about that. You wouldn't care what I looked like and you don't care what she looks like."

She must've been thinking about this for a while...

"I hate that I did this to myself. I really love you, Phil. And I'm so sorry for it... I know that I don't have to apologize for loving someone, but I'm sorry! I couldn't help it..." She looked down, wiping her eyes again.

"Sarah..."

"No, no, don't 'Sarah' me... I said it. I had to say it. I couldn't hold it in anymore. Holding it in hurt. And... You just sat there... listening to me. So... thank you, Phil... But... But now that I've said it... Now that... Now that I've let it all out like this... I... I think... I think I feel better..."

"You do?"

"I already knew that our love was never meant to be. I'm not the woman for you. I can't be. And as much as I might want it, I know that it can't be. So now that I've let it out... I think... I think I'm gonna try to move on. I don't have anything holding me back anymore. So unless you say that you love me back, or you..." She blinked, a wave of drunken loss of focus washing over her. "I want to move on. Because if I don't, I'm just gonna keep hurting and hurting and hurting... And I don't want that. And I know that you d..." She paused, then blinked. "Hey, Phil... I'm... I'm pretty, right? Because I think I am, but nobody but my mom's ever told me."

"You're pretty, Sarah."

She laughed. "I knew I was pretty... Look..." She pointed at me. "Thanks for... for listening. I'm gonna... go inside and go to bed. If I say any more..." She stopped.

"You've never been drunk before, have you?"

"Nope... Goodnight."

"Night. Enjoy your hangover."

She laughed again. "I'm sure I will... Goodnight." She got out of her chair and headed towards the house without another word.

Ahh... what a night... I took a drink of my beer.

I hope Sarah doesn't go all loopy on me and try to kidnap me while I sleep. I doubt she'd even be able to lift me up. And Twilight would hear my body hitting the floor as she pulled me off the couch. Then again, she's been asleep for a while. She might not wake up. She wouldn't get far, I'm not exactly prone to staying asleep when someone's dragging me. I'd like to imagine. I haven't had much experience with it. Where would she even take me?

I took another drink. The fire was going out. The heat was almost gone. I should go in soon. Another drink. I waited a long time. The fire was gone. I think I was just still stunned by what Sarah said to me. It's cold out. I was still sitting quietly, staring into the dull embers. It felt so late. It wasn't midnight yet, but...

Merry Christmas, mom. I'll miss you.

I finished my can and got out of my chair, then started cleaning up, putting chairs away and cleaning my cans up. I left the fire pit where it was.

Walking inside felt amazing. It was so warm in here. I wanted nothing more than to lie down on my bed and fall asleep. Except I couldn't. Because Sarah was sleeping in it. God damn it. I guess I'll have to settle for the couch. Damn it. Fucking...

God damn Sarah and her heartfelt confession. Being so pretty... Fucking Celestia bringing up that... fucking... I groaned to myself. I'm ashamed to admit this, but Sarah pushed some buttons, there... I felt uncomfortable right now, I really did. When I finally get back together with Celestia, I am going to... Thinking about this doesn't help at all. I'm gonna... I gotta go to bed. I'm tired, I'm... Why is this affecting me more after the fact...

I let out a long breath before I finally laid down on the couch. It was nice to cover up with some blankets after being out in the cold like that.

I didn't feel any different waking up the next morning. In fact, I was a little bit annoyed because I forgot to turn off my alarm. That and the beer... I glared at my phone as I picked it up to turn it off, then dropped it onto the floor. I let out a sigh. I heard noises in my room. Seemed Sarah was awake.

I turned over on the couch and closed my eyes. I was still tired. I waited until one of the ladies showed up in the front room. Sarah was out first. I turned to look at her.

She avoided my eyes as she said, "Uh... G-Good morning. M-Merry Christmas, Phil."

I smiled. "Merry Christmas." I couldn't tell if she remembered what she said last night. I don't know how much she drank... Either way... "Should we wake Twilight?" I asked.

"Let's let her sleep."

I nodded. I sat up on the couch, yawning, stretching out my body.

"Do you want to see your present, now?" she asked.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah."

She smiled, then went over to the tree and retrieved the bag. "Here. Sorry that it's not... gift wrapped."

I took it from her. "Ah, not an issue." I reached into the bag and grabbed the first thing my hand touched. It was hard and thin... I pulled it out, then smiled at it. A copy of Twilight Princess HD. I raised my smile to Sarah. "Wow... This is really nice of you."

"Do you like it?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I do. Man, I love Zelda. Thank you, Sarah. Makes me feel kinda bad I didn't get you anything special."

"That's ok. I didn't need anything."

"Yeah, it's... Hold on, I'll go grab it." I set the game onto the table and retrieved Sarah's present from the freezer. Thankfully, the bags were unopened. If Celestia were here, these'd be gone. "You know, like I said, not much." I said again as I entered the room, "But I figured, since you liked chocolate so much..."

She smiled. "It's perfect. Thank you, Phil." She reached forward and touched the bags, then quickly took back her hand. "Oh! It's cold." She smiled at me, then let out a short laugh. She took them from me.

"Come on, let's get this game going, eh?"

She gave me a big smile. "Yeah, that sounds great!"

I went to the TV to turn everything on and put the game in. I returned to the couch with her. She offered me one of her peanut butter cups. I happily accepted.

"You know, I got the original version of this game as a Christmas present from my mom." I said to her as it turned on.

"Oh! Is that so?"

I nodded. "Me and my little brother played it for hours on end. We loved every bit of it. God, I love Twilight Princess."

"Well, I'm glad I picked something you liked."

I went through the start of the game in a flash. Sarah seemed surprised at how quickly I went. Unbeknownst to her, watching speedruns of this game was a favorite pastime of mine.

"So... have you... ever played Twilight Princess?" I asked her.

"Mmm-hmm." She nodded. "I played the original version a long time ago. I... I played a lot of video games when I was younger. This was one of my favorites."

"Same here. Hey, are you hungry?"

"You... gave me these Reese's."

"For real food, Sarah. Breakfast."

"Oh! Sorry. I am. Maybe we could take a break and get something, then."

"Nah, I'll take care of it. You like pancakes? Course you do. Everybody likes pancakes." I handed her the controller and stood up. "I'll make us a batch of pancakes for Christmas breakfast. Sound good?"

She nodded, smiling. "That sounds great."

"Nice. While I'm at it, I can make Twilight some, too. Speaking of, I'm gonna go check on her."

The basement door was open already, but the light was off. I had no idea what she was doing. I couldn't hear her breathing or writing or any of those noises she usually makes.

"Twilight, are you up?" I asked in a soft voice, not wanting to wake her if she wasn't. No response. I started downstairs. What was she doing? I usually heard noises from down here when I checked on her. She's not dead, is she? Celestia would kill me if she was.

Couch was... empty. Where the... I turned on the light. She wasn't down here? Where the fuck is Twilight?

A piece of paper on the couch caught my attention. It was atop her blanket, folded up nicely. I picked it up and read it.

~Phil, I've gone back to Equestria to do some more research. I'm sorry to leave on such short notice, but I promise that I'll be back soon.

-Twilight Sparkle

P.S. I'll make sure Princess Celestia knows about our progress. I don't trust that Discord told her.

P.P.S. Merry Christmas to you and Sarah. Or as they say in Equestria, Merry Hearth's Warming.~

Huh... I put the note back onto the blanket and went back upstairs.

"Looks like it's just you and me, Sarah."

"You and me? What about Twilight?"

"She took off. She'll be back eventually."

"Where did... she go? She left during the middle of the night. Is everything ok?"

"Yep. Everything's good. She's a busy woman. Like Celestia. Celestia might show up again soon enough, too."

"I'll bet you're looking forward to that."

"You know it. I'll be back with some food for us."

She nodded.

I went into the kitchen to prepare us some breakfast. It turned out well.

That was it for the entire day. Sarah and I took turns playing Twilight Princess as we both devoured her Christmas present. I made us full meals a few more times, but other than that, we were both stuck to the couch. Sarah got a phone call during the day, but she ignored it after seeing who it was. I couldn't catch the name.

Before we knew it, it had gotten dark outside. It could've been anywhere from six to eleven at this time of year. All I knew was that my stomach hurt from too much Reese's.

I noticed Sarah turn to me, but being in the middle of a battle, I ignored her. She moved closer, and to my surprise, I felt lips against my cheek, complete with a soft smacking sound as she pulled away.

I paused the game and looked to her. She was smiling at me, embarrassed.

"Thank you, Phil. This has been the best Christmas I've ever had. I'm sorry that I... did that... without any warning." She looked away, her smile remaining. "I just wanted to show you my appreciation. I know how you are."

She waited for me to say something. I sighed, then smiled. "Your turn."

She took the controller and continued where I left off, still smiling like before.

I guess this was a pretty good Christmas...

Our nighttime routine was the same as it's always been. I cleaned up the front room before getting ready for bed. Eventually, we settled into our respective beds.

I couldn't help but feel that her kiss was more than just appreciation. At the same time, pressing the matter would achieve nothing, and getting angry at her would be petty. I knew damn well Celestia wouldn't care. I'll still tell her. I gotta be honest with her. I gotta be honest with Sarah, too...

Aside from work, which was as boring as one would expect, the next day was exactly the same. We sat together on that couch playing Twilight Princess.

Twilight hadn't come back yet. I was getting a little worried. It'll be fine, she knows Equestria. Then again, Discord may be plotting something. If he messes with me and Celestia, I'm gonna... I'm gonna give him a few choice words. The hell am I gonna be able to do to Discord?

December 28

Twilight has been gone for three days and there was still no contact from Celestia. I was feeling a little left out. I felt a bit worried too, but Twilight wasn't exactly a stranger to Equestria.

Sarah was on edge at work, today. I found out why when her mother picked her up from work. Sarah told me that she was going to speak with her father again, though didn't mention what about. I didn't ask. I merely smiled and wished her luck.

She didn't come back that night. A phone call let me know that she would be staying at her home for the night, but the truth was that she was still unsure about it.

Good for her for giving him a chance. Good for her.

It was just me, tonight. Just me. Honestly, I wanted to spank it. But after all this time, patiently waiting for a chance to myself, it would be better to just wait for Celestia. I'm sure she would appreciate it. I chuckled to myself.

Just me... I felt lonely.

I played Twilight Princess until I had to go to bed. We've gotten pretty far...

December 29

Four days without Twilight. One day without Sarah. Nearly a month without my love. I sighed. I'll see Sarah at work, at least.

As I was getting ready for work, I heard a loud crash from downstairs that scared the shit out of me. I got up to investigate before I realized that a noise in the basement could mean only one thing... Twilight!

I immediately went downstairs. Sure enough, Twilight Sparkle was sitting on the basement floor, looking through some notes. I didn't recognize them.

"Twilight! It's good to see you again."

She didn't react. She was frantically going through the notes she held. I noticed that her hair was frazzled.

"Twilight? Yoo-hoo! Anyone home?" I reached forward and poked her shoulder. She jumped, making me jump as well.

"Ahh! Oh! Phil! Yes!" She turned to me. I saw bags under her eyes. "Perfect, you're home! Here, hold this."

She thrusted a notepad into my chest, which I held onto. She stood up as I looked to it. She was mumbling something to herself, reading from some other notes.

Twilight's handwriting covered the pad. Hoofwriting. I could read it, but it just seemed to be spell details, which I didn't understand too much.

She faced me as she mumbled. Suddenly, behind her appeared another portal. A portal into the pony world, one that led to a grassy field.

"Read that page aloud and try walking through." she said to me.

"Read the... Are you saying that you found a way for me to go to Equestria?" I asked with a smile.

"I don't know. We need to test it. Read it, please. We don't have time."

"Don't have time? What do you mean?"

"As Princess Celestia left this world one month ago, she tasked me with getting you to Equestria, and in this past month, I've taken break after break, fooling around with your video games and... I haven't been working as hard as I could on the spellbooks, I..." She was becoming frantic in her words.

"Twilight, did you... talk to Celestia?"

"N-No, I... I didn't have time, I... I... j-just read the spell, please."

She didn't talk to Celestia? She said she would. If Twilight didn't so something she said she'd do... "A-Alright... Let's hope this works."

I read the page off, word for word. As I did, I was surprised to see that the portal was actually reacting. The more I read, the more the portal shimmered along the edges. The further I got on the page, the higher my spirits were lifted. She did it... Twilight did it...

When I was done, I looked to Twilight. I wanted to hug her.

"Try walking through."

I nodded, then stepped to it. I took a breath, then let it out slowly. I was shaking out of excitement. "Let's do this..."

I stepped forward through the portal. I didn't feel any different. In fact, as soon as I passed through, the basement light once again appeared, and my body unexpectedly bumped against my computer desk. I looked back. The same portal floated in the same place. Twilight had a profoundly disappointed look on her face.

"No, no, that didn't work!" she let out, distraught, "I was sure that... Ok, don't panic. I have another idea. Phil, the notepad."

"Y-Yeah, sure." I said, handing it back. I was disappointed as well, but right now, I was concerned for her. "Are you alright, Twilight?"

"Alright? Of course I'm alright?" She began scribbling on the notepad as she spoke. "Why wouldn't I be alright? I'm only a single day away from failing the most important mission that the Princess has ever given me, one that she gave me personally and put faith into my abilities as her student. A mission so important that she sent me to another world to continue my studies. Why wouldn't I be fine?! Here!" She gave the pad back to me. "Read it!"

I was taken aback by her attitude, but nonetheless, I read it past the crossed out text. The portal shimmered in the same way, but we achieved nothing from this.

"Ok, if that didn't work, maybe this will..." She gave it back to me. "This one is different. It uses a different spell incantation. It's a different type of spell."

"I can't cast spells, Twilight." I reminded her.

She stopped dead in her tracks. After a short while, she said, "R-Right! That's right, humans can't use magic. Silly me! What was I thinking... What was I... Th-Then there's only one way left to do this!" She began scouring her notes once more. "I wanted to avoid this because it uses rather dangerous magic, but it seems I have no choice."

"Twilight, what are you..."

"I need to go back in time to speak with the creator of the spell himself to reverse engineer the spell and create a new version."

"You... You fuckin' what, mate?"

She began channeling her energy into her hand. It started glowing purple. A bright white shell surrounded it as the glow increased in size. She let out a grunt of excretion as she poured more into her spell. Sparks flew from her hand.

"Twilight, what are you..."

Suddenly, my vision was obscured by a bright flash of light. When the light faded, Twilight was gone. I wish I could say that was the only thing that happened...

Author's Note

Sorry for the time it took to get this one up. At this point, I must sound like a broken record. Chapters 1-4 have been given a major overhaul. The rest are coming eventually.

This one may be a bit hectic. It's been a while since it's been done. I've been working on the beginning a lot. I want something to be proud of, not something that just sits there festering in its own waste.

I have realized too late what my story is missing. Sadly, it's not a small thing. Details. A specific type of details. Oh well, that's on me. Whatever.

I dunno what else to say. Hope you enjoyed this one. More to come. Thankfully, I have 6k words written for the next chapter. However, they're very much in draft format.

I'd make a personal list again, but just about nothing notable has happened. Sad.

Again, if you wanna talk to me, play games with me, or shoot me in the back of the head two times, go ahead and do so. Contact info is on my profile page. plz. I need people to game with. lol