Please tell me I'm real

by Synthetic Soul

Rating: teen
Tags: Human, Twilight Sparkle, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Sad, Original Character, Tragedy
Length: 4203

I know I'm real, I know it.

I can't remember anything. I don't know how I ended up here, all I know is, the only pony who can see, hear or touch me is Twilight. But the other ponies tell her she's crazy, that I'm not real. But I know I'm real. Aren't I?

Cover art by MorningMist
Inspired by 'Wake me up' by Drax99

Published 2014-06-11 22:00:04 UTC
Last updated 2014-11-05 02:52:56 UTC

Good bye, and good luck

The hospital can be a very scary place, especially for a child. The only thing that could make ones situation worse is if you knew that you would never leave. Only fate could be so cruel as to allow a seven year old to know that he would not leave the hospital alive. The hospital room was devoid of all life, except for a young boy lying in his bed. He was pale and thin, not from malnourishment, but from the illness that plagued his body. His hair was black, and he wore a teal hospital gown. The only noises in the room was the beeping of the heart monitor, and the rhythmic breathing as air was forced through his nose with the help of a machine.

Young Michael Flint's eyes opened, revealing his sky blue eyes. He looked around the room, and looked at the various get well gifts, balloons, and flowers that decorated his room. His eyes fell on a toy transformer that his parents had given him.

'My parents,' he thought. He hadn't seen them in about a week. He understood though, they were busy people. His father ran a corporation and his mother was a United States senator. But they promised to visit him soon. They promised. *Cough cough* Mike coughed up a spat of blood, which landed on his hospital gown. Suddenly, his breathing got harder and harder. In fact, he couldn't breath at all. He started to panic, trying to do anything he could to get air into his lungs. He heard an alarm sounding, and in rushed several doctors and nurses. As his lungs screamed for oxygen, his vision started to blacken. The last thing he heard was; "We're losing him". The last thing he thought was; 'where are my parents'. And then all was back.
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The black void of death is eternal, and unending. And it was all that Michael knew. He couldn't remember the life he had once lived. His name, age, even his species evaded him. As far as he knew, he was born in the darkness. His drifting could have lasted a few minutes, or a thousand years. But he was more than happy to see a bright light ahead of him.

"Maybe that's the way out," thought Mike. Purely through the power of will, he began floating towards the light. As he approached, the light became blinding. He had to shield his eyes from the light. Then, he felt his body being rushed forward. His gravity increased, and he felt his body fall to the ground. When he opened his eyes, he saw blue skies above. He sat himself up, and looked around. He was in a grassy field, and a few meters away, there was a pond. He got up, and walked over to it. While he walked, he found himself wondering how he came to be in this field. He couldn't remember if he'd ever been outside before, but he knew what outside was. When he reached the pond, he got the first look at himself that he could remember. He had pale, almost white skin. In contrast, his hair was pitch black. He had dark circles under his blue eyes. He had a white short sleeved shirt on, with white dress pants. He also noticed that he was bare foot. After taking in his appearance, he bent down to take a drink of water. His throat was dry. But when the water entered his mouth, he spit it right back out. The water burned his mouth with its horrible taste. It bitter, like cherry cough syrup. He scrubbed his tongue with his hand to try to expel the taste. He stood up and looked around. To one direction, there was a dark and scary looking forest. In the distance to the other way, he saw a town. He decided to head that way.
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After about ten minutes of walking, Michael came to what looked like a market place. But instead of other creatures like him, Michael saw that the towns people where not people at all. They were ponies. There were ponies of all sorts of colors, just about every color in the world. Michael saw the ponies talking with each other, and buying various things, such as fruit, vegetables, flowers, etc. Michael noticed the buildings. They looked primitive, with straw roofs. 'Is this normal?' he thought. Without any memory of the life he'd lived, he didn't know if sentient ponies were normal or not. The one thing he did know was that he was not the same kind of creature as these. 'Maybe they can help me,' thought Michael. Mike walked up to a blue unicorn with a red mane. For some reason, there was a picture of a flower on the ponies flank. Mike cleared his throat, then spoke.

"Um, excuse me? C-could you tell me where I am?" asked Michael. But the pony didn't respond. The pony just kept talking to the vendor, haggling over a jar of pickles. "Um, ma'am? Or sir? I'm sorry if I sound rude, but I've never seen any of your kind before. Please, can you tell me where I am?" Still the pony didn't respond. 'Well that was rude,' thought a disgruntled Mike as he walked away. 'Maybe some one else can help me'. Mike walked up to a stand full of apples. Behind the stand was a red pony with a blond mane, and freckles. Kike stood in front of the stand to address the pony.

"Please, um sir or ma'am. I'm sorry, I've just never seen any of your kind before. Could you please tell me where I am?" The pony didn't even blink, he just kept staring into the distance. 'Why is every one ignoring me?' thought Mike. He ran up to another pony and tried to get their attention. "Hello! Please, I need help! Can you hear me?" Still nothing. Panicking, Michael ran to the center of the marketplace, and screamed as loud as he could; "SOMEONE, PLEASE TALK TO ME!" he cried. No one, not even one pony acknowledged his existence. Why were they ignoring his existence? Why where they ignoring him? Mike stood there in shock. It was almost as if he wasn't there. Almost as if he was a ghost.
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Twilight walked towards the town of Ponyville. She was on her way back from visiting Fluttershy. The tea they had was wonderful. She walked into town and proceeded to head towards her library. She passed a few ponies she knew, giving greeting and such.

"Oh, hello Twilight," said Miss Cheeralee.

"Hello Cheeralee," replied Twilight. "How was school today?" asked Twilight.

"Oh, it was fine. The children had a math test, and then show and tell. I had to deal with that Diamond Tiaras refusal to leave the Cutie Mark Crusaders alone, but other that that, my day was pretty uneventful."

"Oh, well it was nice talking to you, but I have to get home."

"Alright, well I'll see you later," said Cheeralee.

"See you later," said Twilight as the two departed ways. As Twilight walked past the schoolyard, she cast a glance to the playground. She glanced at the human on the swing, and then continued walking. She walked another ten paces, before she realized what she just saw. She backtracked and looked towards the swing. A HUMAN was sitting there on a swing! Twilight gasped in surprise. Once she composed herself, she decided to go and speak to the human. She trotted up to a few feet behind the human, and then spoke up.

"Um, excuse me?" said Twilight.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Michael had been sitting on the swing, thinking to himself. Who was he? What was he? And most importantly, why was no one acknowledging his presence?

"Um, excuse me?" Michael's head perked up as he heard a feminine voice sound behind him. He stood up and looked behind him to see a purple unicorn with dark purple hair and a pink stripe running through it. "Hello young human, my name is Twilight Sparkle. What's yours?" Michael gasped.

"Y-you're actually talking to me?" replied Michael. Twilight saw he was smaller than the humans she'd encountered through the mirror. He sounded like a young colt.

"Um, yeah, I'm sure you've never seen a talking pony before, right?" asked Twilight.

"It's not that, it's just, well, all the other ponies ignored me when I tried to talk to them," replied the boy.

"What?" exclaimed Twilight. "That doesn't make sense, you're quite possibly the only human in Equestria, it doesn't make sense that ponies would ignore you!" said Twilight.

"Well it's true. Oh, by the way, if you don't mind my asking, what is a human?" asked the boy. Now this caught Twilight off guard. Here before her was the first human in Equestria, and it didn't even know it was a human.

"Seriously?" asked Twilight. The human boy nodded, looking ashamed about his lack of knowledge. "You, you're a human," replied Twilight.

"I am?" asked the boy.

"Yes, you really didn't know that?" asked Twilight. The human looked down to the ground with a sad expression.

"I can't remember anything," replied the human.

"You can't?" asked Twilight. The human shook his head. At this point, Twilight noticed how sickly and thin the human looked. That couldn't be healthy. If she had to guess, she'd say he looked and sounded like he was at most, ten years old. "Well, I know a little about humans. I believe that you're just a foal."

"A foal?" asked the boy.

"It means that you look and sound like a child," replied Twilight.

"Oh," replied the human.

"You seem too young to be alone without an adult. Why don't you come with me back to my home. I know some stuff about humans, and I can tell you about pony kind. Also, you look pretty hungry," said Twilight.

"OK, sure," replied the human.

"Before we leave, I think we need to figure out what to call you. I can't just call you human," said Twilight.

"Sure, at least until I remember my real name," said the human. Twilight nodded, and then began thinking. What would be a good name for the young boy? After a few minutes, Twilight believed she'd come up with a decent name.

"How about White Shade?" asked Twilight. The human smiled, and nodded.

"Sure, that sounds like a cool name," replied Shade.

"Well then, why don't you hop on my back and I'll take you to my home to get some food," said Twilight. The boy nodded, and climbed onto Twilight's back and, then they started heading to the library.

What?

Author's Note

I would like to dedicate this chapter to my friend who passed away in the hospital, due to a head injury caused by a car accident. Those of you who are religious, I ask you to pray for his family. Thanks

What?

As Twilight carried Shade through town, the two engaged in conversation. Twilight began telling Shade about herself and Pony kind.

"So, my name is Twilight Sparkle. I live here in Ponyville with my assistant Spike. He's a dragon," said Twilight.

"Dragon?" questioned Shade.

"You'll see him when we get to the library. That's where we live, in the Ponyville library."

"So that's where we are? Ponyville?"

"Yeah, it's a town in the nation of Equestria. Equestria is lead by two princesses, Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna. I happen to be Princess Celestias personal student!" said Twilight with pride.

"What does she teach you?" asked Shade.

"She's been teaching me magic, but recently I've been studying the magic of friendship."

"I...I think I might know what magic is. It's weird, some things I can remember, but other stuff comes as a complete blank."

"Well, it sounds to me like you have selective amnesia. It's usually caused by some sort of traumatic event."

"So, something bad happened to me?" asked Shade.

"Maybe," replied Twilight.

"So, uh, how did you know I was a human?"

"Well, a while ago I went to an alternate world populated by humans. In fact- Oh look we're here!" Twilight stopped and both of them looked up to see a large oak tree, with windows and a door.

"You live in a tree?" asked Shade.

"Yeah, me and Spike." Shade dismounted Twilight and stood next to her. Twilight used her magic to open the door.

"Whoa, what was that?" questioned Shade.

"That was magic," said Twilight as the two walked inside the tree house. Twilight shut the door behind them. "Spike!" she called out. "Spike, are you home!" When no one replied, Twilight turned towards shade.

"It appears that he's not home. When he is, I'll introduce you to him. He's about as old as you, so you two will probably get along." Twilight began walking towards her kitchen. "Are you hungry?"

"Starving!" replied Shade. Twilight made it to her kitchen, and went to the fridge. She opened the door, and picked up and apple pie. She cut a slice and put it on a plate. She put a fork on the plate, and then brought it over to Shade.

Shade took the plate from Twilight. "Thank you Twilight." Shade took a bite of the pie. Instantly he spit the food out of his mouth, and dropped the plate. He started rubbing his tongue with his hand in an effort to get rid of the taste. It was the worst thing he'd ever tasted, that is if he'd remembered eating anything in his past life. It tasted like cherry cough syrup.

"W-what's wrong!" cried Twilight.

"That tasted horrible!"

"What?" Twilight was stunned. That pie was made by Applejack, with sweet apple acres apples. Twilight lifted the pie, plate and fork with her magic. She took a bite, and relished in its taste, delicious as always. "What are you talking about, it tastes fine!"

"I'm sorry Twilight. I don't know why, but it just tasted horrible to me. I'm sorry I dropped your plate," said Shade as he looked downwards with a solemn expression. Twilight sighed.

"It's not your fault, if it tasted that bad, then I can understand why you dropped it. Here, let me get you some water." Twilight went back into the kitchen, and poured some water into a clear glass. She returned to Shade, and levitated the glass over to Shade. As soon as he took a gulp, he looked as if he was going ot spit it out again. Reluctantly, he swallowed.

"Eck! That was terrible to!"

"That was water! That doesn't make any sense!" 'What is going on?' thought Twilight. 'Maybe I should run a few tests on him. "Hey Shade?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you mind if I run a few tests on you?"

"Tests?"

"Yeah, I wanted to run some basic medical tests, to make sure there's nothing wrong with you."

"Why would there be something wrong with me?"

"Well, it's just that you somehow found water and Apple pie horrible tasting. I wanna make sure you're healthy.

"Oh, okay."

"Great, follow me," Twilight led Shade to the door to the basement, and opened the door. The two went down the stairs, and the two found themselves in Twilight's basement. Twilight led shade to a table.

"Sit right here," directed Twilight. Shade did as instructed, and sat on the table. "I'm going to get a few things." Twilight went to a distant table and retrieved a box of medical supplies. When she returned, she set the box of medical supplies. When she returned, she set the box of medical supplies. When she returned, she set the box on the ground. Using her magic, she took out a stethoscope. She attached the earpieces to her ear, and put the metal circle on Shades torso, and began moving it around. Twilight wasn't positive that she knew where the human heart was.

After a few minutes, Twilight sighed in frustration.

"I can't seem to find your heartbeat. Weird." Twilight put her stethoscope away, and took out a syringe with a needle. The needle entered Shades arm without any resistance. She noticed that Shade didn't even flinch or wince as the needle entered his body.

Twilight pulled the syringe back in an attempt to draw blood, but found that nothing came out.

"What the heck! There must be a fracture in the needle or something." Just as Twilight was about to try another instrument, the two heard a door slam.

"Twilight! Are you home!" called a young male voice. Twilight called out to the voice.

"Yeah Spike, I'll be up in a minute!" Twilight turned to look at Shade. "It sounds like Spike is home. Come on, I'll introduce you." Shade nodded, and the two headed upstairs. They saw Spike standing in front of the door. "Shade, stay behind me, and when I tell you, come out, okay?"

"Sure Twilight," replied Shade.

"Spike, I'm glad you're here. Do you remember when we went to that other world on the other side of the mirror?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I found a young human boy, and he's here in Equestria!"

"Whoa, really?"

"Yep! Spike, let me introduce you to Shade!" Twilight stepped aside, and gestured to Shade.

"Uh, where is he?" asked Spike.

"Huh? What do you mean, he's right here." said Twilight.

"Stop messing around Twilight, I've got stuff to do." Spike began walking towards the two.

"Spike, you're going to run into-" but she stopped. Both Shade and Twilight's eyes widened when they saw Spike walk right through Shade. Spike proceeded to head up the stairs, while the other two just stood there, shocked.

"T-Twilgiht? Wha-what just hap-happened?"

Rumors

Rainbow Dash trotted through the streets of Ponyville. Normally, she would be flying through the skies, practicing tricks or clearing the skies, but at the moment, she actually felt like walking. She couldn’t explain it; it just felt like something she should do. It was a beautiful day outside, and she found herself enjoying the scenery. She was currently on her way to Sugar Cube Corner, in a mission to acquire some delicious baked goods.

Ponies around her talked and conversed about this and that. She wasn’t one for gossip, so she did her best to keep her attention to herself. That is, until she heard the name of one of her close friends being spoken.

“Did you see Twilight talking to herself?” Rainbow turned her head to see two ponies conversing. One was mint green unicorn with a lyre as her cutie mark. The other was an earth pony with a purple and pink mane and tail. It was the green one who just spoke. Lyra, she believed her name was. It was then that the other pony spoke, whom Rainbow recognized as Bonbon.

“No, I didn’t,” replied Bonbon.

“Well, I did. She was walking through the town, explaining a bunch of stuff about Ponyville and Equestria, like she was talking to somepony new, but I didn’t see anyone responded. She would even listen and make replies. Personally, I think she went off the deep end, just like that Smarty Pants incident.”

“Like you’re one to talk Lyra, what with all your talk about Humans,” said Bonbon.

“Hey, that’s not the same. Humans ARE real, and someday they’re going to come! But the difference is, I know I haven’t seen a real human before. But Twilight was acting like somepony was there, when it was plain to see that there wasn’t.”

“Hm, maybe you’re right.” Rainbow shook her head, and walked away. ‘That was weird,’ Thought Rainbow Dash. ‘Maybe I should head over to Twilights, to see if she’s okay.’ With her mind made, Rainbow changed her course, now heading towards Ponyvilles own Golden Oaks Library. It took her some time, but eventually she reached the tree. She trotted up to the door, and knocked.

“T-twilight? Wha-what just happened?”

“I…I, I don’t know,” replied the Princess. She trotted up to Shade and raised her hoof. She looked at it, then back to shade, then back to her hoof, then back to Shade. Carefully, she moved her hoof towards Shade. Instead of passing through him like Spike did, it stopped when met with Shade’s body. Puzzled, she retracted her hoof, and sat down.

“I don’t get it. How, why, I-I just,” and then Twilight cried out in frustration. She got up, and turned to head towards her bookshelves.

“What are you doing Twilight?” asked Shade, still with a tone of fear of the situation.

“I’m looking for a book to explain what the bucks going on!” said Twilight. Meanwhile, the hunger in shades belly started making itself known once again.

“Twilight...my tummy hurts, and I’m feeling dizzy,” said Shade as he put one hand to his stomach, and the other to his head.

“Oh dear. Uh, just lay down on the couch over there.”

“Okay,” said Shade as he walked over to the seat, and lied down. Meanwhile Twilight was still searching for any information on the situation. When she found none, she let out a frustrated groan. She was about to call down Spike to help her, when she heard a knocking at her door.

“Oh, someponys at the door. Shad, you stay there on the couch.”

“Okay Twilight,” replied Shade. Twilight walked towards the door, and used her magic to open the door, revealing a familiar blue Pegasus with a rainbow mane.

“Oh, hello Rainbow. What brings you by today?” asked Twilight.

“Uh, hey Twilight,” said Rainbow. Twilight noticed that something was off with Rainbow. It was in her tone, and on her face. “Listen, uh…are you doing alright?”

“Of course, why do you ask?”

“Well it’s just…well you know, I just…well I was walking through town, and overheard some ponies saying that you were acting a bit…off,” said Rainbow as she rubbed the back of her neck with her hoof. Twilight’s eyes widened a little. ‘Did ponies see me talking with Shade? But if no one else but me can see him then…they might think I’m…ok, I can fix this. Just play it down.’ “Oh, of course Rainbow, I’m perfectly fine. There’s no need to worry.”

“You sure?” asked Rainbow, still a little unsure.

“Positive Rainbow,” replied Twilight. Rainbow took a few seconds, but then came to the conclusion that what she overheard were just rumors.

“Alright then. I’ll see you later Twi!” with that, Rainbow started flapping her wings, hovering a few feet above the ground.

“Okay, see you later Rainbow!” said Twilight. Rainbow waved goodbye, and then flew off into the distance. Twilight sighed in relief, and then turned around and went back inside, and shut the door. When she walked back inside, she saw Shade kneeling on the couch, facing her.

“Everything all right Twilight?” asked the boy.

“Yeah, it’s just…hold on a sec,” Twilight ran up the stairs, and came to her room. She knocked on the door. When she heard Spike say; “enter”, she opened the door, and peeked inside. She saw her faithful assistant reading one of his comic books.

“Hey Twilight,” greeted the purple dragon.

“Hey Spike. I’m just checking in with you. You doing alright?”

“Yeah. Hey, how are you? You were acting kind of weird earlier.”

“Yes, Spike, I’m fine.”

“Alright good.”

“Alright, I’ll be downstairs.”

“Okay Twi.” Twilight then closed the door, and returned downstairs, where she saw Shade sitting on the couch, looking up at her.

“Sorry, I just needed to make sure we were alone,” said Twilight.

“Why?” asked Shade.

“Well, it’s just that it seems that no pony else can see you.”

“W-why?” Twilight sighed. “I don’t know. But I can feel and see you. I know you’re real, because I know I’m not crazy.”

“Then what do you think the problem is?” asked Shade.

“I’m not sure. It could be that your temporal molecular structure is offset. After all, you are from another world.”

“Okay, said Shade,” who then gripped his stomach in pain.

“Are you still hungry?” asked Twilight. Shade nodded with closed eyes and grit teeth. “Ok, what I want you to do is go into the kitchen, and try to eat something. Even if it tastes bad, you need to try and swallow. If that doesn’t work, then maybe it’s because of your temporal structure.”

“Alright, I’ll try,” said Shade. He got up, and walked into the kitchen. Once he was out of sight, Twilight turned to face her bookshelf.

“The answer must be here somewhere. Books are the ultimate source of knowledge after all,” said Twilight as she started searching, She searched and searched, but found nothing. Frustrated, she sat down and hung her head. She couldn’t find anything. She briefly remembered passing over a book called; ‘Super naturals, and by that we mean things that have to do with the paranormal,’ but she dismissed it as it was about things like Vamponies, Zombies and Ghosts. But those things weren’t real. Right?

Author's Note

I have a feeling I'm going to write myself into a corner with this eventually. Just note, this is kinda a hard story to write, while keeping things consistent.