I sat there on my black, leathery couch, a half-empty can of Dr. Pepper tugging at my loose right wrist. In front of me was a wooden coffee table, my Wii U gamepad sitting atop. On the TV, an episode of Friends was just reaching its end. As the theme song played, I debated whether I should get up and do something productive with my time or keep the Netflix marathon going.
Taking a sip of my soda, I looked up at the clock hanging on the wall. 8:13. I glanced back at the TV. Oh, how much I wanted to watch another episode…
Meh. I’ll watch another. Besides, it’s not like I have anything to do with my life.
I sat up on the couch. Setting my soda on the table, I reached forward to grab the gamepad. I slipped my finger underneath the right trigger and slid the stylus out of its compartment. The stylus now secure in my hand, I scrolled through the Netflix instant queue and selected Friends once more.
On the TV, a little red circle was spinning around, indicating that the episode was loading. I set the gamepad back on the coffee table and let my body fall back into the seat. I reached down to the side of the sofa and felt around until I found the button. Pressing it, I felt the footrest bring my feet flying up. I adjusted myself to the most relaxing position as the episode started.
I’ve been out of high school for a decade, yet I’m still just wasting my life rewatching Friends on Netflix.
Suddenly, a flash of light blinded me. I jumped, sending my can of soda flying out of my hand and spilling all over the carpet. With my legs, I pushed down the footrest.
I reached for the gamepad and paused the episode.
I was certain the light had come from outside.
Already at the coat rack by the door, I threw my jacket on. I flung the door open and leapt outside with my bare, now soda-covered feet.
I sprinted past the porch and down the driveway, the cold cement stinging as my feet slapped against it.
I froze.
There, lying absolutely still on the driveway was… something. It was varying shades of purple and pink. I saw its body steadily rise and fall, figuring that must be its breathing. It seemed to be breathing rather quickly for being unconscious, but I wrote it off as it being a different species. The creature remained absolutely silent, aside from the soft, steady, female-sounding breaths. I carefully approached the creature, taking note of its long, serpentine shape.
I couldn’t see its face, as it was currently against the hard concrete, but I could see deep purple horns protruding from the back of its head. My eyes followed the horns back to the creature’s head, where I then saw tufts of lavender fur. From the looks of it, they were probably ears. Scattered over the upper third of its body was a mess of pink, purple, and dark blue hair. The length of its hair alone was probably almost enough to tower over me.
Visible underneath the hair were two feathery purple wings. Below those wings was what I figured was its lower torso. It was long, thin, furry, and a slightly dark shade of purple than its ears and wings. Near the bottom of the torso, two legs were attached at the sides. They resembled the paws of a lion, the difference being the shade of purple they were – even deeper than the torso.
Just below these legs, the purple fur ended, revealing a pink, scaly tail underneath. The tail itself was responsible for about two fifths of the creature’s length. The tail got thinner as it went, and at the end was a tuft of fur that matched the color of its hair.
I stood there, eyes locked on the creature. My mind searched franticly for an answer, but there was none to be found. I felt as though I should have recognized it, as if I’d seen it somewhere before, but the creature’s sudden appearance had made my mind foggy.
I felt the urge to come even closer to the creature. My mind found something about it… compelling. I felt my soul pulled toward it, as if I was under some sort of spell. Without telling it to, my body knelt down and reached underneath its lower torso to pick it up. My brain kept telling me the creature should weigh at least twice as much as I did, but I had no trouble lifting it. It was lighter than air in my arms.
Without hesitation, my legs started dragging the two of us back toward the front door. Still passed out, the creature subconsciously coiled itself around me, surrounding me with a large pillow of warmth. The creature must have felt under a spell as well.
I opened the door and stepped inside, careful not to hurt the sleeping creature as I passed the threshold. I maneuvered my way to the couch, where I slowly and gently set the creature down.
Turning around, I took my jacket off and threw it over at the coat rack, promising to myself I would hang it up later.
As I sat down across the room from the creature, I saw that it was shaking rapidly.
It must be cold. Makes sense. It isn’t exactly easy to be outside with nothing on at this time of year.
I searched around for the blanket I normally used when I was downstairs. Eventually, I found myself looking behind the couch the creature was lying on. There, in a single condensed pile, was the soft, yellow square of fabric I was searching for. I picked it up off the ground and tucked it underneath my arm as I made my way around the couch.
On the other side, I gazed upon the creature. In all honesty, I couldn’t help but silently D’aww in my head. The creature was strangely adorable, for a dragon-bird-lion thing. I grabbed the blanket by the corners, one in each hand, and carefully spread it over the sleeping serpent.
Once the blanket settled, it became evident that it wasn’t large enough to cover the creature. I scanned the room for another blanket, sighing when I saw that there were none.
I decided to run upstairs to my room, where I could take a blanket from my bed. When I came back, another blanket held in my right arm, I spread it over the creature.
I sat down on the other couch and allowed my pulse to settle a little bit before questioning why I was doing all of this for a creature I didn’t know anything about. I mean, I had no idea where it came from, if it was dangerous, or even what it really was.
So why am I helping it?
Several minutes passed by at a dreadfully slow pace. Silence’s reign over the room was as intense as silence could possibly be. I sat there on the couch, still contemplating what I was doing.
A wave of warmth washed over me. Once again, it was like I was under a spell. Completely unannounced, I stood up from my well-maintained butt groove and walked over to the creature. I pushed the coffee table away from the couch and knelt down in its place.
I silently sat there, knelt in front of the creature, and examined it again. A little more was visible now that it was on its side. Its face was the same shade of purple as its wings and ears, as was its chest. There was a cushion of fur on its chest as the color of the fur shifted slightly. Right at the tuft were its shoulders, matching shades with its lower torso. The fur stopped abruptly after its shoulders, where two extremely dark purple talons went on to finish what the shoulders had started.
I moved my gaze to its face. Extending from the face quite a bit was a muzzle, on which a mouth and a nose resided. Above the muzzle, a pair of eyes sat, closed. Its eyes bore thick eyelashes, another indication that it was female – though I couldn’t be sure.
A resounding groan resonated from the creature’s throat.
Yep, it’s a girl. Or a lady.
Sluggishly, she reached up to rub her eyes. She let out a surprised yelp as she looked at her talons.
“What in Equestria…” she remarked, eyes locked on her talons. A look of panic and confusion was plastered on her now wide awake face. She quickly snapped her head around to look at the rest of her body.
“Why am I…?” She trailed off mid-question. She sat up on the couch to get a better look at the room. “Where am I?” Suddenly, her eyes locked onto me. “What are you?” she asked.
“You can talk…?!” I asked, struggling to push the words out of my mouth.
“Of course I can talk! Did… did you bring me here?” she asked, taking another look around the room.
“Well, I sort of just found you…”
“You kidnapped me?!” Her mouth fell wide open, almost to the point where it was unreal.
“What?! No! No!” I waggled my hands back in forth in front of me, shaking my head. What an idiot I must have looked like. “I would never! I just found you unconscious on my driveway! I couldn’t just leave you there, especially not in this weather! It’s freezing out there! I’m surprised you managed to fall asleep out there in the cold!”
“I… What?” She shook her head rapidly like she was trying to get a spider off of her. “I didn’t fall asleep out there! I don’t even remember going to sleep! Last I remember, I was writing down the last part of an unfinished spell to fix my friends’ des-”
“Wait, wait, a spell?” My jaw fell to an insanely low level. “You mean to say you can use magic?” Now, I wasn’t about to get skeptical on her – she was a purple… that. Still, I planned to take everything she said with a grain of salt.
“What do you mean? Of course I have magic! I used to be a unicorn!”
“You seriously mean to tell me that you used to be a unicorn with magical powers?” If my gob wasn’t hanging before, it certainly was now.
“Why are you so surprised? The world is full of magic!”
My laugh echoed throughout the house. “Not the world I’m living in!” The laughter continued, and she added her own awkward laugh to the symphony.
“Wait… Where is this?”
“Wisconsin.”
“Wis… Wisconsin? I’ve never heard of such place.” She reached up with a talon and scratched her head. “Ow! I really need to get used to these…”
With a brief chuckle at her accident, I tried again. “The United States?”
“I’ve… never heard of the United States.”
I planted my head firmly in the palm of my hand. “You’re not from around here, are you?” She shook her head. “Do you even know what planet we’re on?”
“Equus…?” The pitch of her voice climbed as she reached the end of the word.
I sighed. “We’re on planet Earth.”
“Earth? So… this isn’t my world then…”
“Well, what is your world?” I asked. Upon realization that I was about to learn where she lived before her name, I was suddenly giggled.
She looked at me like a slug was attached to my face and sucking apple juice from my skin. “Before I found myself here, I lived in Ponyville, Equestria, which is on the planet of Equus – though you already knew that.”
“So you’re an alien?”
She shrugged. “I guess I am.”
“Well then, alien… Do you have a name?”
She smiled warmly at my question. “I’m Twilight Sparkle.” She held out her claw. “You?”
“You can just call me Martin.” I took her talon in my right hand and carefully shook it. “Nice to meet you.”
She smiled. “The same.”
“So… about that magic thing… Can you show me?” I tried to sound as cute as possible, thinking maybe she’d be more likely to oblige.
“I would love to.” A brief but beautiful melody oozed out of her voice.
The room fell silent as I awaited her performance.
…
…
“Oh, no… NonononononoNONONONONONO!” She covered her muzzle with her claws.
“Wait, what’s wrong?” I inquired, tilting my head to the left slightly.
“My magic… I can’t use my magic! Oh, no! This must be because I’m a draconequus!”
“A draconamawhat?”
“A draconequus. Oh, how could I completely forget that draconequii have a completely different form of magic than unicorns? If I ever want to use magic again, I’m going to have to relearn it entirely!” Twilight blinked several times. Two pools of tears formed in her eyes, obscuring the color. She turned her back toward me, probably in an attempt to hide her distress.
“Well, it’s not like it could possibly be that big of a deal.” My hand immediately clapped itself over my mouth all on its own. Normally, I don’t care if I offend anyone, but something about this one made me want to be more careful.
In half a picosecond, Twilight spun herself around to face me. “Of course it’s a big deal!” She was screaming so loud, my ears were ringing. “It may not be that important in your world, but in Equestria, magic is the base of everything! I’ve dedicated my whole life to studying magic!” As she went on, her voice took on a much softer, more somber tone. “If I can’t use my magic, I have no purpose! And if…”
She interrupted herself with a brief sniffle before continuing.
“And if… if I can’t relearn magic, I… I won’t be able to go home!”
Tears abruptly exploded out of her eyes as the reality of it struck her. I had no clue what it must have felt like. Based on our conversation, she’d been torn away from her own home, separated from her friends and family, stripped of her life’s purpose, and transformed into a creature she didn’t know how to be. I had no idea how awful that must have been for her. The closest I could get was with what happened to my parents.
I felt my heart shatter inside of me. In an attempt to comfort the poor soul, I embraced her quivering body. With my left hand, I gently stroked her back, while I patted her head with my right. She buried her face in my chest, curling her serpent-like figure around me. I could feel the warmth from her muzzle penetrate my shirt as it found its way into my soul.
I gently stroked her mane. “Oh, Twilight, you poor thing… I… I can’t even begin to imagine what it must be like for you.” I briefly reconsidered saying what I was about to say, but I decided that I had to go through with it. If I didn’t, nobody else would. I'm surprised I, of all people, was the one doing it.
“Twilight?”
“Y-yes?” I heard her muffled voice respond shakily.
“I want you to know that, no matter how long it takes, I’ll let you stay here with me.”
Twilight looked up at me, a glimpse of hope reflected in her purple and magenta eyes. “R-really?”
I smiled down at her. “Of course. You’ve been thrown into a world completely unknown to you, and I can see that you’re in desperate need of a friend. And you know what, Twilight? I’d love to be that friend.”
She beamed up at me, ready to explode. Tightly, she clung to me in appreciation. “Thank you, Martin! Thank you so much!”
“You’re welcome.”
I smiled, hugging my new friend.
Author's Note
Dat product placement doh.
Well, this is what I've been working on!
This one will probably be my main project for awhile. I've considered the idea for at least a month now, and I still haven't gotten bored of it, so I doubt I'll be losing interest. And that's good - I've been spending a lot more time looking over my writing and revising it than for any other fic.
If you have any criticism, it's absolutely welcome - in fact, I encourage criticism.
Let me know what you think of the story so far in the comments below!
Note: This is far from the final draft. I will likely go through the entire story at a later date and make lots of changes.
(I will still continue with One Day in Math Class and Getting a Ride, but I plan on getting the complete first draft of this fic done before I go back to those two. I'm more heavily invested in this idea at the moment, so I won't be wasting it!)
For a brief moment, we stood there, holding each other in a warm hug. I would have been content to just keep hugging her for hours as my arms sank into her velvety coat. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Twilight ducked out of the hug, coming dangerously close to scraping my back.
I jumped as the sudden movement caused a quick burst of adrenaline to flow through me. “Whoa! Sheesh, Twilight! Calm down!”
“Sorry…” She smirked as her cheeks glowed a rosy red color. “It’s just that I want to get back home as soon as possible, which means I’m going to have to get to work on my magic. Speaking of which, is there anywhere nearby I could do that? Perhaps an empty room or some other isolated area?” An uncanny smile dominated her face. “I wouldn’t want to do it inside and potentially damage your home,” she added with a wavering chuckle.
I thought about it briefly before a place came to mind, a grim reminder of what had happened nearly a decade ago.
“Well… there is… my dad’s old office,” I offered softly. I found myself letting out a low sigh. “It should be empty.” For a moment, I remembered the good days when he was still alive.
“What happened to him?” she asked, apparently having picked up on my sigh. I looked at the soft, tan carpet below her, sighing once more.
“I was eighteen when it happened.” As I began, I let out a long, deep sigh. “I had just gotten home from my last day of high school, ready to move on to the next big part of my life. I was about to move on, alright.” I stared at the carpet as if I was trying to count each individual dust particle caught between the threads. “The years sure have gone by fast…”
“That must have been awful…”
I nodded. “It was.” I took in a deep breath as I moved my gaze back up at Twilight’s face. “Of course, that was nearly a decade ago.” I tried my best to fake a convincing smile. I could literally feel how fake it was – my teeth were even hurting! Twilight saw my ‘smile’ and raised me one frown, not even fooled in the slightest.
“I can tell you’re still upset about all of this…” she cooed. I could see the pity in her eyes.
“I don’t want to talk about it. Brings out too many negative emotions.” I looked back down at the carpet, wondering how nice and comfy it would be if I lay down. I almost wished I could, only to find my body being absorbed into the carpet, never to be seen again.
Twilight shook her head. “The only way you’ll ever feel better about all of this is if you are willing to discuss it. It’ll help you significantly if you release all of the feelings you’ve bottled up.” I sighed. She was right. I wasn’t going to feel better if I kept it in.
“You’re right… It’s just that…” My mouth felt like it was filled with peanut butter. Or maybe molasses. Something viscous. “Well, after it happened, my mom fell into a deep depression. It got so bad that I had to tie her down to her bed at night so she wouldn’t try to end it all when I was asleep.” My head hung like there was a massive ball of lead tied to it. I exhaled slowly and heavily.
“Of course, that didn’t help much. It did help her get some rest, sure. But after about a week of that, she had a heart attack in her sleep.” Just thinking about it made me feel like I had just smashed my head into a mailbox at 45 miles an hour. I put my palm to my head in a desperate attempt to hide the pain.
“That’s awful!” Twilight gasped. She moved as if she had put herself into a freezer in an attempt to become a block of ice but didn’t quite get the job done. Her pupils grew so large that if they had grown any larger, I’d have sworn they were going to eat me in my sleep. “She… she survived, right?”
“Yeah, she survived it,” I told her bleakly. Twilight’s face reverted to its false comfort as she heard this. “But the heart attacks didn’t stop. Over the years, she’s had several, each weakening her more than the last. It’s like her body wants to die.
“And the heart attacks are getting to her. I mean, she can’t even remember her own name now. It seems like the only ones there to comfort her when she’s alone are the darkness and the paranoia.”
A lake of tears obscured the purple color of her irises now. Her mouth was curled downward. The sight of it took an axe to my heart. “I… I’m sorry, Twilight. I’m not going to go on if it’s upsetting you this much.” She smiled weakly through the tears that were now rolling down her face.
“Thank you,” she sniffled. As she continued, her smile disappeared. “All of that pain must have been clawing at you from the inside! And to keep it bottled up for this long… Martin… I- I’m so sorry for you.” Twilight closed her eyes and wrapped her talons around my head, careful not to hurt me. Gently, she pulled me close, tucking my head underneath her arms. I slowly placed my head against her chest.
Immediately, I could feel her warm, soft coat tickle the entire left side of my face. Her heart beat softly inside of her. The sound of it echoed throughout my body, relaxing my muscles. “There, there. It’ll be okay.” As she spoke, she slowly scratched my back with her talons, making certain not to hurt me. Standing there in Twilight’s embrace, her heart pounding softly into my ear, I felt safe. I could have melted away then and there and I would’ve been happy.
“Thanks, Twilight.” I pulled out of her embrace, feeling the dark thoughts leave my mind. “I… I feel a lot better now.” I smiled.
She smiled back, her eyes still a bit puffy from her tears. “I’m happy to hear it.”
“Alright, let me show you to that office.” With my hand, I signaled for her to follow me down the hallway. As I shuffled across the carpet, I could feel it squeezing between my toes. I had always loved that about carpet.
When I reached the door, I threw my arm to the left, inviting her to enter the room. With a nod, she walked up to the door. After a few seconds of her fumbling around with the doorknob, I realized that I was going to have to open it.
“Allow me,” I chuckled. She backed away from the door to give me room to work my magic. Giggling, I twisted the doorknob and threw the door open. Without hesitation, dust exploded out of the room, covering the hallway’s carpet with a thick blanket. After getting a whiff of the air, I sneezed.
Her face lit up. “This is just what I was looking for! I mean, we’ll have to move all of these boxes, and those cobwebs will have to be cleared out, but aside from that, it’s perfect!”
“Wait, what boxes?” Puzzled, I took a look inside to see what she was talking about. Sure enough, the room was filled with stacks and stacks of cardboard boxes of varying sizes. “Huh, these must be all of Dad’s possessions.” I hadn’t entered the room since it happened, and it definitely showed. Each and every box looked like it had been collecting dust for years, which made sense, considering the fact that they had. As many as a few thousand cobwebs plastered the ceiling, walls, and floor.
“To be honest, I haven’t even looked at this room since it happened.” Twilight swiveled her head to look at me, bewildered.
“Really? Not even once?”
I shook my head. “No. I guess it brings up too many painful memories, being the room my dad died in.”
Twilight shut her eyes and nodded. “I guess I understand. Still, I think you owe it to him to at least look at the room once in a while.”
I shrugged at her. “I guess I just never found the time to. Nor did I find the courage to face my emotions. It wast just too challenging to enter this room and not be reminded of my father.”
Twilight shot a friendly smirk at me. “I accept your challenge.”
Scratching my head, I asked the obvious question. “What challenge?”
“Before I find a way to get home, I will help you face your emotions. That’s a promise.” A smile slowly spread across her face.
I couldn’t help but smile back at the gesture.
Author's Note
Once again, not the final draft.
I apologize for taking so long to actually put this up. It's not that it wasn't done or ready, I just didn't find the time to post it until now.
Next chapter will be looking at the events before Twilight and Martin met. There are some pretty big plot points introduced next chapter, too, so I'm excited for that!
As always, I'm open to criticism. I'm always striving to improve in my writing, so let me know what I'm doing wrong and how I can fix it!
