Author's Note
Disclaimer: I do not own “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,” or its characters. They are property of Hasbro Studios and DHX Media.
As a Massachusetts native, this story is dedicated to all the victims affected by the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombings.
Boston Brony Strong
“Boston Brony Strong”
By TwilightSparkle3562
It had been a few days since Twilight Sparkle had been crowned as a princess of Equestria and went through a portal to the human world to retrieve her crown from Sunset Shimmer, a former student of Princess Celestia’s who wanted to use it for her own needs. Now, she was in the Crystal Empire for her first Princess Summit since her coronation. Still, however, the memories of her time in the human world were still fresh in her mind.
“Ah, feels good to be back in Equestria, Twilight?” remarked Spike as he and Twilight went to bed that night. “It’s nice being a dragon in a dog’s body, but its good to be a dragon again.”
“I’m with you Spike,” sighed Twilight as she laid in bed. “I just hope now that nothing else happens during the rest of my summit. My crown is back and Equestria is safe once more.”
“Yeah,” laughed Spike. “Although I can’t help but think of Rarity on the other side. She still hadn’t giving me a good ol’ scratch behind the ears.”
“Easy there, Romeo,” laughed Twilight. “You are a baby dragon, after all. You have an entire lifetime ahead of you. Besides, don’t you have the real Rarity to place your crush on?”
Spike just gave his friend a small glare as Twilight turned off the lights and the two friends went to sleep. Later that night, however, the newly crowned princess and her dragon assistant were suddenly awakened by the sounds of screaming coming from down the hall where the mirror that Twilight went through to the other world stood.
“Help! Somebody help!” screamed a voice as the scream was loud enough for Twilight and Spike to hear.
“Oh, not again,” groaned Spike, putting his pillow between his ears to block out the noise. “I thought we’ve been through this.”
However, trusting her instincts, Twilight got out of bed and ran towards the source of the screaming. Twilight had been awaken before by Sunset Shimmer and thought that those lessons that she taught her had fallen on deaf ears. But, listening closely, Twilight heard the voices and the one who was screaming had the sound of a male voice and not a female. Twilight soon came onto the scene of the action, where several guardsponies surrounded the individual in question who was screaming and took it into custody, struggling to hold him still.
“What in the name of all things orchards and apples is going on here?” cried Applejack as she and the rest of Twilight’s friends ran to the room as well. “Does anypony know what time it is?”
“Yes, time for somepony to get their beauty sleep,” added Rarity, huffily. “Beauty sleep is important, you know.”
“Who is that?” asked Pinkie Pie, pointing to the source of the screaming.
The individual struggled against the guardsponies and Twilight stepped forward to see that the individual in question was not a pony at all, leaving Twilight to gasp loudly at who it was. He was a human like the ones from the human world, but this one was different. He was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans and had brown hair.
“I’m looking for Princess Twilight Sparkle,” he gasped as the guardsponies held him. “It’s an emergency, my brother needs to see you.”
Twilight and her friends looked around for a moment in confusion and were just about to ask the human why he was here when Celestia, Luna and Cadence came into the room. Thinking that herself and the other princesses were being targeted, Luna wasted no time in getting defensive on the individual in question.
“Who are you?” snapped Luna, pointing her horn at the human’s throat. “And where do you come from?”
The human gulped nervously as the heat from Luna’s magically charged horn burned his skin. Seeing that the human was scared, Twilight stepped forward and ordered Luna and the guardsponies to release him, much to their chagrin. Once freed of their bonds, the human was dropped to the floor and looked up at Twilight with tear filled eyes.
“Twilight Sparkle,” he cried, grabbing at her front hooves. “I’ve been sent by my brother to find you.”
“That’s Princess Twilight to you!” said Rainbow Dash, jumping up into the air. “Have a little respect.”
“Rainbow Dash, please!” retorted Fluttershy, giving her Pegasus friend a glare. “He may not be a pony, but he looks harmless to me.”
Ignoring the comment and remark by Rainbow Dash, the human turned his attention back to the purple pony princess that was right in front of him.
“You’ll have to excuse Rainbow Dash,” said Twilight. “She can be very…cautious.”
Twilight also gave Rainbow Dash a hard stare for her harsh remarks towards the man. For as far Twilight was concerned, the man had a good reason for coming through the portal to Equestria and he wouldn’t have come if it wasn’t important.
“That’s all right,” said the human, still gasping for air. “After what happened in Boston, everybody’s feeling tense around here.”
All the ponies stood around in confusion over what had been spoken. But, Twilight could see that something was wrong and was eager to find out the truth. After the human had been taken to another room to calm down, he was led into the Crystal Empire’s summit room where he faced the four princesses.
“Before you do anything to me,” said the human. “I want you to know that I mean no harm. My brother is hurt very badly and he sent me to find Twilight Sparkle.”
“We are not going to do anything to you,” said Cadence, warmly. “We know you mean us no harm. If there is anything we can do to make you comfortable…”
But, the human nodded his head and turned down the offer to Cadence. He then took another sigh and looked back up at the princesses.
“Thank you for your offer, but I don’t need anything,” replied the human. “My brother is a fan of all of you, especially you Twilight. He’s been injured in an attack on the Boston marathon.”
“What is the Boston Marathon?” wondered Twilight, who didn’t know fully much about the human world, despite the fact that she was just in it. “Is it a social event like the Grand Galloping Gala?”
“No, Twilight,” replied the human. “It is a race, a running race that stretches for 20 miles from Hopkinton to Boston. Racers from all over the world take part in it. It’s like the running of the leaves that you do in the fall or something.”
The human took in another deep sigh and felt a tear trickle down his face as he wiped it away. After trying to pull himself together, he revealed the reason why he was in the Crystal Empire.
“My brother was competing in the race when all of a sudden, a pair of bombs went off at the finish line,” sighed the human. “He hurt his legs pretty badly and the doctors say that they need to be amputated.”
This caused the four princesses to gasp in shock over what had just been said. Hearing about this brought back memories of the Changeling Invasion during Cadence and Shining Armor’s wedding, although many ponies weren’t hurt in any way.
“He had also served in our country’s military,” continued the human. “Two tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, so he knows the horror of what goes on in situations like this. He has even seen others like him die and fears that he would soon be joining them. He’s afraid of death and doesn’t want to die now.”
Knowing that this was an emergency, Celestia looked up at the human with a determined look on her face.
“What can we do to help you?” asked Celestia.
“I need Twilight to visit my brother in his hospital room,” said the human. “He’s very scared of the situation that he is in and you are the only one who can calm him down.”
Twilight was unsure that she wanted to go back to the human world. After all, the portal had been closed and thus, she would not be able to return for another 30 moons. Still, there may have been another portal that was accessed via the mirror.
“When can we leave?” asked Twilight, rising to her feet.
“We need to leave now,” replied the human, also rising to his feet. “My brother is going to be having his surgery in the morning. He has always wanted to meet you, Twilight and there is not a better time than now.”
So, Twilight followed the human back to the room where the mirror was and where everypony was gathered.
“So, what’s going on?” asked Rainbow Dash, jumping into the air.
“I need to go back to the human world to visit somepony,” replied Twilight. “Don’t worry, I will be back soon.”
Hugging her friends and Spike, who had chosen to stay behind, Twilight followed the human through the portal as her friends and fellow princesses watched. After a brief period of transport, Twilight followed the human through the portal and soon found herself in a dark room with only a small lamp providing the only light. Next to the lamp was a bed and on the bed, laid a young human like the one who came into Equestria.
“I’ve brought Twilight, Martin,” said the human, leading Twilight over to the human. “She’s here for you.”
Twilight stepped over to the bedridden human and sat down on a chair that had been provided for visitors. Martin weakly turned towards Twilight and smiled down at her weakly.
“Is it really you?” he asked, producing a small smile. “Am I really talking to you, Twilight?”
“Yes, its me, Martin,” replied Twilight, warmly. “Your brother has told me so much about you. “
“After everything that has happened,” sighed Martin. “I could use a little cheering up, giving the fact that I need to get my legs amputated.”
Twilight then looked down at the bottom of Martin’s bed and noticed how the legs had looked crooked. Seeing this human looking like this made her think of her family and friends back in Equestria and how grateful she was that they were in her life.
“I can’t help but hear the horrors that go on in my head,” sighed Martin. “I can still hear the screams the moment that the bombs went off. I’ve been in Iraq and Afghanistan and have always thought that the war would stay away from my country. I guess that I was wrong.”
Twilight then noticed a small plush toy in her likeliness that depicted her as a unicorn. Seeing it reminded her of the days as Celestia’s student and that she was grateful to be one. Hearing about Martin talk about his military experience also made Twilight think of Shining Armor and the sacrifices and risks he had made while in the Canterlot Royal Guard.
“The doctors said that I will forever be forced to wear prosthetic legs,” said Martin, interrupting Twilight’s brief sentimental journey. “All my life I wanted to be like you, Twilight, an A-list student and a leader to all people who follow and look up to me.”
“And you can still be one,” said Twilight, placing her hoof on Martin’s hand. “I have faced many challenges before and have come out of them without any regrets. You can still accomplish that goal, Martin. I have an older brother that is just like you, fighting for his country and he married a princess and is now a prince of a nation. Don’t let this surgery get to you.”
Martin let out a heavy sigh and knew that Twilight was right. He couldn’t let this surgery get to him and he had faced much worse situations before.
“I know you are afraid, Martin,” she said, warmly. “Even now that I am a princess, I fear of the future that comes with being one. But as long as I have my family and friends with me, it takes some of the pressure off.”
“Twilight has a point,” said Martin’s brother, walking over towards his brother’s bed. “Mom, Dad and I are going to be at your side through this whole healing process. You have to understand that and I am pretty sure every family that was affected by what happened in Boston will be going through the same thing.”
Feeling slight reassured, Martin smiled weakly again and clutched Twilight’s hoof again. Knowing that morning was soon coming, Twilight got up and went back to the mirror, but not before turning back to the two brothers.
“I better get back to Equestria, Martin,” said Twilight. “But, I want you to remember this. As long as you believe in me, I will forever be at your side. Never forget that.”
“I won’t, Twilight,” replied Martin, giving her a thumbs up. “Thank you for being there for me.”
With a last glancing smile, Twilight walked back through the portal and left the two brothers alone, feeling reassured of the events that would soon come.
Meanwhile, Twilight walked back through the portal as her friends greeted her back. As they hugged her, they began to ask her questions about her brief visit, but she didn’t answer them.
“All that matter was that I helped somepony out today,” she answered. “That’s all that mattered.”
“Nevertheless,” added Princess Celestia, stepping towards Twilight. “You have completed your first task as a princess, Twilight, and it wasn’t even in Equestria. There will be much more of these to come in the future.”
Twilight took these words to heart. Yes, she did fulfill her duty as a princess and it was outside of Equestria, but she couldn’t help but think of the young man who admired her and was about to have surgery. All that mattered was that Martin took the lesson Twilight had taught him to heart as he moved into a new phase of his life.
Twilight was on Martin’s side and always will be.
