The Midnight Alicorn

My eyes jerked open as my alarm droned, wrenching me from my slumber. I groaned loudly and smacked the top of my alarm clock, stopping the ear-grating sound. I rolled over onto my back and rubbed my eyes ruefully, praying that by some miracle my alarm had gone off early, and that I still had time to sleep. I turned my head to look at my alarm clock. 6:45. No luck. With another prolonged groan, I rolled out of bed and stumbled out of my bedroom and into the kitchen.

I rushed through my morning preparations as quickly as I could while still giving a half-hearted effort to look presentable. It's not that I really cared about how I looked for school, but dear Celestia, every other kid lurking the halls at Baton Ridge High School did, and therefore I had discovered that at least trying to look halfway presentable makes the day go by a lot easier, and considerably lowers the insults directed at you.

After I was ready, I sat down on the old, worn, ugly brown couch in my living room to begin the only part of my morning routine that I sincerely enjoyed. I turned on our outdated giant box TV and switched to my favorite show: My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic.

I can't really describe my love of the show in words. When I first heard of the Brony phenomenon, I was honestly indifferent. But when one of my friends (well, I call him a friend, but he probably doesn't care whether or not I'm breathing right now) told me and a few other everyday losers that he was a Brony, I decided I would give the show a try myself.

The bright colors, the likable and surprisingly complex characters, and then there was Equestria itself, the bright, enchanting world that the ponies lived in. Equestria was an absolute wonderland, with everything from small, homey towns to giant, bustling cities. It was also filled to the brim with ponies and a huge variety of magical creatures. I had always dreamed of living in Equestria, with the friendly and adventurous ponies that called the place home.

The particular episode that I tuned into also featured Princess Luna, who was my personal favorite character on the show. She was an all-powerful alicorn that had the power to raise the moon and reveal the stars each and every night. All unicorns in Equestria  had the ability to use magic, but alicorns are practically deities in the show, and their magic far exceeded the unicorns'. The only other alicorns in the show were Princess Celestia (who raised the sun), Princess Cadence (who rules the Crystal Empire), and, more recently, Princess Twilight Sparkle (who... Honestly mostly just sits in a gloomy crystal tree-castle with her friends).

The Princesses and their roles in Equestria were honestly one of the most appealing aspects of the show to me. Although my love for the show and its unexpected fandom was unparalleled, I made it priority number one to make sure nobody from my school ever found out about it. I was already somewhat of a bullying target, and I was fairly sure that if said bullies knew I was obsessed with a little girls' show about pastel-colored ponies, the situation wouldn't improve.

"Ivan," my mother called from the other end of the house. "You're going to be late for school! Turn the TV off!" I groaned for the thousandth time that morning and switched off the episode right as it got to the climax. "Hurry up, you're going to miss the bus!"

"Shut up, I'm going!"

Before you comment on our wonderful mother-son relationship, let me inform you that I am her only child, and that she expects me to be perfect in every way. And then, when I turn out to be a socially awkward teenager that watches a little girls' show and camps out in his room all day, my mother isn't too overly happy. I know she only wants what's best for me or whatever, but I'm pretty sure I deserve to have a speck of control over my own life.

I leaped from my spot on the couch and angrily picked up my backpack up off the floor. I can't really say that I was looking forward to the school day too much. The biggest thing I had to look forward to all day was taking truckloads of crap from teachers and brainless bullies. I stomped my way to the door before my mom caught my arm before I could get it all the way open.

"What do you want," I demanded impatiently. "Ivan, I need to talk to you. Now.

"And I need to get to school." I pulled away from her grip and stamped out of the door, walking towards the street. I didn't care that I was walking to another atrocious day at school, I didn't care that I probably just made my mom cry. I was just so done with all of it. It didn't initially register my mind that I had just walked into the middle of the street until i heard a faint noise, which I registered a second later as an ancient diesel engine, which was immediately followed by squealing brakes.

"IVAN!" My mother's cry was the last thing I heard before I turned and saw my school bus heading directly towards me.

And then everything went black.