Prologue: The Pair of Lost Souls
Today was not exactly what I'd call the best of days. Not exactly the worst either, but definitely the worst so far. I was finally happy for once in my life, and I lost the one thing that let me maintain that happiness... well, the two things. Ever since my ex girlfriend became... well, my ex girlfriend, things only went south from there. I lost my one true love, and without her... I had no inspiration. You see, I'm a writer/actor, I write plays and star in them. Name's Nathan Jaremsek, but many call me something else. Sky, Jaydove, Phoenix, you name it. But without the star of my heart, I had no drive. No passion. No purpose. No hope. No name.
To top it all off, there was a thunderstorm that night. The night I lost Rachel. The night she told me she loved only one man, Jacob. Nice guy, and I was more than a little jealous. It wasn't just that he stole my girl from under my nose... or that she loved him more than me... but he actually tried exactly hard enough... not too hard, not too... not hard, anyway... to keep her happy. I tried too hard, with the love songs, and saying "I love you" to her every half minute or so, and sharing my affections whenever I could. Apparently I was "too much" for Rachel, and she preferred a guy who was a bit more nonchalant while still loving and caring. That someone was Jacob. Again, nice guy, but that's not the point.
I tried to use my friendship with others to take my mind off her, but I just couldn't keep her off my mind. I tossed and turned in the end, with noone to talk to. I searched again and again, but I never found her. I cried and the tears fell from my eyes, like a waterfall. And I swear I could feel her in my arms, but there was noone there at all. I tried to be a good friend like I used to be. Kind, caring, loving, and joyful. Well I could still be three out of four of those things, but there was no room in my blackened heart for joy. I missed Rachel and wanted her back more than anything, so I did what any insane man would do... I drove myself crazy with stupid plans for revenge against Jacob. Again, he's a really nice guy. But my jealousy got the better of me and made me believe I hated him when really I wished him and her a happy life together.
Anyway, the storm. That thunderstorm was a metaphor for all the fear and rage and hatred bottled up inside of me... or rather, all the jealousy in the guise of those other emotions. That thunder and lightning was not what frightened me... it was the thought of never seeing Rachel again. I loved her more than anything, and she used to feel the same way about me... until she met Jacob and he treated her right, that is. What I'd give to be in Jacob's body for a day or two, and to have his brain and know exactly what Rachel wants and needs... and to give her all of it. No more, no less.
Suddenly, just when I thought the night couldn't get any worse... the power went out. I had lost my connection with all of my friends, and the worst part: It was after 2 AM and I was the only one awake. I didn't want to wake up my mom, and nor did I want to disturb my sisters from their sweet slumbers. All I wanted at that moment was to sleep. Not with anyone, not even Rachel. I just wanted to be alone and rest in my bed... but I discovered that even that is a luxury I can scarcely afford. My bed was, as usual, unmade and untidy. Unable to see anything in the pitch darkness that is my windowless room, I fell flat on the wrong side of my bed and fidgeted with the covers until I got under them.
I had nothing better to do than sleep, and yet, for the strangest reason, I couldn't. It wasn't just because I was thinking about Rachel, or that I missed her. No, this was a spiritual reason. There was a demon spirit in my room, trying to find my body, and if I shut my eyes for even a millisecond, then it... I mean she... would find me and take control of me. Knowing about the presence of this demon, this... shadow queen... I could not sleep. I couldn't even blink. And yet, despite my determination to stay awake, my desire to sleep overcame my desire to keep my free will. I fell into a nightmare that I couldn't possibly awaken from: My new reality.
This is a disaster! I thought to myself as I, Starlight Aurora Glimmer, looked down at the rotten fruit of my forbidden labour. Here I am, the best mage in my era, and I can't even manage a simple summoning spell? I knew that it wasn't just a simple summoning spell. This was a familiar summoning spell, and familiars are much harder to summon than objects.
I looked down at the markings I made on the crystalline floor of my mentor's Castle of Friendship, and I saw what I was dealing with: dark magic. The kind of magic reserved for the most troubled of souls. Souls that have lost what could never be replaced. Souls that have nothing left to live for. Souls that need to be bonded with other souls, and can't form such bonds without taking drastic measures. Souls like mine.
Sure, losing Sunburst once was enough to cause me to dabble in dark magic, but after my archnemesis Twilight Sparkle became my mentor and friend, I lost the desire for such evil deeds. That desire resurfaced when I lost the love of my life for the second time. Sunburst left me, and this time, he was fully aware of how much he was hurting me. He didn't leave me for another mare, unless you count resuming his studies with Princess Celestia as such. He left me to pursue his dream as a mage. He wanted to become a great and powerful wizard, and he thought that his love for me would only get in the way of his love for magic.
Little did Sunburst realize that love is infinite, and magic can grow from it. If only he knew that, none of this would have happened. That magic, real magic, comes from the heart. No amount of willpower or negative energy can stop it. But neither can magic born of fear, hatred, and rage be stopped by some alternate magic. It needs to be stopped by a lack of magic. And so I wanted to summon a familiar to deprive me of my magic temporarily. I would then bring him back to his own world and return the magic to myself once I was ready to start using it again.
I cast my summoning spell again, just to try and see if my familiar would come upon the second utterance of the spell. "Omnes tenebrae sunt in luce" That was Pony Latin for "All darkness is within light" and for some reason, that was the key phrase for summoning a familiar. When I uttered the last word of that spell, a lightning bolt shot from my horn and into the centre of the pentagram. Suddenly, the spot on the floor on which the pentagram was drawn had become a gaping hole in said floor. Despite my selfish and evil desires, I still cared for Twilight and hoped she wasn't mad at me. I closed my eyes, bracing myself for what would happen next as the hole swiftly started sucking me into it.
"What have I done?" I asked nopony in particular. When I opened my eyes, I saw a strange creature lying underneath me. "And who... or what... are you, you strange thing?"
"I am Nathan." I said to the mysterious voice that appeared out of nowhere. "I'm what is known as a human. I'm guessing you're from another universe." I told the owner of the voice, whoever it was. That voice sounded feminine, and I knew that if there's one thing a girl doesn't like about a guy, it's when he can't talk to her in a way that she understands. "And you are?" I asked, hoping that the being who appeared out of nowhere and landed on top of me would explain herself.
"Starlight Glimmer." The voice's owner answered. "But you can just call me Starlight. Sorry for intruding on your... whatever it is that you were trying to do."
"Sleep, Starly." I told Starlight. "I was trying to sleep, but for some reason I just can't. You weren't intruding on me at all... unless you count landing on me from out of nowhere an intrusion. Me? I'd call it a charming encounter. Wait... what did you say your name was again?"
"Starlight." Starlight told me again, though confused as for why. "And don't you DARE call me 'Starly' again. That's what he called me."
"Sorry, Starly." I said, ignoring her request. "I just think it's a cute nickname, that's all. Can you shine a little light on my room for me, please? I want to see your face."
Reluctantly, Starlight obliged, but not before getting up off of my body. She cast a simple light spell with her horn, and I could tell... it was really her. I had already known, very well I might add, what Starlight Glimmer looked like... that light-purplish fur coat, those beautiful blue eyes, and that mesmerizing purple-and-light-blue striped mane. But I always thought she was just a myth. A fictional character. I definitely believed in alternate universes, but never in over 9000 years would I even dream of somepony as amazingly beautiful... and beautifully amazing... as Starlight Glimmer come to my own universe, much less my own bedroom.
Still, amazing as this little moment was, I couldn't help but pinch myself to make sure it wasn't just a dream. When I realized it wasn't, I asked Starlight a few more questions. "How did you get here? What did you mean by 'what he called you'? Are you going back to your own world soon?"
"I have a few questions of my own, Nathan." Starlight replied. "...but I'll try to answer yours first. I got here by use of a botched 'familiar summoning' spell, and I don't know if I'll ever get back home. The 'he' I mentioned was Sunburst, my first friend and true love. He called me 'Starly' and it pains me to hear that nickname come from anyone's mouth but his. And as I said before, I have no idea when or even if I'll ever return home. My magic works here, but it seems to be taking more energy. I mean, even this simple light spell, which, honestly, is foal's play, is taking up half of my energy... and the other half is being spent answering your questions and thinking of my own to ask you. Sorry if I sound out of breath... I guess I'm just tired, is all."
"Don't be sorry." I said to Starlight. "I completely understand how it feels to lose someone you love. Once, I had a girlfriend... sorry, that's a term you might not know. A girlfriend is basically the human equivalent of a marefriend. Anyway, her name was Rachel. She was the girl that I 'secretly' loved. Well, not really. Everyone knew that I loved her, especially her. And, being the demon queen that she is, this girl played with my emotions. She said she loved me too, and I knew that she wasn't lying. But, despite her honesty, there was someone else that she loved more than me: Her boyfriend, Jacob. Sorry... another human term. Basically like a coltfriend. Anyway, she had two boyfriends, me and this other guy named Jacob. Nice guy, really... but I was more than a little jealous of how much she loved him over me. I pretended not to be, but that was a huge mistake. I should have been honest about my feelings, because my lie led to more lies.... and those lies led to her breaking up with me. She couldn't have two boyfriends forever, and I knew my time with her was overdue. So I wrote a song about her, hoping to win her back. Obviously I failed, as she still loves Jacob over me."
"Wow." Starlight said. "You must be devastated. And yet you've kept a brave face all this time?"
"That's my specialty, Star..." I thought carefully about whether I should call her Starlight or Starly. "...light. Being brave. I have to be brave for my hundreds of adoring fans. I'm a writer/actor, I write plays and star in them. You might know about actors from your universe. Anyway, as an actor, I have to keep my audience happy and entertained. And as a writer, I need to come up with stories for my characters to experience."
"I know what actors are." Starlight replied. "I'm best friends with a stage performer named..."
"Trixie." I finished her sentence. "I know. I've seen your show. The Moonshot Manticore Mouthdive was a particularly amazing feat... even though all you did was a simple teleportation spell."
"Simple?" Starlight asked, not believing her ears. "You try casting it then, if it's so simple!"
"I can't." I told Starlight. "Magic is scarce in this universe. That might be why it's harder for you to use it here. But I do know this: If a pony like Twilight could hatch a dragon egg into a full-grown dragon when she was just a filly, then a pony like you should have no trouble teleporting us both out of here."
"Wait a minute..." Starlight asked. "How did you know about Twilight? And about Trixie? Is there some kind of connection between our two worlds?"
"Some kind, yes." I explained. "But not in the way you might think. There's this thing called a television, or TV for short. And inside it, there are these moving pictures we call 'shows' or 'movies' that we like to watch. One of these shows is called My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. That show is where I know you and your friends from. It's all fiction in my universe, but in yours it must be real. Does that make sense?"
"Sort of." Starlight responded. "Twilight told me of her visits to a place that she called 'the human world' but I don't believe that this is the same human world. The humans that Twilight met had skin the same colours as the ponies' fur, and your skin is... a lightish-apricot colour."
"In our world, we call that 'white' even though we know it's not." I explained. "We--as a species-- call brown-skinned people 'black' for some reason... though I myself think that's quite rude. Almost offensive, really. Anyway, I think you're right: two different human worlds. I think the only way to get you back to your world is with your own magic... or possibly Twilight's."
"You might be right." Starlight said. "But how can we even contact Twilight to ask her for help? We don't have some kind of magical book like she and her friend Sunset have. If we did, we could get a message to her instantly. And, like we both surmised already, my magic isn't strong enough in this world. So what can we do?"
"I have an idea." I told Starlight, even though I thought my idea was totally bogus. "We can both get some rest, and you can try your magic again in the morning."
And with that, Starlight and I got back into bed, her lying down on top of me and snuggling gently on my sleepy body. Together, we would solve this problem in the morning.
Author's Note
This is about my love life, if you couldn't already tell from the characters named after me and my ex and her boyfriend. Let's just say it takes place in an alternate universe where I never met Kat. Or you could say that Starlight is Kat, but I'm not sure if she'd like being referred to as a pony. Anyways, I hope you enjoy what's to come of this story!
Heads up: I'm gonna be shifting perspective fairly frequently in the first few cheeapters. Maybe for the whole story, I don't even know. Just be forewarned, if there's a horizontal rule...
...it usually means a perspective change... if not, then a change of the setting at least.
Tags may not make sense until future cheeapters are published.
Credit to Mat, AKA TheSequentialArtMan, for helping me and basically giving me the idea. Love you, bro!
Chapter I: The Cake is a Lie
After a good night’s rest, Starlight and I woke up and got out of bed. Starlight insisted on making me a nice breakfast as thanks for letting her sleep with me, and who was I to deny her offer? So I led her to the kitchen. Since the power was still out, I asked Starlight to use her magic to conjure something up. Sure enough, I was right: Her magic did recharge overnight, but still not enough to teleport between worlds. Anyway, she conjured up a delicious chocolate cake. I didn’t even have to tell her my favourite flavour. She must have known... somehow. But something about that cake, no matter how perfect it tasted, just didn’t feel right. It was as if Starlight wasn’t quite herself when she conjured it.
“I wanted to bake one without magic...” Starlight explained “...but last time I tried that the cake exploded. It wasn’t my fault, really!” Something about how she said that last part... reminded me of my own innocence from when I first started writing. I had no personal experience with anything that I wrote about, so of course I had to take inspiration from other people’s stories. Starlight must have been the same way with trying to do anything without magic.
“I believe you Starly... I mean Starlight.” I sighed as I quickly corrected myself. Why did I just call her what she specifically told me to not call her? I should just use her actual name from now on. “I know how it feels to mess something up... especially when it comes to baking. I once made a cake and I forgot to add the baking powder. Turned out hard as a stone, and I was the only one who ate it. Tasted terrible, but I didn’t want to throw it to the crows. But believe me, I’ve gotten a lot better since then. I could bake you a cake in thirty minutes or less... guaranteed.”
“Wow.” Starlight replied. “Not exactly impressive, but you boast anyway. Reminds me of Trixie. She’s great and powerful, but a little self-absorbed... in a good way. That trait in her just shows that she really believes in herself... even when nopony else believes in her. You share that trait with her... again, in a good way.” Starlight turned her head away from me awkwardly as she compared me to her best friend. I could tell she saw something of Trixie in me. “Now about that cake...”
“Right, the cake!” I exclaimed as I regained my train of thought. “First, since we’ll be baking without magic, I highly recommend you concentrate on dimming your horn.” Starlight looked a bit confused. “Look up.” I explained.
“Oh.” Starlight said as she looked up to see an aura glowing out of her horn, as if she was ready to cast a spell she wasn’t even thinking about. She let out a light chuckle as she dimmed her horn. “Better?”
Though the room got a slight bit darker, I nodded my head yes and chuckled lightly. “You remind me of someone. My sister. She’s always doing things with a certain... je ne sais quois. I don’t know what it is about her, but she always seems to keep her cool and make everything better with a simple smile and a few words.”
“She sounds like a good po- I mean person.” Starlight replied, correcting herself on the human terms. “Anyway, weren’t we gonna start baking a cake?”
I facepalmed. “Riiight.” I said slowly to Starlight. “BAKE TO ADVENTURE!” Starlight looked confused. “Partners in Time. It’s a game from my world. One of the characters says ‘BACK TO ADVENTURE!’ a lot, and I thought I’d make a little allusion to it... as a joke. It doesn’t help if you don’t get it, though. Anyway, about the cake. What shape should it be? I have hearts, circles, rectangles, kites, stars...”
“I like kites.” Starlight interrupted. “Let’s make a kite-shaped cake.”
“Kite-shaped it is then.” I said with a smile. “We can pretend we’re flying a kite as we eat it.”
“OK, so what do we do next?” Starlight asked. “After selecting a shape, I mean? I once tried to bake a cake with Pinkie Pie, and she ended up baking a thousand cakes because I hexed her to make her do exactly what I said. And I told her to copy the instructions in the book, but she thought I meant all of the instructions, rather than just one cake’s worth.”
“I remember that.” I told her. “Like I said, ponies like you appear in a show I watch in my universe. I saw exactly what you just described. That was funny to watch... but I’d imagine that it wasn’t that funny for you.”
“You have no idea.” Starlight sighed as she said this to me. “I wish I could go back in time and change it... without any drastic consequences. You must have seen my battle with Twilight, right before she took me under her wing. Have you?”
“Parts of it.” I told her. “Not the whole thing. I saw bits and pieces of it through the ‘magic’ of the show. You would have destroyed Equestria if Twilight had given up. She couldn’t stop you, so she did the next best thing... from what I remember anyway.”
“Well... I was really set on winning." Starlight explained. "Getting revenge... so set on hurting Twilight the way she hurt me that I didn’t realize why she did it. She didn’t know what I was going through, so I showed her... with time travel magic and the Cutie Map.”
"Right..." I said to her. "and then she told you that friends don't have to be the same, and that differences can make friendship stronger. I believe she was right. I mean... look how different you and I are... way more different than any two ponies could be... and we're friends, aren't we, Starlight?"
"Of course we are, Nay Nay." Starlight replied with a smile and a chuckle. "And I agree with Twilight too... she showed me the error of my equalist ways."
I was a bit annoyed that Starlight called me by my childhood nickname, but I let it slide. I didn't want to force her to call me something else... that wouldn't be very nice of me, would it? "I have a friend who was just the same... my BBBFF..." I told Starlight. She looked confused, so I said what it stood for. "Big Brother Best Friend Forever. Except that I wasn't quite wrong in the same way you were... I was wrong for... a different reason. I couldn't make friends because I was born different. I was born 'socially impaired' because of something called autism. It's a social development disorder that affects people at birth, making it hard for them to learn how to become friends with 'normal' people. I kept making wrong decisions and saying the wrong things to the wrong people... and I hadn't truly mastered common friendship until... actually I still haven't. But the friendships I've made are better for me than common ones... they're one of a kind. Including yours."
"You know what, Nathan?" Starlight asked me. "Suddenly I don't feel like cake. Let's do something else. We already had one cake today anyway... and we really need to figure out a way for me to get home. My magic's coming back to me, and I just remembered a spell that I haven't tried yet..."
I smiled and said "Then waste not another second! Let's go to the Smokey Mountains and find you an open space to... work your magic." I snickered at my lame pun and led the way to the nearest mountain. Starlight looked confused, so I explained... "Not the Smoky Mountains... there's an 'e' in this name... and they're different mountains. Trust me, you'll know 'em when you see 'em."
Starlight, still confused, followed me anyway, without saying another word. She begun cantering and then stopped for a minute... and then... without even thinking, I hopped on her back... as if she was an actual pony, and not a fictional one from a TV show. "Hi ho, Starlight... AWAY!!!"
Even though I couldn't see her face, I could tell that Starlight was annoyed by the way that she bucked me off. "Never... do that... again." She said with a stern voice. "You're too heavy... I could have collapsed under your body weight!"
Is she calling me fat? I thought to myself. Actually... considering that I was being called skinny for the first 14 years of my life, that might as well be a compliment. "I won't." I promised Starlight. "Let's just walk there... OK?"
Starlight nodded, and got back to cantering... looking cuter than ever as she followed me on the... wait what? Anyway, we made our way to the Smokey Mountains... but it took us about an hour... all that walking had made both of us rather tired, even though it was only a little after noon. So we stopped for a light nap before climbing the mountains... and that light nap lasted longer than either of us had planned... if we didn't have each other's bodies for warmth, we could have frozen to death... in the summer! But we were nice and cozy lying down next to each other.
Author's Note
This has been... unexpected. I didn't think I would be writing this in anything, much less a MLP fanfic. I'm sorry that this is shorter than the prologue... and sorry for all the fluff.
