How I Fell In Love With A Pony

In that moment, time seemed to freeze. The morals and ethics of the leader of an entire nation had been called into question spitefully by one person. Before Twilight straightened back up and responded, I noticed the gears of her brilliant mind turning. Their sprockets were completely interlocked and they tossed and tumbled about until she found her answer. She never dropped her confident look, but she did betray a split second differential between normalcy and complete confusion. But it was only a split second. The rest of the time she looked as regal and confident as she ever had.

I had faith in her, though I wasn’t sure how she would respond to the blunt accusation. Questions began forming in my mind as well. Is what we’re doing right? I asked myself, I mean…she’s a pony and I’m a pony in her world, and she’s human and I’m human here. So…it doesn’t feel wrong…but it certainly begs a lot of different interrogative statements. Once again, I found that my heart and mind were battling over my very consciousness, and I was caught up in the middle of it. This time, my heart won out fairly easily. I don’t care, I thought, they can call us wrong all they want. I love her, and that’s all that matters. I don’t care that she’s a pony in one world. She’s more human than a lot of actual humans I know!

“Ms. Jones, I believe that everyone has a right to voice their opinion, no matter how constructive or destructive it might be,” Twilight said eloquently, “but tell me, why do you find our relationship so wrong?”

“Because you’re a pony and he’s a human! In our world, people go to JAIL for having sex with animals! He wants to do so, and the entire world has begun treating him as royalty! I want answers, and I want them now! I mean, don’t you care that he’s taking advantage of you? You’re a poor, helpless pony! You can’t speak for yourself…at least…not here.”

Twilight smirked. The assailant had stumbled over her words and gotten in her own way. She hadn’t stopped to realize that Twilight was both a human and a pony, and she could damn well speak for herself. She had Stephanie Jones cornered, and I watched with pride as the love of my life went in for the verbal kill. She knew exactly how she was going to respond to the argument, and she said it clearly and concisely. She never once screamed or left her sanity behind. She was as calm as ever, but her words were sharp as a knife.

“I can’t speak for myself?” She asked rhetorically, and then promptly answered herself, “On the contrary, I can speak for myself, both in this world and in Equestria. I do NOT need your assistance in speaking for myself, Ms. Jones. While I appreciate your concern, I am in love with Jeff, or Stony Tail as he’s known back in my world, and I do NOT need your approval, nor anybody else’s to say so. I don’t care that we’re different. That’s what makes our relationship so beautiful! We are so different, yet we’ve been able to come together and love each other no matter what.

I did a lot of studies on human history after my first two visits to your world, and I found that every human I read about was worse than the previous one. Names like Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Hirohito, Pol Pot, Guevara, Castro, the entire leadership of some place called Venezuela, and many more were thrown into my head. I gained the distorted perception that all of humanity was filled with beings who wanted to hurt, kill, starve, and destroy everything and everyone else. I wept tears over these humans, because I thought that they could never be brought to understand the true power and magic that friendship contains.

But then…Jeff came along and opened my eyes to the wonderful things other humans had done. He showed me how many humans had stood up to the bullying and power hungry nature of others, and it warmed my soul. Oftentimes, I found that these other people did not receive as much coverage in the history books as the evil and corrupt people did, and I was glad that someone was able to open my mind and reverse my views.

I surmise, Ms. Jones, that you also have a very narrow minded view of your fellow human being. You said you were a feminist. Tell me, what does that mean to you?”

“It means I stand up for my fellow sisters, and march when I feel our rights are being infringed upon!”

“Okay, and what about the rights of male humans?”

“THEY HAVE NO RIGHTS!” Stephanie screamed in white hot anger, “All they do is sleep with us, and then tell us what to do! They think we’re baby factories and nothing more! Marriage is a dead institution, and it needs to be! No woman needs a man, and you certainly don’t need that putrid pile of crap standing next to you!”

“You’re right about one thing,” Twilight responded with a gleam in her eye, “I don’t NEED Jeff in my life. I WANT him in my life, right alongside me. He’s never once treated me as a ‘baby factory’ as you so morbidly described it. I can feel his love every time he looks at me, and every time he speaks to me. It’s not just the physical actions that speak of his love, it’s every little thing he does. I’m sure he feels the exact same way about me.”

She looked at me with love, and I felt my heart gush open. I certainly did not see her as an object or something that could only produce offspring. I saw her as a complete equal to myself. I saw her as being charming and smart and beautiful, but I also saw her in the times when she was broken and down. I also knew she saw me in the rough times, and we were there to build each other up and make each other stronger. I returned her loving look and she turned back to her address.

“I feel like you’ve been hurt by some of the men in your life, Ms. Jones,” Twilight said with compassion and empathy dazzling in her eyes, “and that’s why you are reacting with anger and a cold heart. Perhaps I can show you what reacting with friendship is like.”

Stephanie couldn’t respond. Her face fell and her anger melted away under Twilight’s sympathetic gaze. The last thing she expected was for the princess to treat her with such kindness. She gulped and dropped the small picket sign she had been hoisting up with great gusto ever since the proceedings began. “I…I…”

Twilight smiled and got off the porch. She walked through the mob of the press and embraced the surprised activist. Stephanie didn’t know what to do. Her shocked expression told the entire story. Twilight backed away and smiled before turning to address the crowd. “I understand the concept that things like anger and hurt and hate will always exist. But I also understand the concept that friendship is a powerful weapon against these things. True, sometimes friendship doesn’t work. Even I understand that it cannot solve all problems. But in these moments, I feel like it’s the best thing we can turn to.”

Her smile was exuberant, and the flashes of the many cameras that lit up only exalted it. It wasn’t a fake smile, oh, no. It was a smile I had seen many times. It was the same smile she had used on the cleaning pony who was having a rough go of it. It was the same smile she used when she bent down to comfort a random foal who was crying. But most of all, it was the same smile she used when she first kissed me and told me of her love. It’s time, I told myself as I stood there blinking tears from my eyes, tomorrow…I’m going to propose.