How I Fell In Love With A Pony

Have you ever seen those television shows that run during the daytime hours where they put people under polygraphs in order to test various things? If so, then you know exactly how I felt under the Princess’s stare. My legs were quivering beyond measure, and I’m fairly sure that the amount of sweat my pores squeezed out could have filled more than one Olympic sized swimming pool. My mouth had gone completely dry, and I knew that I was about to fail the Princess Twilight lie detector test.

I just couldn’t lie to her. I had to tell her the truth. Something about her eyes created an internal reaction that I couldn’t ignore. I didn’t know what it was, but it made me want to be a better pony in this world, and a better person in my own. I realized that I was destroying a potentially wonderful friendship with my own fabrications, and I didn’t want to continue. I had been defeated, and Twilight had barely said a word. I would later come to appreciate her love of honesty and straightforwardness, but at that moment, I was frightened. I had no idea what she would do to me.

I gulped. “I…I…”

“Yes?” She asked patiently.

I sighed in defeat. “Alright, here’s the truth. I’m not from Equestria at all, or Shire Lanka, or any of the places you might know of, Princess. I’m…human.”

Her ears pricked and she looked immediately interested. I couldn’t help but smile at the adorable nature of the entire scene. She gave a small cock of her head, and I thought that whatever part of me detects a girl’s cuteness was about to blow a fuse. She had gone from this regal and powerful mare to something of an inquisitive, curious filly in the space of a second or two. She smiled at me, and I smiled back, grateful that she had not called on lightning to kill me for my perjury.

“You…seem…interested,” I ventured slowly.

“Yes, I am,” she said, “because, although it’s been years, I have had extensive experience in the human world myself.”

“You have?” I asked as my jaw dropped to the floor.

She nodded cutely. “Some of my best friends are humans! Of course, they’re all carbon copies of the equines who populate our beloved homeland, but they’re still my friends!”

I nearly laughed out loud. Twilight’s cute display had somehow gotten even cuter. She had her eyes closed and a big smile had played its way over her face. Her mane was flowing even faster, and the sparkles that dotted it seemed to dance. She was so genuinely excited to meet someone from the human world who had fallen into Equestria that she nearly began prancing about the room. I suddenly realized that life would be wonderful if I could stay in that moment forever.

Twilight sighed as she reminisced about her time in my world. “I remember my first time in Canterlot City,” she said.

“Canterlot City?” I asked.

She nodded. “Yep! That’s where all of my human friends live.”

I looked at the ground. I had heard rumors of a place called Canterlot City, and of its deep connection with Equestria and Equestrian thinking. It was supposedly located in Antarctica somewhere, sheltered inside a giant bubble of pure magic. The people that lived there were allegedly extradimensional copies of the ponies in Equestria. Now that I knew Equestria was real, and Twilight would have no reason to lie to me, I quickly put two and two together.

“So it is real…” I muttered.

“What’s real?” Twilight asked.

“Canterlot City! There have been underground rumors of it, but nobody’s actually seen it. But now…when I get home, I’ll have so much to tell everyone!”

“Oh, no,” Twilight said, “you can’t tell any of your human friends about Equestria’s existence. It could threaten the lives of everypony.”

“But why, Princess? I mean, think of the scientific advancements, the cultural diversity…the interconnection of two entire species as friends!”

“Friends?” Twilight asked, “you don’t even know friendship! How the hay would anybody else from your world know it?! The only humans who truly understand it are those from Canterlot City, and apparently, they don’t interact with the rest of you very much.”

This accusation made a fire in me begin to stir. “How do I not know friendship?” I challenged, “I mean, I made friends when I came here, didn’t I?”

“You got lucky!” The princess thundered angrily, “Fluttershy represents the Element of Kindness, and if she didn’t have a soft spot in her heart for ponies like you, you would have died in The Everfree Forest! If the rest of my friends didn’t understand friendship on the highest level, then you would be friendless!”

We gritted our teeth and locked eyes. I had no idea what had happened to the sweet, kind, beautiful Princess, but I wanted her to return badly. Then there was that side of me that wouldn’t allow myself to be fazed, and so I began building a wall against her. “What’s there to understand?” I asked haughtily, “I mean, it’s just meeting people, or ponies, and getting along with them.”

She backed up a bit and for a moment, I thought she was about to burst into tears. Her anger faded and it was replaced with a deep sadness. She held a hoof up and her mouth was open. It quivered a bit as she silently drew that same hoof up to her heart. She looked as if she had seen a precious family heirloom fall to the floor and smash into a million pieces, and now she was trying to pick them back up again.

She gave me a look that tore my heart apart. “You, sir, have so much you do not understand about the true beauty and magic of friendship. You would dare to simplify it to such a ridiculous degree, and then unleash that simplification on somepony who actually does understand it.”

She stopped and her look softened before going on. “Thankfully, you have that same pony who can teach you how to understand it. As your punishment for being dishonest with me, I want you to do the same thing I once did: learn about what friendship is and why it’s so important. I want you to remain here as a worker in my castle, and as my student. You will learn the true values of the Elements of Harmony, and maybe then, you’ll truly become one with the power and magic of friendship.”