11/7

It’s like I never left. Except I did. Multiple times. But this past week, I’ve been spending more time with them. The ponies. I don’t want to call them “friends” yet. I still can’t shake the sense that there’s some level of emotional manipulation going on.

True to my word, the day after my talk with Twilight, I turned the TV back on. The first thing I saw was Twilight and Spike, sleeping in the exact place I had left them. I almost didn’t want to disturb them but had a feeling they’re waiting for me to wake them.

Let me write what happened the best way I know how: in narrative prose.

“Uh, Twilight? Spike?” I called to the TV. I felt a little stupid, talking to the screen like I was watching Dora the Explorer. But this is what my life had become. Or I guess, has been.

Twilight’s ear twitched and not long after, her eyes slowly opened. She sighed with relief.

“You came back…” She said sleepily.

“Yeah.” I responded. I wiped my clammy hands on my jeans. “Guess I did.”

Twilight slowly rose from her slumber and shambled over to the screen. Suddenly, she leaned against the screen, her cheek pressed against the glass. I reached out and stroked the screen instinctively.

“Do you even feel this?” I asked.

“Yes and no. I can’t physically feel your touch but I can feel the emotion behind it.”

“Like, literally?”

Twilight pulled away to look at me directly. Her face was blissful, with her sleepy eyes and a soft smile. “Does it matter? I know what you want to convey and…that’s enough for me.”

That pause. It sounded like it might not’ve been enough.

“So,” I tried to change topics. “Are you gonna get the others?”

“I wasn’t just Spike and I waiting for you, Aaron.” The camera panned over to a cuddle puddle of 6 sleeping ponies. The adorableness of the scene was almost enough to distract from Twilight had said. Almost.

“Wait!” I withheld a gasp. “I thought I never told you my name?!”

“Not at the start.” Twilight chuckled. “Eventually, you told us everything there was to know about you.”

Everything? Once again, on the swinging pendulum of my emotion between “endeared” and “disturbed”, I firmly found myself in the “disturbed” arc. However, I suppressed it, before I put her on edge again.

“Girls!” She shouted, the tiredness gone from her voice. “There’s someone who would like to see you all again!”

“Ugh, 5 more minutes, egghead.” Rainbow groaned. She burrowed her head deeper into the cuddle pile, specifically between Fluttershy’s barrel and AJ’s flank.

Pinkie, who was under all the other ponies, opened a single eye so wide I’m convinced she was never truly asleep. Then, like a bomb, she exploded up into the air. The others were violently thrown every which way.

“YOU’RE BACK!” She screamed. “YOU’RE REALLY, REALLY, REALLY BACK!”

She damn near flew towards the screen and hit it with enough force to scare me onto my ass. She clearly tumbled for a bit but then started running around the room, like a terrier off the leash.

“Oh, my little strawberry banana flavored cupcake munchkin! Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve last see you smile?! I do! Approximately 6 years 25 days 7 hrs 42 minutes 11 seconds 30 microseconds and 2 nanoseconds! That means I’ve missed, like, a million of your birthdays! I gotta make up for all that lost time! I gotta throw a party that’s bigger than Ponyville. Nay, bigger than Equestria itself! I gotta-“

Pinkie’s rambling was cut short as Rainbow Dash tackled her. The screen, at least from my perspective, kinda rolled along the floor for a second before it stopped suddenly. The camera was then lifted and focused on Rarity. Her mane was a bit of a mess, no doubt from Pinkie throwing her off into what I assume were the bookcases.

“Honestly, Pinkie. You ought to get a hold of yourself!” Rarity scolded the mare. “The poor colt is probably still reeling from having seen us after to so-“

As Rarity looked back towards me, her own words were cut by a giddy “Waa-haa-aaa!” Her eyes dazzled, as though a million stars were just birthed into existence.

“Oh my Celestia!” Rarity exclaimed. Her eyes darted around and I felt as they ogled me. It was bad enough being perceived by the ponies, but being actively examined like that felt like I had just found a security camera in my house that I never noticed before. And it’s been there for a long time. “A colt you are no longer! You’ve grown up into a fine, strapping young stallion~!”

The way she said that almost made me melt into the floor. I felt my skin boil and bubble in the intense, passionate heat of embarrassment. I was glad that she was A) behind a screen and B) a pony because were neither the case, I fully expected to have my cheeks pinched. Unfortunately, Rarity also noticed how flushed I was.

“Aww, you look even more adorable shy~! You’ve even kept your little dimples~!” Rarity squealed. The camera suddenly pivoted to Applejack.

“Dagnabbit, Rarity!” Applejack now scolded Rarity. “Can y’all quit it the fawnin’? You’re no better than Pinkie!”

With a disapproving shake of her head, she looked back me. “Sorry, Sugarcube. Everyone’s a bit excited is all.” Before Applejack could get another word in, Fluttershy nudged her to the leftmost edge of the frame.

“How terrible! No one has even asked how you’re feeling!” Fluttershy cried. “Are you well? Do those meanies at school still hurt you?”

Applejack opened her mouth to say something, but Rainbow pushed up against Applejack’s left side. She was now wedged between the two pegasi.

“They better not!” Rainbow budged in. “Not after all the self-defense training I put him through. You have been keeping on top of your training, right?”

Applejack finally managed to force a little space between the duo. “Y’all ain’t helpin’ neither!”

Pinkie dropped from top of the frame, crushing the rest under her weight. “You guys are hogging all the screen time!”

“You first!” Rainbow argued, then bucked Pinkie off her back.

The room had devolved into a cacophony of arguing, as Twilight tried in vain to quell the room. Spike, meanwhile, was still fast asleep.

Suddenly, everything stopped. A blue magic aura engulfed all of the ponies, which effectively held them in stasis. However, the one thing that could move were their eyes and they all trained to an offscreen doorway. The screen pivots to the doorway and there stood a unicorn I have never met before. She had a pink coat and a purple mane with this cyan streak. In some ways, she was like a palette swap Twilight Sparkle.

“Is it too much to ask for sleep in this town?” She lamented. “If it’s not a world ending catastrophe, it’s a friendship problem. This castle is no different than a crystal cave. So, sound echoes, believe it or not!”

Still holding the ponies in place, she raised a mug with the text “Best School Counselor” to her lips. That’s when she noticed me.

“Who’s that?” Starlight asked, a bit of concern in her voice. When she didn’t hear anyone answer and registered Twilight’s glare, she released the stasis spell.

“For one, Starlight, never do that again.” Twilight commanded, as she massaged her foreleg with the other. She then looked back to me and her temper instantly went away. “Secondly, meet Aaron! He’s a friend we met when he was just a colt.”

“Oh, what happened to him?” Starlight asked, her face contorted to suggest she was cringing.

“I don’t understand-“ Twilight caught herself. “Wait, no, he wasn’t a colt that turned into this. He’s a human that lives in an alternate universe different than ours.”

Starlight tilted her head. “Like Sunset Shimmer?”

“Well, yes.” Twilight said. “But actually, no. He’s a different kind of human than Sunset.”

“Twilight,” Starlight started. “I’m usually able to stick to the same page as you, but you lost me.”

“Uh, hi, Starlight!” I mustered out. I sensed that this conversation was going to go on forever if someone didn’t speak up.

“Oh, it can hear us?” Starlight was caught off guard. My guess is that whatever they’re looking at doesn’t obviously present as a screen. “I mean, hi…Aaron?”

“Ugh, this is so lame.” Rainbow Dash groaned. “It’s Aaron! He’s a friend! What’s so hard to get!?”

“I will admit,” Applejack started as she tapped a hoof to her chin. “I never did consider how weird all of this would look to someone who never met Aaron.”

“Girls, we shouldn’t talk as though Aaron’s not in the room with us.” Fluttershy cautioned. “It’s impolite.”

“Fluttershy is right!” Rarity agreed. “Aaron’s all grown up now. He can surely speak for himself. Isn’t that right, Aaron?”

They had said my name about six times and not once did it ever feel right. I thought by now I would have been used to it. Maybe I would revert back to the kid they all remembered me as, I thought. Something about me must’ve changed because as charming as they all were, as much as their antics were every bit as I remembered, I could not see how these ponies were my friends.

Something was missing.

“Girls, it’s okay!” Twilight assured everyone. The gang all looked at her expectingly. Twilight used her magic to pull up a chalkboard. “I’ll just briefly catch Starlight up on Aaron’s world and his connection to us through an impromptu lecture.”

They all collectively groaned. Before they could protest, Twilight got into it. “It all started one year during the annual Summer Sun Celebration. I was reading The Tale of the Two Sisters when I noticed a pair of eyes watching me…”

I tried to hear the rest of the lesson, as there was probably something in there could explain, well, everything. However, I was distracted by the subtle movement of the screen, as it slowly moved away from the group. It was then I realized that not all of them were there: Pinkie was missing.

The screen showed me entering a makeshift book fort. Then, the frame was filled by the pink pony.

“Hiya, munchkin!” Pinkie sang sweetly. I don’t know why but her calling me that seemingly unlocked a core memory from my childhood.

“Munchkin…” I repeated thoughtfully. The gears in my brain started to turn. “I was, like, 9. You were teaching me how to bake a cake when my parents wasn’t home.”

“Mhm.” Pinkie nodded. “You had trouble reaching the cabinets and all the equipment looked way, way, waaay too big for your little hands.”

“Yeah!” The memory became much clearer. “You had me make this big ass cake half my size. It was a problem because I couldn’t let mom or dad know I’ve been using the cake oven unsupervised.”

“So, when we finished you started stuffing your cheeks!” Pinkie said with a giggle. “You looked so adorable munching down on such a big cake.”

“And thus the name was a double entendre. Munchkin, cause I was small and a big eater.” I sighed happily. I never knew I had memories like that, just sitting in my head undiscovered. I briefly wondered if there were more like it.

Just then, Spike crawled his way into the book fort. He still seemed groggy.

“Hey, Pinkie. Can I crash with you?” He asked, unaware of my presence yet. “I was having this awesome dream where I was sitting atop this giant hoard of gems, when suddenly Twilight showed up, rambling on about-AARON!”

Spike only just noticed last second and nearly toppled the fort. Pinkie quickly grabbed him, her hoofs placed over his mouth. After a couple seconds, when no one disturbed them, Pinkie let go. Spike quickly composed himself by slicking back his head scales.

He shot a couple of finger guns. “Uh, Hey! Long time no see, right?”

“Yeah, it has been.” I said as I shook my head in amusement. “I had been meaning to ask about the wings for a while now.”

“Oh, these?!” Spike showed off his wings, like a giddy child showing a fridge worthy drawing. He caught himself and cleared his throat. “I mean, yeah, I had my molt a few years back. It’s no biggie. Just dragon things, ya dig?”

“Spike,” I started. “Never say that again, ya’ dig?” Then the three of us shared a laugh.

The laughter must’ve finally caught the others’ attention. All of the books glowed with magic and levitated into the air, revealing us. Twilight and the rest stood, clearly deep in their impromptu lesson.

“Pinkie! You can’t just run off with him like that!”

“Actually,” I interjected. “I think it was for the best. I got a bit overwhelmed but Pinkie got me feeling a bit better about things.”

The girls collectively “aww’d” together.

“That’s Pinkie for you!” Rainbow congratulated.

“We’re mighty sorry about overwhelming ya’, sugarcube.” Applejack offered.

“We didn’t mean to smother you, darling.” Rarity joined.

“It’s just that, it’s been so long…” Fluttershy explained.

Starlight looked over the group of girls. She then turned towards me.

“And it doesn’t take a lesson to show me that you matter a lot to everyone here. So, a friend of them is a friend of mine.” Starlight held out a hoof to the screen. “The name’s Starlight Glimmer.”

“Aaron.” I greeted and awkwardly fist bump the screen. “Glad to meet you.”

“Jeez, that only took, like, an hour.” Rainbow chided. She gave Twilight a side eye, who blushed in return.

“The context was important!” She defended herself. She sighed and the flush in her face subsided. “Well, now that everyone is caught up…what should we do?”

As if on cue, Pinkie slid right next to Twilight. She threw a foreleg around the mare’s neck and pulled her close.

“Oh, I know what we should do.” Pinkie answered. “I’m going to throw the biggest, bestest, super-amazingly-awesometastic-est ‘Welcome Home’ party Equestria has ever seen!”

“Who could’ve guessed?” Rarity asked rhetorically.

“Who’s going to be invited-“ Fluttershy started but Pinkie interrupted.

“Everypony!” Pinkie shouted. “And not just everypony! Every dragon, yak, griffon, hippogriff, and any other species I can think of and more!”

“Pinkie,” Twilight slowly pulled herself from Pinkie’s increasingly tight grip. “We just talked about not overwhelming Aaron.”

“Relax, Twilight.” Pinkie reassured. “I’ve already thought several steps ahead and years in advance!”

“Wait.” I interjected. “Years?”

Pinkie nodded furiously. “Yuppers! I have it all set!”

Pinkie sped towards the chalkboard that Twilight used for her impromptu lesson. With a hardy slap, she spun the board at a dizzying pace and, after a few rotations, stopped it on a premade drawing of the entire continent of Equestria. She then pulled a baton from her mane and snapped it against the board.

“The party will start at Ponyville at the crack of dawn! Then, we host a parade all the way down to Applelooza. From there, we catch the train to Canterlot! Next, we take an airship through Cloudsdale and aaaaaaaalllllll the way to the Crystal Kingdom!”

Pinkie drew the path with the prehensile hook of her mane. Despite the plan, Twilight still looked visibly upset.

“Pinkie-“ Twilight started but I cut her off.

“It’s okay, Twilight.” I defend Pinkie. “If she, just, gives me a couple of days, I think I could get behind such a big celebration.”

The main 6 visibly got uncomfortable with that idea.

“A couple days, darling?” Rarity asked worryingly.

“Y-you sure you’ll come back?” Fluttershy continued. “It’s just, we don’t want to lose you again.”

“Yeah, I’ll be-“

At that moment, I heard the door handle to the front door turn. Panicked, I quickly reached for the power button and shut the TV off. It hurt to do that so suddenly but time must’ve escaped me. I’ve must’ve been on the TV for much longer than I thought that now mom had come back from work.

I leaped backward onto the couch, spread myself fully on it and closed my eyes. I feigned sleep as I heard the front door open slowly. I could hear the jangling of keys and the tapping of boots on the wood floor. I muttered in “sleep”, to give the impression any sounds she heard from behind the door was just sleep talking.

For a couple tense moments, I couldn’t hear anything. I assumed she stood there for a moment watching. Then, footsteps, closer to me. Then, a kiss on my forehead. The footsteps faded away shortly after.

I opened my eyes and sat up. I stared a good long while, as though the pony’s on the other side could still see me. Could they? Imagine that, knowing when you were being ignored or left behind.

Regardless, I decided that would be enough for the day. I had a party I had to prepare for.

Author's Note

Sorry ‘bout the way. Work has been whooping my ass. No promises, but I’ll try and get something out every two weeks.