PonyPark

An eight year old boy with black hair and glasses awaited for his aunt and uncle to pick him up for school. The sun was barley up when Robert was ready for school, as the drive from his home was quite a long one. And yet, he still ended up being late.

Robert lay on the couch, after saying goodbye to his parents before they left for work. Since they had to work so early, they had to depend on his aunt and uncle to pick him up. He stared at the TV as the clock turned seven; his favorite show was coming on at this time, and he would watch the cartoon each morning before school.

It used to be odd for a boy to like My Little Pony of all things, but not anymore. Since the show ever aired, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic had Robert and his friends hooked. Most of the boys in his class had their favorite ponies be picked as either Rainbow Dash or Applejack, as the other four ponies were too “girly”. Especially Rarity, the pony the majority of the boys didn’t like so much. They clearly put the two tomboyish characters on a pedestal.

Whenever Robert would try to join into his friends’ conversations of the ponies, they’d usually let him join in, but not without a constant reminder of how “girly” he was. See, Robert wasn’t exactly “boyish”, both to his friends’ and his father’s standards. He didn’t like being called a girl, but still enjoyed wearing an occasional skirt or two, painting his nails, and playing the occasional tea party with the neighbor’s kids.

His father didn’t exactly condone that. Nightly dinners would be filled with talks of how his son should be more “like a man”, and let go of his girly behaviors. He told his son again and again that “real men” shouldn’t act like the way that he did. For years, this lowered Robert’s self esteem as time passed.

When a certain TV show came on the air, though, his self esteem had been restored almost immediately.

He liked all of the Mane Six ponies, they were all very charming. But one pony sticked out to him the most: the fashionista unicorn named Rarity. She was ladylike and argumentatively the most girly pony in the entire show apart from Princess Celestia herself. But, even so, she had strength and was not afraid to stand up to herself, even putting up a good fight against creatures that attacked Ponyville.

Every time Robert watched the show, he focused most of the attention on Rarity, if she appeared in an episode. The Element of Generosity was truly beautiful, like a princess. Robert wondered if someone like him would ever be a prince, if boys who acted feminine were even allowed to be princes. If he would, he would rule Canterlot alongside Rarity, with the mare as the princess in Equestria.

The doorbell snapped him out of his daydreams, signaling that his aunt and uncle had arrived. Robert grabbed his backpack and adjusted his glasses, and made his way to another day in third grade.

Lunchtime was always a relief for Pioneer Elementary, as it gave the schoolchildren a break from their classes. The one thing they talked about? My Little Pony, of course. The staff saw it coming, and some meetings were held on the sudden takeover of ponies everywhere, but it was eventually deemed harmless by all the teachers. After all, it was just ponies, and even some of the staff members themselves had gotten into the craze.

Robert, with lunchbox in hand, smiled as he approached his friends in the cafeteria. As expected, all of them had either a Rainbow Dash or Applejack doll in hand as they conversed over which athletic pony was superior. Robert hadn’t brought a toy until that day, as his parents could only afford so much or even pay attention to his interests as they focused on work and bills all the time. However, he had promised his group of friends he’d buy a Rainbow Dash or Applejack doll...but instead, he followed his heart and had gotten a Rarity doll that he cherished so much.

He grew nervous as he approached his friends, Jonathan, Blake, Max and Tyler, with Jonathan and Tyler holding Rainbow Dash dolls and the other two wielding Applejack dolls. As Robert sat down with them, all the attention shifted to the boy.

“Finally, you’re here!” Max gave him a playful shove. “We finally get to see the tie breaker.”

“You bought Rainbow Dash, right?” Jonathan asked him, clearly expecting that he would get the answer he wanted.

“Nah, dude, he totally got Applejack,” Blake scoffed, and the two groups of pony lovers feuded over who was better just like they had many times before.

“Well, actually...” as Robert began, the four boys stopped fighting, and all eyes were on him once again, awaiting for him to reveal which pony he got. The suspension finally subsided when he pulled out a white unicorn with a purple mane from his pocket. It was clear to the other four boys now: his choice was Rarity. “I...like Rarity. A lot.”

At first, his friends were silent. But then, as Robert had feared, they then began to laugh intensely. Blake noticed his nails, which was another fear of Robert’s; he had painted them the past weekend a lovely dark purple color, resembling the color of Rarity’s mane.

“Well, first of all,“ Jonathan could barely stop himself from laughing when he finally managed to speak. “You painted your nails? Dude, that’s, like, way low.” The other three boys snickered in agreement.

Robert felt anger well up inside him as the others criticized his appearance. “You guys watch ponies! We ALL watch ponies! If we do that, then it shouldn’t it be so far-fetched for me to paint my nails, right?”

“We only watch it for the cool ponies,” explained Max. “Which are Applejack and Rainbow Dash ONLY. Any other pony is simply not good enough. Especially Rarity, and we all know only girls like Rarity.”

“Are you a girl, Robert?” Tyler teased, making the boy in glasses even more angry. “You like that stupid unicorn so much that it’s starting to get annoying. I bet you’re even in love with her!”

“Robert’s a girl! Robert’s a girl!” The four boys sung together, making Robert’s eyes fill with tears, as much as he tried to hide them.

“Look, he’s crying!” Jonathan could hardly breathe from laughter at that point. “Are you gonna cry like a girl now?”

Robert couldn’t take it anymore, and he took his Rarity doll and lunchbox, running away from the boys who he thought were his friends.

“How was school today, Robert?” Aunt Olivia asked the boy as he arrived in his relatives’ white SUV. Robert said nothing at first until his aunt had asked him again. “Robert? Is everything okay?”

“M-my friends made fun of me,” Robert stuttered, and he could feel himself wanting to cry again as the memories replayed in his mind. “T-they said I was a girl, a-and bullied me for...f-for liking Rarity.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” Aunt Olivia gave her nephew a sad look as she was told what had happened that day. “I’m so, so sorry. Those boys are just too ill-mannered!”

“Well, I sure know something that’ll cheer our boy up,” Uncle Tom remarked, and Robert stopped sniffling as soon as he heard the comment.

Both his aunt and uncle smiled, as they both exclaimed in unison: “Guess who’s going to PonyPark?”

Robert stared blankly for a moment, processing the question, until he finally realized who they meant. “You got us tickets?”

“This Friday, we’ll drive you after school,” Uncle Tom smiled after hearing the boy’s excitement. “It’s not that long of a flight from Georgia, so we’ll get there before six. We even got us three a special hotel room! We’re staying Friday and Saturday.”

“But...how did you even afford this?”

“We’ve been planning this ever since you were interested in My Little Pony, and we managed to work for enough money to save up for tickets. It’s been painful seeing your parents work so much without paying attention to you, so we thought it would be wonderful if we did you something nice.”

Robert didn’t want to cry again, but he couldn’t help himself, this time out of pure joy. He said many thank yous on the way to the pair’s house, as he awaited to turn on another episode of My Little Pony once he arrived.

“Well?” Aunt Olivia took in the sight of the hotel room, leading her nephew to the children’s bedroom. The mere hotel room door had already fascinated him, as his favorite pony had been on it. Expectedly, he was even more excited when he saw on his bedsheets a beautiful picture of Rarity admiring a few gemstones. It was an amazing sight to see, but Robert didn’t want to dawdle for too long in the room, as it was already four in the afternoon, so they only had two hours to spare for that day. As fast as he could, he put on a Rarity shirt that he packed, and the three headed down to the park.

Aunt Olivia and Uncle Tom insisted that anything Robert wanted to do he could do, and of course, he immediately desired to see Canterlot. The commercials promised a near exact replica of the posh city, and they hadn’t been lying. The castle itself was stunning, and surprisingly large, nearly the same size as Magic Kingdom castle. No wonder this park was getting as many visitors as Disney was each day.

A few boys looked at him as he and his relatives walked into replica Canterlot Castle, as most of them were wearing Applejack or Rainbow Dash shirts. It was seldom heard of that a boy fan of My Little Pony would take such a liking to Rarity. He caught a few laughs, as expected, but paid them no mind.

As he walked through the massive castle, he eventually went through enough rooms and doors and eventually found the main attraction of the castle, the throne room, where Princess Celestia resided. Robert knew it was just a person in costume, but couldn’t ignore just how beautiful the princess was. Robert imagined himself sitting on the throne, with Rarity by his side. How beautiful she’s be and how they’d rule side by side as great friends.

After taking a picture with Princess Celestia, Robert asked his aunt and uncle if he could find a restroom in the castle. He wasn’t sure if there were any, but tried his best to hurry so little time was wasted. Many halls and doors were in the huge building, and he was surprised just how much room there was in here.

Robert was in such a rush trying to find the bathroom when he suddenly bumped into a group of kids. He fell to the ground, picking up his glasses after the scuffle only to see that they had shattered. Looking upwards, he recognized the four faces—to his surprise, the culprits were none other than Jonathan, Tyler, Max and Blake, his now ex-friends who had treated him so harshly four days prior.

“So, this is why you were so happy,” Jonathan sneered. “You got yourself a trip to PonyPark.”

“What are you doing here?” Robert tried the best he could to stand his ground, like Rarity would have.

“I won a giveaway, darling!“ Jonathan spoke the last word in a tone like Rarity’s in a mockingly manner. “Four sets of two tickets. We each came here with our moms.”

Robert couldn’t believe his ears. Of course they would come on the one day he arrived to the park, it’s as if they knew he was going all this time, and made a plan just to ruin us day. “Just...leave me alone.”

“What are you gonna do about it? Cry again, you little girl?” Max suddenly shoved Robert to a wall, and took his Rarity doll he ever so loved away from him. He gave the pony doll to Jonathan, and the tallest boy pulled out a pair of scissors, threatening to cut Rarity’s hair.

“Good thing I brought these, heh,” Jonathan sneered as he played with the pony’s hair before he was going to cut it. “Just in case some other boy was caught liking another pathetic girly pony.”

“Please! Please don’t ruin her!” Robert begged, but Max only shoved him back into the wall as the scissors were about to snip the purple mane of his prized doll. It was the only pony merchandise he had, and it was about to be ruined.

Suddenly, the four boys stared at nothing as Robert heard a noise come from the other side of the hallway, as the lights leading to hit had shut off on their old. Perhaps the light bulbs had burned out? But the park was pretty new...it had opened since September, and it was only February.

Robert snapped out of his thoughts when the four boys in front of him suddenly screamed in terror, dropping both the scissors and his Rarity doll. Thankfully, no hair had been chopped off, her full mane was still intact. Robert held the doll in his hands after retrieving it from the floor, and shook in place, fear and sadness suddenly overtaking him from the event. He hated being called a girl just because he acted feminine.

“I think that was absolutely marvelous,” an odd yet familiar voice spoke all of a sudden. Robert’s eyes widened in fear, thinking one of the boys had come back to torment him more—but then recognized the posh accent within moments. He looked down at his Rarity doll, thinking he had gone crazy. Was he knocked out and dreaming?

He suddenly felt a hoof on his shoulder. To the right of him, he saw a white unicorn a bit taller than he was. She smiled at him after he turned his gaze to the mare, who was all too recognizable to him.

“R-Rarity?” He could barely talk from the shock he was feeling.

The fashionista’s dark blue eyes stared down at the boy. “You showed those repulsive ruffians what for back there. I couldn’t have done it better myself!”

Robert said nothing, covering a hand to his mouth. He slowly processed what he saw as the pony blinked at him in confusion, but still smiled. She sat down so she could get to his height, and once again placed a hoof onto his shoulder.

“I see I have a fan,” she giggled, and she eyed Robert’s shirt. This made the boy laugh nervously, still a bit frightened. Rarity’s eyes drew near his nails, and immediately she was impressed. “Oh, my! Such a lovely color, it matches my mane!”

“Y-you’re not real...” Robert kept on nervously laughing, not believing what he saw.

“Of course I am, darling! I just don’t come out very often, is all. Arriving here all the way from Equestria isn’t an easy task, you know.”

“Equestria?” Robert questioned, as he thought Equestria was not a real place.

“It’s the place where I live, is it not? You of all people should know so, dear,” once again, she giggled. “I’ve never seen anyone so fond of me. I’m quite flattered, to tell the truth.”

“You...” Robert was still in a bit of shock, but had calmed down a little after a few minutes. “Can you...travel here from Equestria all the time? I’ve always wanted to, uhm...be with you, a-and...” he was too nervous to finish the sentence, and he trailed off. Rarity looked confused for a moment, but then levitated his glasses in the air using her magic. In moments, he saw a bright flash of blue in his vision, making him have to shield his eyes.

To his surprise, when he opened his eyes again, he found that his glasses had been placed back onto his eyes, and that they were now fixed. He gasped, and smiled at the white pony before him, embracing her into a hug. “Thank you so much!”

“It’s the least I can do, darling, for a new friend,” Rarity stood back up on all fours as she began to pace around the boy. “I saw how horrible those boys were to you. And I wanted to make a generous offer.”

“What kind of an offer?” After adjusting his glasses, Robert stared up at Rarity with curiously.

“Well,” Rarity started. “How would you like to join me in Equestria? You and I, in the city of Canterlot, ruling together.”

“I...wow,” it was as if Rarity had looked directly into his thoughts and saw his every desire. “That’s exactly what I want. It would be amazing, Rarity—“

“However,” the unicorn interrupted Robert before he could finish his sentence. “I need to see you be generous first. It can be towards anyone in the park, darling, but I just need to see an act of generosity before I can show you the way to Equestria.”

“Well...” Robert thought of how late it had gotten already, the castle tour had taken around fourty minutes. “I’ll be coming here tomorrow, too. How will I know you’ll be watching for me?”

“Others cannot see me,” Rarity’s smile grew. “But I can see them. I’ll be watching you all day tomorrow, darling. After I see you doing something generous, then return here. I’ll show you the way to Equestria, and all your troubles will be forgotten.”

“Rarity,” Robert held out a hand, as Rarity held out a hoof in return. He took it, shaking it slightly. “I’ll make you proud.”

The next day, Robert and his relatives had woken bright and early around seven thirty in the morning, just before the park had opened at eight. They were nearly the first ones to arrive at the park, aside from a few groups of people awaiting at the tall pointed fence. Soon enough, the fence was opened by an employee, and many people of all ages flooded the park, the sunny sky making way for a beautiful day in PonyPark.

Aunt Olivia, Uncle Tom and Robert had gotten a bite to eat near Sweet Apple Acres, a restaurant that was made to look like Applejack’s barn. After eating a few waffles with plenty of syrup, the three of them arrived to Nightmare Moon Mania, an indoor roller coaster slightly faster than Equestria Adventure, a ride which Robert had been begging to go on. It was a bit scary, but thrilling all at once.

Later on, after getting a picture with Rarity and playing a few arcade games after lunch, they arrived at the very popular attraction, Sonic Rainboom. The coaster was tall, with a terrifying 65 foot drop being the cause of many excited and scared screams. Robert thought he could handle it, and could tell the tale to his ex-friends of being brave enough to ride the coaster. Although he ended up riding, though, he unfortunately lost his lunch, making Uncle Tom and Aunt Olivia have to go to the First Aid building.

“How are you feeling, sweetheart?” Aunt Olivia asked Robert in a sweet voice, as the boy tried to soothe his aching belly. He only gave a small smile and a nod in response, trying to focus on his breathing.

All of a sudden, the door to the room filled with bright blue chairs opened, and three girls with two adults had made their way into it. Robert stared at the girl in the middle—a blonde, wearing a bright yellow Fluttershy shirt, who looked about a year younger than he was. She looked quite sad, and was also trying to control her breathing. As the girl sat down next to him, he tried to spark up conversation.

“Um, hi,” he greeted warmly, and the girl looked a bit nervous, but still met his gaze. He smiled at her, adding, “My name’s Robert. What’s yours?”

“J-Jasmine,” the girl stuttered out, seeming a bit shy.

“How’d you end up in here?”

“Sonic Rainboom. The drop made me feel really sick.”

“Heh, same here,” Robert gave a small laugh, which made the younger girl smile. He then started to play with the hair of his Rarity doll, which had suddenly become what Jasmine focused on.

The smaller girl pointed to the doll, saying, “Is that Rarity?”

“It is,” Robert replied. “She’s my favorite pony.”

“I don’t have her yet,” Jasmine suddenly frowned. “Every toy store I go to in my town never has any dolls of her. I have every Mane Six pony but her.”

Robert thought for a moment, considering giving the girl his cherished pony toy—but then pushed the thought away. He loved his doll, and it had just been almost ruined by a group of horrible boys. Was he really considering giving away the only pony that he had?

Then he thought of what Rarity had said to him yesterday—he had to be generous.

He took a deep breath, before handing the unicorn to Jasmine. “Here,” he put on a smile. “You deserve to finish your collection.”

The girl’s face lit up immediately, as if her previous bad mood had completely disappeared. “Really? Oh my gosh, you’re the best! Thank you so much!”

Robert laughed, and seeing Jasmine’s happiness erased any feeling of guilt he had from giving away his doll. He hoped Rarity saw the gesture, and sat up from his seat, as his bellyache subsided. After saying goodbye to Jasmine and her friends, he knew exactly where he wanted to go next: Canterlot.

Careful not to alert anyone, Robert gave the excuse to his aunt and uncle that he once again had to “use the bathroom”. Unbeknownst to them, he was once again looking for his new friend Rarity. He recognized just where he was yesterday, the familiar dark hallway making him realize he was exactly where he should be.

“You came!” Rarity’s voice came from behind, surprising the boy. He whipped around and smiled, more than glad to see the fashionista again. “I saw what you did earlier, darling, and thought it was more than noble of you to do.”

“You did?” Robert blushed as Rarity gave him the compliment.

“Follow me,” her voice suddenly grew a bit quieter, but Robert paid no mind to it. He followed the unicorn as she led him down the dark hallway, and her blue eyes suddenly began shining in the dark. Her horn lit up so the two of them could see exactly where they were going.

The pony stopped when the both of them were met with a shining pair of golden double-doors. Robert was absolutely stunned at the beauty of it, and it seemed to sparkle even in the darkness of the hallway.

“Robert,” Rarity began, her voice echoing in the large hallway. “Behind this door is a lovely throne I have constructed just for you. If you sit on it long enough, you’ll be transported to Equestria.”

“Are you sure?” Robert was a bit apprehensive, as it couldn’t have been that simple. All he had to do was sit on a throne? “There’s nothing else for me to do?”

“Simply imagine us together,” Rarity’s voice grew a little darker as the unicorn went on. “Ruling together as the best of friends. As prince and princess. With the first new rule being...” She paused, and walked up to his ear, whispering into it with sweet promises.

“The downfall of all of your enemies. We shall make them our footstools.”

That alone was enough to make Robert nod, as images filled his head of the boys who had picked on him being defenseless as he sat on a golden throne, with Rarity at his side. It was absolutely what he wanted, and nothing else.

“Okay,” Robert grinned sinisterly, as he opened both doors, entering the room, and closing the large golden doors behind him. He expected Rarity to follow him, but he could see her no more. Perhaps she was in Equestria already, waiting for him?

He looked around the room, adjusted to the dark, yet saw or felt no throne of any kind. He tried find the doors he just closed, to tell Rarity that she may have led him to the wrong room, but found that they had mysteriously disappeared. His blood ran cold, and he felt something bump into his back.

Concrete wall.

The walls were closing in on him.

Robert was extremely claustrophobic, but he had never told anyone that, in fear of seeming weak. As the walls kept on getting closer to him, his breathing grew, and he found that breathing grew gradually difficult. He tried screaming as loud as he could, banging on the walls for help, only wanting to see his aunt and uncle again. He even wanted to see his mom and dad, to tell his father he was sorry for disappointing him, even after how they hardly gave him any attention.

Only a few minutes had passed before the room grew so small that almost all of his oxygen had ran out. His breathing slowed gradually, and Robert’s vision slowly became nothing but a small circle. Blackness swam around his eyesight, and he swore he could hear Rarity laughing manically before he drowned in the darkness that overtook him.