The Darkest Time is Just Before Dawn

Chapters

An Unexpected Visitor
There's A Pony On My Couch
Luster Really Likes Strawberries
...And Where To Find Them
Me And Luster Have A Talk
Trying Not to Get Arrested
Now What Do I Do With All These Strawberries?
Where Good People Reside...
Ever Wondered What It's Like To Go On A Rescue Mission?

An Unexpected Visitor

Life had gone steadily downhill since a certain pandemic sprang up.

First, we all got quarantined. And I lost my job due to budget cuts.

Next came the mask mandate. The only companies that thrived during this year were the ones making the disposable blue masks that were available in the checkout aisle at every store in the world.

Then came the shortage in the strangest products: toilet paper, hand sanatizer, baked beans... Well, at least at my local Wal-Mart. I was now having to go to the parks to surreptitiously grab the biggest leaves I could find as an alternative. A lot of people saw me, but they did nothing. A few even asked, "Run out of tp?" I would nod and go back to my business.

Now I was running low on money and probably wouldn't have bought toilet paper even if it was in stock. Since I'd lost my job, I'd had to rely on my rainy day savings to buy me enough food to eat and pay the bills. Although I lived in a small apartment and tried to restrict myself from using a bunch of electricity and only using the sink or toilet when I desperately needed to, the numbers on the bills just kept escalating and escalating as the number of days in quarentine increased exponentially.

I had a brother who hadn't lost his job and was probably at home rolling in Benjamens, but I was too prideful to contact him and ask for some cash. Me and my brother had a complicated relationship and hadn't spoken to each other in years.

Of course, being stuck inside all the time, I probably would have been driven insane if not for one thing. I'm kind of a nerd about that thing, and I would gladly give my life to keep its presence strong. But that thing was frowned upon by modern society, and I would most likely find myself being harrassed if word got out. Not even my girlfriend knew. But that thing was the only thing keeping me going, the only thing that kept me holding out for hope that, someday in the future, things would get better.

I'm gonna come clean with you: that thing is My Little Pony.

I know, I know. You wouldn't expect a twenty-year-old man like me to adore a television show primarily designed for younger girls. But, the truth is... it's not really. I mean, yes it was, in the beginning, but once the bronies came along (teenagers and young adults who like the show), then the show also started shifting towards a more adult audience. There is an episode for every single problem in your day-to-day life, and because I've watched every single episode, I've learned a lot. There are certain situations that I would not have handled as well as I had without My Little Pony. And there's a whole community out there, other people like me who like the show, and it gives me a feeling of hope that I'm never alone in life.

Of course, if there's one thing COVID is good at, it's making people feel alone and hopeless.

I sat on my living room couch, the only piece of furniture in there besides the television. I'd sold everything else to get a little more money, and I was still feeling squeezed to my breaking point. I flipped through news channels until I settled on CNN, although I wasn't sure why. CNN never took a positive spin on things, but I watched it anyway.

"...And reports are still coming in about new varients of coronavirus that are more deadly than the original," the reporter stated, her blond hair falling in front of her face as she read off of the script in front of her. "Of course, new COVID vaccines are still in the process of being approved by the FDA, but people are wondering if they will work on the new varients of coronavirus. And now to my colleague for a weekly weather report."

The screen faded to black as I clicked the power button on the small black remote in my hand, sighing and holding my head in my other hand. The news always tired me out these days; it was so depressing. I stood up, stretched, and strolled leisurely down the hallway to my room.

My room, like the rest of my house, was virtually empty. The only things in there were my bed and a suitcase, which held my two weeks worth of clothing. My bed was basically a mattress on top of a box, but what most people didn't know was that the box was actually a safe place to hide my obsession with My Little Pony so that no one would find out.

I pulled the mattress off and fingered the word combination lock at the edge, which kept the box shut. My fingers spelled out the word pony and the lock clicked. I lifted the lid and looked down into the hidden safe of my pony merch.

On top were DVDs of every single season and the three Equestria Girls movies, excepting Legend of Everfree, which was only available on Netflix. Below that were my plush ponies that I made myself (not anymore, as I had to sell my sewing machine) and my books about the ponies. Also in there was my laptop computer, which I refused to sell, because I had Youtube on there, and Youtube was the only way I stayed connected with the brony community, besides Fimfiction and Equestria Daily.

I picked up Season 1 and carried it back to the living room and inserted the disk, sitting back and relaxing as the annoyingly familiar theme song began to play. I picked up the remote and selected Episode 1 and let out a relieved sigh as the episode began, nearly making me cry because of the nostalgia.

I had been ten when the first episode had aired. My parents had this wierd thing where they switched on the TV, flipped to a random channel, and watched whatever was playing. So, on October tenth, they switched on Discovery Family on Saturday morning for my younger sister, who was three. They asked me to watch her while they went to work that morning, as they do every Saturday, and I figured it would be easy because she would be watching some boring, girly kids show.

Boy was I wrong.

The moment Celestia's voice began to narrate the scene, I felt pulled in. This, at least, was something decently interesting. I pulled my sister on my lap, hoping that if my parents came in, they would see that I was watching her and wouldn't care that I was secretly very intrigued by the show.

I was not expecting My Little Pony to be that good. I was just expecting it to be another girly cartoon that wasn't worth my attention. But by the time Discovery Family finished playing My Little Pony for the day, I felt a strange thirst for more ponies. So, when next Saturday came around, I eagerly volunteered to watch my baby sister when my parents went to work. They looked at me strangely, because I never really wanted to hang out with my sister, but they agreed.

And so it was that, every Saturday, I could watch the new episode underneath the cover that I was being a loving big brother and caring for my sis. Until Diane turned eight. Then, she decided that she didn't like ponies anymore. Instead, she wanted to watch princess movies like Tangled and Cinderella, and, while they were nice, I really wanted to find out what was happening with Twilight Sparkle and her friends. The last episode I had seen was the one where the Cutie Mark Crusaders finally got their cutie marks, and I was eager to see what would happen next.

So I volunteered to baby-sit other kids at the age of two and three. I would watch the ponies with them while earning a little money that I saved up for merchandise. Whenever my mom asked me to run to the store and buy something, I would pick up a piece of pony merch and hide it in the basket. The cashiere would always ask me why I was buying these things, and I said that they were for my little sister.

Until college. There were no little kids to be my cover, no private place I could watch in peace, and I was surrounded by bigger guys who were obsessed with things like motorcycles and who drove a nicer car and getting the best looking girl they could find and making it a competition. I was already the odd one out - I didn't need to give them another excuse to harass me.

Without ponies in my life, I was an absolute wreck. I kept getting into fights and my school work was always turned in late and sloppy. Eventually, I got kicked out. I started to work at a McDonalds just so I could earn enough money to make a living. Eventually, I got hired at Wal-Mart to stock the shelves. I loved this job, because now I could keep an eye on the pony merchandise. Except... there were a lot of new toys for My Little Pony that advertised a movie.

I was shocked. I had missed out on a big theatrical release involving celebrities voicing the colorful pink ponies? I hurriedly began to buy every single season as soon as it hit the DVD shelves and hid them at home, away from my parents' watchful eyes. When I earned enough money to move out of my parents' house and into my own apartment, the first thing I bought was my television; the second, my bed.

I continued to watch ponies in peace until I found out about the other fans. Bronies. My life was changed forever when I realized that I wasn't the only person my age who liked the show. It gave me hope to keep ponies in my life. Until I met my girlfriend, and I found out that bronies weren't exactly looked up upon. Instead, they were persocuted for stupid things that I can't even begin to name. I vowed that no one would ever find out about my secret obsession for ponies as long as I lived.

I had been watching Season 1 for about an hour when the knock came. Paniced, I switched off the TV and stuffed the disk back in the box, which I then hurried to return it to its proper place underneath my bed, where no one could find it. I rushed to the door and waited for a moment so I could catch my breath.

The knock came again. It sounded... different from human knocks. Not like a fist, but like a... hoof.

I shook myself. Although I had seen StormFX3's videos about ponies in real life, I knew that the ponies weren't actually real. The animation clips came from already existing episodes. There was no possible way that there could be a pony at my door. While I told myself that, I couldn't stop from hoping against hope that maybe, just maybe, things were about to turn around. My hand shook as I reached towards the doorknob and gripped the cold metal in my fingers. I nervously turned the handle and stepped back as the door opened.

A small unicorn mare stood on my doorstep. She had a gorgeous pink coat that looked like a sunset and a wavy mane that faded from orange to gold with bright yellow streaks. Her mane was pulled back into a ponytail, except for her bangs, and she had soft golden eyes that looked around with interest.

My heart stopped. I could hardly breathe. She looked up at me and smiled, but I couldn't think.

There was a pony on my doorstep.

"Luster Dawn?" I choked out.

Author's Note

Constructive criticism is appreciated. Thank you for reading!
Inspired by My Little Dashie.

There's A Pony On My Couch

The unicorn frowned. "How do you know my name?" she said slowly. Her voice sounded familiar, even though she'd only been in one episode. I was slightly ashamed to admit, even to other bronies, that I had obsessively watched that episode dozens of times.

I said nothing. The pony's words confirmed my suspicions: there was an actual pony from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic on my doorstep. For real.

I grabbed my forearm and twisted it painfully, thinking that, maybe this was just a dream. And I would wake up feeling miserable again and wishing for things to get better.

Well, if this is a dream, I thought, maybe it wouldn't hurt to hang around for a little bit longer before I go back to my lovely world that is so amazing.

"Um... um... um..." I stammered, standing back to let Luster Dawn in. "Come in?"

She happily trotted inside. I was mesmerized by the sound of her hooves on the floor. It was so different and comforting at the same time. She studied the apartment for a second before jumping on the couch and laying her head on the armrest, her eyes nearly closed so that they were just slits of gold. I followed, staring at her as if she was the cure to all diseases, including COVID.

I finally burst out the question I had been holding in for so long: "Are there other ponies here, too?"

Luster lifted her head and looked at me like I was crazy. "Um... other ponies?"

"Yeah, you know," I said excitedly, "Twilight Sparkle? Rainbow Dash or Applejack, maybe? Or perhaps Pinkie Pie? Do you know any of them?"

Her eyes were full of confusion, and she tilted her head at me. "Uh... who?"

"Nevermind," I said hastily, my spirits plummeting. "Just... yeah, never mind." I awkwardly began to move towards the kitchen. "Um, can I get you anything?"

Luster thought for a moment before perking up. "Do you have any oats?" she asked. I shook my head, making a mental note to stop by a Farm and Fleet or something to buy some horse feed. "Oh, um... hay?"

"Sorry," I muttered, feeling awkward. I opened my fridge and winced at the low number of edible items it contained. "Uh, do you like... strawberries?"

"Strawberries." She thought for a moment. "I think I like strawberries."

And so I grabbed the box out of the fridge, washed the ruby red berries in the sink (one of the only things left in my kitchen besides the fridge and a microwave. I usually ate on the couch now), and set the strawberries on the couch next to her. She used her magic to lift one into her mouth.

Strangely, I didn't feel all that surprised that she could do that, or shocked, even. I was just excited because the pony on my couch at this very moment could perform magic. I wondered what else she could do, but I felt like it would be rude to ask.

Within moments, the box was empty, and Luster Dawn was lying comfortably on the couch again. I slowly sat down on the floor next to the TV and stared at her. I wasn't trying to be rude or anything; she was just so fascinating. I mean, what respectable brony wouldn't stare at a pony if there was a pony on their couch? She finally noticed and looked at me quizzically.

"What are you looking at me like that for?" she asked, and I shook my head and stared at the floor instead.

"Uh... no reason. Just... how did you get here?"

Her cheery expression dimmed as something clouded her eyes. She turned to the window and stared out into the gray sky that threatened to rain at any moment. "I... don't know," she whispered.

My heart sank. She didn't remember anything? Not about Equestria, or Twilight, or any of her friends? I had been hoping that I could learn what life was like in Equestria from an actual, legit Equestrian, but that fantasy now seemed as far away as the moon.

"What do you remember?" I said quietly, trying to make my voice sound kind and understanding. She turned to me with misty eyes and told me everything she knew.

Luster Dawn had woken up underneath the Bean with no memories of anything. The only thing she knew was her own name and had a brief idea of what her personality was. The citizens of Chicago avoided her and gave her strange looks, but for the most part ignored her, which I thought was strange. She wandered the streets for long enough to realize that this was no magical and happy land. No one would help her, and she was forced to use her magic to steal from grocery stores, which she knew she would never do on another occasion. Eventually, she figured out how to use her magic to cast a spell to lead her to someone who could help her.

"But you seemed to already know me," she said. "Have we met before?"

"You could say that," I muttered. "So, you really have no idea about... anything?"

She shook her head. "Not a clue."

I thought about that before standing up, an idea forming in my head. "I think I have something that can help."

Her eyes filled with hope. "Really?"

I nodded and ran to my room, my fingers unconsciously thumbing the dials on the lock to spell out pony like I had done so many times before. Season 1 was on top, right where I had thrown it a few moments ago when she had arrived. I picked it up and ran my fingers over the cover, tracing out Fluttershy's head with my thumb. I had always wanted to meet one of the main cast. They had gone through so much together, and still they pulled through whenever duty called. I wanted to ask them for advice that might help me through this difficult time.

Luster Dawn had only appeared in one episode, and I honestly didn't know much about her. And if she didn't remember anything about Equestria, then there was no way I could find out anything about her.

A sudden thought occurred to me. Luster was lost and confused and desperately wanted to remember her lost memories and probably return home. Having her here was the best thing that had ever happened to me, and if I showed her the show, then she might want to leave and go back home to Equestria.

Maybe it wouldn't hurt to keep the show a secret from her... just for a little while longer.

A crash sounded from the living room, and I dropped Season 1 back under the bed and ran into the room to find Luster making the couch hover in midair. She turned around to me and grinned. "Look what I can do!" she said excitedly. She noticed my shocked face and gently set the sofa back down and pawed meekly at the floor, suddenly ashamed of herself. "I'm sorry," she whispered. I immediately felt bad.

"You didn't do anything wrong," I said quickly. "I just... there isn't a lot of magic here, so... it's kind of a shock to see it."

Her face lit up again as she realized that I wasn't angry with her. She leaped gracefully back on the couch, looking up at me expectantly. "So?" she said anxiously. "Where is it?"

I instantly knew what she was talking about. I could feel my face growing red and hear the stammering in my voice as I told her. "Well... you see, I, uh, couldn't find it. Missing. Maybe I accidentally sold it or something?"

She looked at me strangely but let the matter go. I breathed a sigh of relief. I vowed to never let this pony into my room; she was a unicorn, which meant the chances of her finding my secret was at unsettlingly high rates.

I trudged back to my room, locking up my secret and vowing to forget it for as long as Luster was here. I lay down on my bed, knowing that this was impossible. How could I forget the show that had changed my life? A bad feeling began to grow in my stomach when I had lied, and now it only grew worse. I knew what I was doing was wrong, but I couldn't bring myself to make it right. This pony could be the cure for everything; what kind of person would let that go?

Deep down inside, I knew I was going to have to let her go, give her up, send her back home. Tell her the truth. I decided to try and delay that for as long as possible.

Little did I know that the time she would leave me would be much more different than either of us would have imagined.

Author's Note

Constructive criticism is appreciated. Thank you for reading!
Inspired by My Little Dashie.

Luster Really Likes Strawberries

The next morning dawned rainy and miserable, as can be expected in Chicago. It seemed to me that every single day was either cloudy or windy with the occasional glimpse of sunshine before we plunge back into the cold. Of course, that could just be the fact that, during this year, everything was under a cloudy and negative vibe, so much so that you could hardly enjoy the simple things in life anymore.

As it would be with anyone else, the first thought that fought its way through the sleepiness into my groggy brain was, Is she still here? And so, being the rational person that I am, I threw off the covers (literally), jumped out of bed (and nearly fell face-first on the floor), and stumbled towards the living room, blinking the sleep from my eyes and shaking my head to try and wake up my brain. If there were still pictures on the wall, I would have unintentionally knocked them down and caused them to shatter against the floor.

I am not a morning person. But when you have a pony in your house who is capable of magical abilities, you have to keep a close eye on them at all times. Because I had a feeling that Luster could blow this house to pieces without even trying.

If she was still here.

The sound of my two left feet tripping over one another would be loud enough to wake up the neighbors above and next to me in the complex, but thankfully, they had equipped their apartments with soundproof walls after the first few months of me living here. But if anypony - I mean, anyone, as there was no possible way what happened yesterday could have been real - was inside my house, they wouldn't need an alarm clock as long as I was just waking up.

Sure enough, when I trotted noisily into the living room (stop with the horse things! There is no way yesterday was not a dream! Get a hold of yourself!), she lifted her head and blinked sleepily as she struggled to bring my face into focus. Her hooves were crossed in front of her, making a makeshift pillow for her to rest her head, and the blanket I had given her the night before was slipping onto the floor, although she didn't seem to notice.

"Why are you so loud?" Luster Dawn mumbled grumpily, putting her head down and her hooves over her head, blocking her ears. "Some of us are trying to sleep, you know, like civilized ponies."

"S-sorry," I muttered, not believing what I was seeing. If she was still here, did that mean I was still dreaming? Or was this all completely real? I grabbed my arm and squeezed my fingernails into the meaty part of my arm. Sucking my breath in suddenly, I withdrew my fingers and rubbed the area that was now stinging with pain. The gouge marks I had made slowly started to fade away, but the pain remained.

So, clearly, this wasn't a dream.

"Um... um..." I stammered, unsure of how I was supposed to react. I mean, it wasn't like there was a guide on how to take care of random ponies who show up in your house who have no memory of who they are or where they came from. Or was there? I made a mental note to check Amazon later that day in case of the off chance that there was something like that. "You hungry?" I decided on, cringing at how generic it sounded.

Luster lifted her head again and nodded empathetically. "Starving," she said, leaping off the couch and landing gracefully on her feet. I felt a pang of jealousy. Even a horse was more graceful than me! "Do you have more strawberries?"

Of course, Luster had cleaned me out of strawberries the day before, but I didn't say that. Instead, I mumbled something about going to get some and that she could turn on the television to entertain herself, so long as she didn't practice magic or get into trouble. One brief explanation on how to use the remote later, I pulled on a t-shirt, pullover, and jeans, grabbed my wallet, and stuffed my feet into my too-big shoes. Long ago, before COVID even existed, I had sold my car and simply walked everywhere. It gave me exercise, I told myself. There was no need for a car. But I always had trouble convincing myself that.

Luster was staring, transfixed at the TV, which was playing the usual Sunday morning cartoons. I thanked the stars that My Little Pony wasn't airing on television anymore, and Generation 5 wasn't going to be released any time soon. I would have seen something on Equestria Daily.

Pulling my hood up to block the rain, I slipped my wallet in my pocket and let my feet subconsciously wandered down the streets towards the store I usually went to, my city instincts taking over and safely navigating me through the busy streets. Even though it was the weekend, plenty of people were pouring into the streets to make sure they got to their favorite stores with enough time left to spend several hours shopping for meaningless junk.

By the time I reached Gill's Grocers, my hood was soaked to the point that my hair was damp. I was glad for a roof to finally be over my head and gratefully pulled my hood down, reaching into my pocket and reluctantly putting on a reusable mask.

As per usual, the glass cases covered all the produce that used to be open to the air. An employee stood behind every counter to retrieve the fruits and vegetables you desired with gloves and a mask on their faces. A few more employees carried spray bottles and rags with them for whenever a shift would end, someone would leave, another would come to take their place, and all surfaces that the person who was previously present touched were mandatorily wiped down.

I stared into the glass as I walked by, my reflection the same as it always had been since this year started: messy, sandy-blonde hair that I hadn't brushed, washed, or cut in months; blank brown eyes devoid of all hope; dark circles under my eyes. Although I got plenty of sleep every night, I always was tired. Everyone was.

Gill looked up from behind the counter, where he was helping a woman pack her purchases in a plastic bag for her to take home. "Ah, Chardy! Nice to see you again," he greeted me warmly. Me and Gill had been friends in college and had stayed in touch over the years. No matter the weather, Gill always managed to bring a smile to my face. Not that it mattered; he couldn't see with the mask on, anyway.

"What can I help you with?" he said after he bid the other lady a good day.

"Um, do you have any strawberries?" I asked, scanning the room. Gill laughed.

"Do I have any? Just got a new delivery this morning! Have tons!" He stared at me questioningly. "Why do you want them? I never got the impression that you particularly enjoyed them."

"I have a... friend over, I guess you could say, who really likes them."

Gill nodded and slipped around the counter to the strawberries, where he picked up a few boxes and set them on the counter.
"Uh, could I have five, maybe?" I pulled out my wallet and mentally counted the bills inside and muttered, "I think I have enough..."

Thank God, Gill didn't question me. He obediently packed five large boxes of strawberries into a plastic shopping bag and carried them over to the cash register. I fumbled around in my wallet to produce the twenty-five dollars needed, when Gill pulled out his own credit card and swiped it.

I gaped at him. "What the - did you - what...?"

"I know you're in tough times, Char," Gill said quietly, glancing around fervently to make sure no one discovered his crime. "Least I can do to help."

He pushed the bag at me and turned away. My eyes were wide open and shocked as I shakily took the bag by the handles and walked out of the store.

Good people were hard to find at any given time, especially now, especially in Chicago. To know that Gill had my back gave me another burst of hope. I returned home and fumbled for a moment to fish the key to my apartment out of my pocket. I stepped inside, breathing a sigh of relief to be out of the rain, to find Luster Dawn still sitting in front of the TV. Except the Sunday morning cartoons had been replaced by Fox News, which was talking about politics and the bitter debate over who was going to win the election, Trump or Biden? I, obviously, was voting for Kanye West. He would definitely be a better president than those two other guys.

Luster was shouting angrily at the screen, talking about common-sense solutions that no one seemed to be thinking of and how she would be a much better president and all that nonsense. She finally groaned and flopped her head on the couch, landing on the remote and turning the television off. She looked up when she heard the door close.

"Oh! Hi," she said cheerfully, and, noticing my bag full of strawberries, she made a high-pitched screechy noise (I never understood what it was with girls and doing that), used her magic to carry one of the boxes over to her, opened it, and stuffed her muzzle into the berries.

"Nice to see you again, too," I muttered to myself, but I smiled nonetheless. I don't know why the other bronies were all over Rarity; clearly, Luster was best pony.

Besides Derpy. Derpy is best pony. But Luster comes in as a close second.

Author's Note

Constructive criticism is appreciated. Thank you for reading!
Inspired by My Little Dashie.

...And Where To Find Them

"Where are you going?"

I looked up and saw Luster, leaning against the doorway to my room, her head tilted curiously. I was forcing my sweatshirt over my head, the one with the least stains. I had to take to washing my clothes in the kitchen sink, and this method never got all the smears and smudges out of my clothes.

"Out." My words were vague on purpose. I didn't really want her to know where I was going; it was kind of personal.

"Oh." Luster trotted behind me as I walked towards the door, grabbing my keys and stuffing them in my pocket. "Well, in that case, can I watch television while you're gone?"

"Sure. And I left a whole box of strawberries in the fridge for your pleasure," I said, twisting the door handle and stepping outside, checking to make sure that no one was watching. Call me paranoid, but I wasn't about to take any risks. "Just don't go in my room, alright? You know the rules. Don't go-"

"Don't go outside, don't draw attention to yourself, stay hidden," she recited in an exhausted voice. "I know, I know."

"Good." I closed the door behind me and walked the several miles to the Bean, where I had promised to meet my girlfriend. We were going out for dinner that night (with her paying, of course; she and Gill were the only ones who knew about my financial crisis and were trying to help me however they could).

A quick word about my girlfriend. Her name is Lissa Soldier, and her father is rich. Really rich. He owns a line of magazine publishing companies across the U.S. and isn't exactly pleased with his daughter's choice for a boyfriend. But Lissa has a rebellious streak that comes from her mom, who died when Lissa was only a teenager. She's been meeting with me in secret for the past few years and is the only reason I haven't become homeless. She lends me money to help pay for the bills, but she can't give too much, or it'll look suspicious. She's just about the best girlfriend anyone could have, except for one thing: she despises bronies.

A couple years back, she and I were walking down the street, when we saw a sign advertising the Whinny City Pony Con, which was taking place in a few days. When she saw the sign, she snorted and said something about "stupid adults liking a kids show. It's supposed to be for little girls, not some teenage guys in their early twenties."

My face went pale, causing her to look at me funny. "Are you alright?" she asked me. I nodded, turning away from her so she wouldn't see the shock and fear on my face, away from the Pony Con sign, and instead focused on the shore of Lake Michigan.

"Hey, is that a seagull?" I asked, trying to divert her attention away from me.

Even now, I still get a rush of fear whenever I remember her words about bronies. I never told her about my obsession with the show, out of fear that she would hate me, too. And I loved her. Not just as a friend, but as a... well, you probably get what I'm trying to say. I didn't want to end our relationship, so I kept my adoration for ponies a secret.

Lissa was waiting for me, as always. She was wearing comfortable black leggings, a t-shirt that said Natural Born Genius, hiking boots, and a jean jacket. Her wavy blonde hair rustled slightly in the breeze, pulled back into a ponytail so that it wouldn't get in her face. Her crystal blue eyes sparkled mischievously like they did every time I saw her.

I felt a wave of relief wash over me. Whenever I was with Lissa, I felt like I could just let go of all my worries and enjoy the moment. When she saw me, she strolled leisurely over.

"About time you showed up," she said jokingly. "I was beginning to think you had forgotten."

"Never." I wrapped my arms around her, bringing her in for a hug. Her hair smelled like bubblegum like it always did.

"So!" she said brightly, pulling away and grinning at me. "Where should we go?"

"I was planning on just following you." I glanced around, my eyes landing on the small, almost invisible speck of bluish-green visible between buildings. "How about we walk by the lake? Maybe feed some seagulls?"

"Nah. Too cold." Lissa pulled her jacket tighter around herself. "And also, feeding seagulls? Do I need to remind you what happened last time we tried to feed them, over by the Pier?"

I shook my head, my overwhelming fear of getting divebombed by seagulls surfacing. What happened on the Pier, stayed on the Pier. "So... should we just walk, then?"

"Let's go to the old water tower," Lissa said, grabbing my arm and leading me in the direction of the old structure. "I always like that place."

"The only reason you like it is because you always scare the little kids there with ghost stories about it," I said, rolling my eyes. "I mean, come on. A man was working in the water tower during the Great Chicago Fire, saw the flames approaching, and decided he'd rather be hung than burned to death? And now his ghost haunts the tower, waiting for someone to discover his body and give it a proper burial? Pu-lease. No one's going to believe that."

Even as I spoke, I recognized the hypocrisy in my words. I wouldn't believe in Lissa's ghost story, but a kids show about talking horses? Why not? Although, I had solid proof for My Little Pony being more than just another boring cartoon meant to entertain three-year-olds on Saturday mornings, and even proof of it being real. The ghost story... there was no evidence to back it up. It was just an empty claim meant to scare people.

"It's not a myth!" Lissa insisted. "I saw his body hanging in the window with my own eyes! It's completely real! I'm just trying to warn the kids so that they aren't so scared when they see him!"

"Yeah, but it's perfectly fine to scare them with the story," I muttered to myself, but Lissa heard me. She glared at me and opened her mouth to continue arguing, but I pointed out a large billboard to shut her up. "Oh, look!" I said with forced enthusiasm. "There's a sale at Penelope's..."

Lissa rolled her eyes, but we had an enjoyable evening wandering the streets. We picked up some dinner at some food vendors lining the streets and took an elevator to the top of the Willis Tower when it got dark, to see the spectacular view of the city at night. Lights covered even the back streets with a golden glow, the city probably being visible from space. We played a game where we had to pick out the most different colored lights in a minute, and Lissa won, as usual. I couldn't help it; her eyes were just sharper than mine. She managed to spot even the glow of some old Christmas lights in a thrift store window, blinking and flickering and almost invisible against the backdrop of the city.

By ten, we had been wandering the streets for an hour, telling each other corny jokes and laughing at how terrible they were. It wasn't until Lissa checked her watch (a very expensive Apple watch, which was something I could never have even dreamed of affording) that we realized just how late it was getting.

"Oh, God... I'd better get home..." she muttered. "I'll see you in a week?" she said to me. I tried to make my expression happy and hopeful, masking the disappointment underneath. Sometimes, I wished our nights out could last forever.

Then I remembered Luster, and I actually didn't feel too bad about leaving. When I spoke, the cheerfulness in my voice was one hundred percent genuine. "Yeah. Next week. See you then!"

It took me another half-hour to walk back to my apartment, but I didn't mind. Like every time I finished an evening with Lissa, I was full of happiness, so much so that I felt like I could fly to the moon and back.

I opened the door to my apartment, and, even though it was way past the time when Luster should have been in bed, there was still light coming from the television, indicating that she was still watching the news. But she was strangely quiet. I didn't hear any of the shouting or yelling or muttering to herself about how stupid these people were that usually accompanied her watching a news broadcast.

My thoughts were so focused on Lissa that I didn't hear what she was watching as I walked into my room and flicked on the light. I stopped.

The scene was not what I had left my room in. My mattress was lying on the floor, the blankets all messy and tangled with the one pillow I owned, and the lock was lying next to it. The box was open, revealing every single piece of My Little Pony merchandise I owned. I scrambled towards it and dropped to my knees. The DVD box for Season 1 was missing.

An extremely familiar and extremely catchy song began in the living room. I had unintentionally memorized the lyrics and couldn't get it out of my head for the next few days every time I heard it.

Winter wrap-up, winter wrap-up...

My heart stopped and I stumbled towards the living room.

Let's finish our holiday cheer...

Luster was sitting on the couch, her eyes misty and full of confusing and mixed emotions. She looked up at me with hurt eyes that almost killed me with guilt.

"How long?" she whispered, not even able to form a full sentence.

I couldn't help it; as the catchy lyrics filled my head, I crumpled to the ground and let the tears fall.

Author's Note

Sorry it took me so long to get this one finished!
Constructive criticism is appreciated. Thank you for reading.
Inspired by My Little Dashie.

Me And Luster Have A Talk

We were sitting at the kitchen table. Luster was looking down at the table, her eyes full of shock, pain, and betrayal. I was avoiding her gaze. I wouldn't be able to stand the hurt look she would give me if I met her eyes.

Since Luster already found out about the show, I figured there was no use in trying to put it off (and I was a pretty bad liar anyway). So I sat her down and told her about my story with My Little Pony, which did next to nothing. She wasn't interested in how I liked the show; she wanted to know what happened in the show. And so I told her as much of the timeline as I could remember. I told her about Twilight Sparkle and her friends, and all the adventures they went on.

I told her about the last episode, the only episode in which she was present.

"So... I was Princess Twilight's top student?" Luster whispered. Hearing her voice was almost worse than looking into her eyes. It was full of betrayal and disbelief as if she couldn't believe that I had kept this from her when she had trusted me.

I nodded. "And... you didn't want friends, so Twilight sent you to Ponyville and showed you how important friendship really was."

"What happened after that?" Her voice was barely audible but amplified in the dense silence that smothered all other sounds. Even the air conditioning from my neighbor upstairs was a dim hum that I could hardly hear, in contrast to the usually loud and obnoxious sound I was used to hearing.

"I don't know," I admitted. "That was the last episode, so we'll never really know what happened after that."

"Why didn't you tell me?" She finally lifted her head like it weighed a million pounds and met my eyes. I held the gaze for a while before dropping my eyes to the table and mentally counting the number of scratches in the wood; anything to avoid looking into those eyes.

"I was afraid," I confessed. "I was worried that, if you knew about the show, you would want to leave. And I didn't want that. I had always wished My Little Pony could be real, and you proved that, and I was scared to let you go. I was planning on telling you after a while, but I kept putting it off. I just couldn't bring myself to do it when I was constantly worrying that you might leave."

"So, you knew everything about who I was and where I was from, and you decided not to tell me because you were being selfish?" Luster said, anger creeping into her voice, which was steadily getting louder. I winced. Her words stung me in a way I never thought possible.

"I'm sorry, it's just-" My voice cracked. "This year has been really rough, and I just wanted something to give me a little hope that things would get better."

"Why did I ever trust you?" Luster's voice was full of rage and had reached the point of shouting. "You're no different from everyone else I've ever met. Maybe I could have met someone actually trustworthy if you hadn't been so much of a selfish jerk!"

Tears welled up in her eyes, and she leaped from her chair and ran out of the room towards the entry hall. I got up and slowly approached her, saying, "Luster, please..."

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" she screamed. Her horn was lit, and I nervously backed up. As much as I didn't want her to leave, I also didn't want to find out what it would be like to be blasted with angry unicorn magic. Luster whirled around, using her magic to twist the doorknob and throw open the door. She ran out, leaving the door swinging in the wind, and me, feeling like my heart had just broken into a million pieces that could never be reconstructed.

I'm ashamed to say it, but I spent most of the day sitting on the couch, crying. I got out my Derpy Hooves plushie that I had bought on eBay a few years back and cuddled it in my arms. If anyone were to look inside my house they would have immediately left by the insane weirdness of a grown man sobbing on the couch while holding a pony plushie.

Eventually, I turned on the television, looking towards politics and bad news concerning coronavirus to distract me from my pain. But it only made things worse, as I kept expecting Luster to shout some rude comment about our nation's leaders, or how things were being handled, or a completely obvious solution that would be "20% cooler than anything they were trying."

One news story caught my eye, however. It was a report on CNN of a strange sighting of a unicorn by the Bean...

I sat up quickly and grabbed the remote, frantically switching to CNN. They were currently in the middle of an update on how the voting was going for electing a new president, but although I despised most politics-related topics, I kept watching, on the edge of my seat the whole time, praying that they hadn't already covered the story.

Finally, at about seven-thirty, the perky blonde woman reporting the news stacked her papers, cleared her throat, and said, "There have been several reports of sightings of a pink unicorn over by the Bean tonight, and a few even managed to gain some recorded evidence. Here are a few examples."

The screen showed several grainy and shaky footage of crowds of people at the Bean, marveling, as always, the strange sensation of seeing your warped reflection on the underside of the famous sculpture. The camera zoomed in on Luster Dawn, who was wandering aimlessly around, not even caring that dozens of people were seeing her. The crowd was making a large circle around her, not that she noticed. After about seven minutes of footage, the screen switched back to the newscaster.

"Reports are still coming in, and many are wondering what this creature is doing in Chicago, and how it got here," she continued. "Some are telling us of the striking resemblance between this unicorn and the fictional character Luster Dawn from the children's television show, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Here's a picture of both of these so you can see the similarities yourself."

I didn't even wait for the newscaster to finish her sentence, didn't even turn off the TV. I stuffed my feet in some shoes, pulled on a jacket, grabbed my keys, and dashed out the door.

I had a bad feeling that, if Luster got captured, there wouldn't be much hope of setting her free again.

Author's Note

Constructive criticism is appreciated. Thank you for reading!
Inspired by My Little Dashie.

Trying Not to Get Arrested

"Chardy?" Lissa asked in disbelief as I crashed through the trees towards her and Luster, who nervously took a step back. I didn't blame her. I probably looked like a madman, with twigs and leaves in my hair and a crazed look in my eyes as the cops chased me around one of Chicago's most iconic monuments. "What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" I asked, glancing over my shoulder at the officers, who were debating about which direction I could have gone once I got in the woods. I had at least a minute or two tops before they found me again.

"I was just going for a walk when they closed down the place," Lissa said, reaching down and gently stroking Luster's head to calm the unicorn down. "I wasn't sure what to do, but they didn't seem to notice me, so I decided to just hang out in here until the whole thing was over. It's very nice in the trees - no distractions. Then I found this little cutie here, and I couldn't just leave the poor thing stranded in the middle of the forest, right?" Luster took a step closer to Lissa, ignoring me. I tried to ignore the pain in my heart. I felt horrible about what I did.

"Lissa, you have to listen to me," I said hurriedly as I heard sounds that meant that the cops had finally decided to divide and conquer the forest. "This unicorn is from Equestria, and she somehow ended up in Chicago and found me, and I took her in, but I didn't tell her that I knew about her world, and then she found out about it all on her own, and then she got really mad at me, and I feel really bad about it, but she ran away and got seen and now the cops are chasing her down and probably want to bring her to a lab and start dissecting her to find out how she works, so I have to get her home, so can you please help me?" I wasn't planning on talking about Equestria or my obsession for it, but desperate times called for desperate measures, right? And I wasn't sure the secret would remain secret anymore, now that Lissa had found Luster.

"Equestria?" Lissa said, confused. "What in the world is that?"

"It's where I come from," Luster said quietly. "At least, that's what I figured out from what I saw at his house. There's a whole world of ponies like me, but he didn't tell me about them because he was selfish and wanted to keep me all for himself." She glared at me, and though I winced under the furious look she was giving me, part of me was glad that she was acknowledging me again.

"Chardy?" Lissa turned to me. "What do you have at your house that connects to this poor pony?"

I took a deep breath. "She's from My Little Pony," I said quietly.

Lissa looked shocked. "She - you - what?"

"I don't know how she got here, but that's where she came from," I continued, avoiding Lissa's face and instead focusing on Luster, hoping that she could see how sorry I was. But she stared at the ground, pawing at the grass gently with her hoof. "I... um, I have the whole series on DVD at my house, and Luster found it, and she found out about everything. I kept it from her because... yeah, what Luster said pretty much sums it up. I had always wanted something magical to happen to me, and then you came along, and I... I couldn't bear to lose you. But, Luster, I am really sorry. I just hope that you can forgive me."

"There he is!" I heard a voice say from behind me.

Lissa grabbed my arm. "We'll talk later. Now we just have to focus on getting you out of here."

I nodded and followed her as we wove through the trees until we managed to get out of the park and into an alleyway, Lissa tugging me the whole way to her apartment at the top of a skyscraper. I always loved Lissa's apartment, as it had walls made almost entirely of glass, allowing for an unobstructed view of the city that always calmed me down. But now, as I anxiously paced the entire length of the apartment, there was no calming me down.

"Wait, so let me get this straight," Lissa said. "You're a brony, and this is your biggest secret ever, and you didn't think to tell me?"

"I thought you hated bronies," I mumbled. "I mean, since they're fans of a show for kids and all."

Lissa sighed. "Chardy, you big idiot, you," she said, shaking her head. "I love you no matter what you like. And I'm sorry if you thought I wouldn't. But can we focus on the problem at hand? How do we get this Luster pony back to wherever it was that she came from - Equestria? Yeah, that. Can she do magic?"

"I can do magic," Luster said quietly. She really liked Lissa and wouldn't leave her side. Her horn lit up and she lifted up the couch that the two of them were sitting on, floated it over next to me, and set it down. The look on Lissa's face was extremely meme-worthy. If the situation wasn't so serious, I would have laughed. But my current mood was not one that could be easily amused.

"I'm not a magic expert," I said. "It's not like Hasbro made a magic guide to sell along with show guides and all that."

Lissa sighed and stood up, hunting around her apartment for something. She came back with a notebook and a pen and handed them to me. "Start writing down everything you know about Equestrian magic," she said, the look on her face so serious that my spirits lifted enough for me to almost laugh, as I remembered the whole thing about Equestrian magic in the Equestria Girls movies and specials.

A half-hour, Lissa was tracking the police's progress through the streets below on her balcony while me and Luster compromised a list of all the rules of magic. Luster didn't look too happy about being separate from Lissa, and she looked even less thrilled about having to work with me, but Lissa gave her some strawberries to munch on, and she seemed to have forgiven me, so by the time the police came to the block Lissa's apartment was on, we had already begun to create a spell.

My spell knowledge was lacking, but I knew that you could say the words out loud or inside your head, and you had to envision clearly what you wanted to happen, and the words of the spell had to be related to whatever you were trying to do (obviously).

"Uh, the police are coming to search the building," Lissa said nervously. "Chardy, you might want to hurry up with that spell."

"I think we've got it," I said. "Just a moment..."

"Chardy," someone whispered. I thought it was Lissa, but it turned out to be Luster. She was toying with a strawberry between her hooves and looking uncomfortable. "I just wanted to say... I understand what you did. I didn't like it, but it made sense. And I'm sorry I ran out on you. I was just so angry with everything, and it was all so overwhelming, finding out where I'm from and all that. And I forgive you. I just wanted to let you know that before I... you know, before I leave."

I nodded. "I'm really sorry, Luster."

"I know." She placed her hoof on my hand and smiled at me.

"Uh, guys? Police two floors below us," Lissa said anxiously. "And I really don't want to be caught with a criminal and a unicorn from another dimension, so please hurry up."

"Okay." I took a deep breath and let it out. "You ready?"

"Not even remotely." Luster looked down at the paper where we'd written our spell. "This doesn't seem like a particularly strong magic spell."

"Unless you've got a better idea," I said, standing back as she continued to study the page. With a sigh, she lit up her horn and a glow surrounded her. I stepped forward, suddenly wanting her to stop and stay here.

"Luster wait-"

There was a bright flash, and she disappeared.

Author's Note

Constructive criticism is appreciated. Thank you for reading!

Now What Do I Do With All These Strawberries?

Funny how you can spin a story to fit what you want if you have enough influence to make it sound logical.

For instance, that unicorn that everyone saw? A freak accident. Some crazy person (a.k.a. me) was building a unicorn robot that was so lifelike and had such an advanced artificial intelligence chip that it decided to go out and explore the world after a freak malfunction. This crazy person went to go track down his unicorn robot before it could destroy the whole world with the laser beams it shot from its horn, and the police who had stopped him from getting this out-of-control robot were kind of idiots, and so the crazy man was bailed out of prison by a generous benefactor (a.k.a. Lissa), and he was left with nothing but some DVDs, a broken unicorn robot, and a whole bunch of strawberries to remind him of the experience.

I finished binge-watching the whole series again, and the moment Luster Dawn came onscreen in The Last Problem, my eyes started tearing up. I still couldn't believe she was gone. Our whole adventure had been reduced to nothing but a crazy guy chasing a robot.

All in all, I was still impressed Lissa managed to pull that off. But she hurried out into the streets where the press was gathered around the Bean and started screaming that she had seen an insane man chasing after a malfunctioning unicorn robot to protect the world. The press ate up her every word as she went farther and farther into crazy details that never actually happened. Lissa reminded me that, if a rumor was more interesting than the truth, people will act like the rumor is the truth.

I was now regarded by society as a madman, but it was okay, because I got plenty of space at the grocery store, and only Gill would provide me with any service. But it was okay. I told Gill the truth about what happened, and he seemed to pity me. He offered to lend me some money until I could get a job, or put in a good word for me if I wanted to work there with him, to which I accepted. I start restocking the shelves on Monday, and I'll finally be able to get some more income.

Someone knocked on the door. I went through my usual hide-everything-pony-under-my-bed routine and opened the door to find Lissa standing on the porch.

Holding a box of strawberries.

"Lissa?" I asked. "What are you doing here?"

She held up the box of strawberries, and I noticed that there was a tag attached to it. It fluttered in the breeze, and I couldn't see it properly, but I had a feeling of what was on it.

"Come inside," I decided.

The tag had a picture of a sun setting across a stretch of water, and I immediately recognized it. "That's Luster Dawn's cutie mark," I said, fingering the tiny card between my fingers.

"What?" Lissa asked, confused. I reminded myself that, while she was more open to things that were pony-related, she didn't know everything about the world with which we had just interfered.

"Sorry," I said. "A cutie mark is a mark on a pony's flank that represents their special talent and their destiny. They're usually always metaphorical, and the symbols usually mean more than meets the eye. Like, for instance, Luster Dawn is the protege of Twilight Sparkle, the ruler of Equestria, which means that when Twilight retires, Luster will probably take over. Her cutie mark is a rising sun, like at dawn, which means that, when Equestria sees dark times, she'll help bring the light of friendship back to the land."

Lissa blinked. "I'm just going to take your word for it. Um, do you have anything... pony here? Like, what did Luster find that made her run off like that?"

I opened the card and read what was inside out loud: "Dear Chardy and Lissa, thank you for helping me get back home, and thank you for the adventures we've had. As soon as I returned to Equestria, I remembered everything, but I miss your world. Maybe I can find a way back. In the meantime, here's something to compensate for everything I ate."

"Chardy," Lissa said softly, putting a hand on my shoulder. "You didn't answer my question."

I sighed. It was only a matter of time before Lissa found out about my pony stash, just like it had only been a matter of time before she found out about my pony obsession. I led her into my room and slid the mattress off my bed. My fingers thumbed the word pony into the lock, and opened the lid. Lissa came next to me and let out a soft sound of surprise as she stood next to me.

"Chardy..." She picked up the DVD for Season 1 and studied the cover. "I'm still kind of hurt that you didn't tell me."

"I was embarrassed, I guess," I said, rubbing the back of my neck. "I didn't really want you to know because I thought you would make fun of me. But... yeah, I should have told you. I'm sorry."

"I would never make fun of you," Lissa said passionately, taking my hand. "You could show up to a formal dinner in a Cinderella costume and I wouldn't make fun of you." She leaned her head against my shoulder. "You know why?"

"Because you love me?"

"Because I love you." Lissa gave me a kiss and walked back towards the living room with my DVD.

"Wait!" I said. "Where are you going?"

Lissa held up Season 1. "To watch this," she said, like it was obvious.

I blinked, shocked. My girlfriend, who a few days ago I thought would have publicly shamed me and broken up with me because I liked My Little Pony was now completely willing to give it a fair shot. I didn't know what to think. "W-what?" I stammered.

"I think I've been judging this show pretty unfairly," Lissa struggled to admit. She never liked to say that she was wrong. "I thought it would be boring and childish and lame. But I trust you, and if you like this show, then I think that means it must have at least some redeeming qualities. So... I don't know. After our little adventure, I saw that Luster was a decent character, and that this Equestria has some pretty good lore and story behind it. So... I think I'll give it a shot. You coming?"

I nodded and closed the lid on my bed safe while Lissa got the DVD set up. I took the box of strawberries that Luster had sent us and washed them in the sink. I didn't know where those had been. What if there were some kind of Equestrian sickness in the void that things went into when they were teleported? I popped one into my mouth and felt a smile curling at my lips. They were better than any Gill could have sold me.

"Chardy!" Lissa called from the living room. "You coming or what?"

"Just a sec!" I called back. I dumped the strawberries into a plastic bowl and carried them into the living room and snuggled next to Lissa on the couch as the first episode began to play.

"Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria..."

Author's Note

Sorry this took me so long to finish!

Constructive criticism is appreciated. Thank you for reading!

Where Good People Reside...

Needless to say, I was not surprised when Luster cleared the whole box of strawberries by the end of the day. And it was a large one. Now I was scared for financial reasons. I couldn't always count on Gill to pay for Luster's extreme eating habits, and there was no way I was asking my brother for some cash.

My parents were just barely getting by, with just the tiniest bit of money left from each year that they saved up for leisure purposes that were so expensive that they only got to do this every five years. I couldn't deprive them of their one opportunity to chill on a private island at a five-star hotel just because I had a strawberry-obsessed pony in my house, which they would never believe.

Of course, there was always my girlfriend... but I couldn't let her know about my obsession. So I was in a stalemate.

For now, though, it was time for my daily cruise-through-news-channels-and-find-something-interesting-to-entertain-me marathon. Sometimes I would skip this and watch My Little Pony instead, but now that Luster was here, I couldn't risk her finding out and running away.

Luster insisted that we stay on Fox News, and I let her, staring out the window while she continued to yell about "idiotic politicians" and "stupid newscasters" and things like that. It was all pretty entertaining. I ended up getting up and going to my room to set up my laptop in the living room to record her (I had sold my cell phone last month). Maybe I could post it on Youtube and earn a little something. Goodness knows I definitely needed it, and no one would be likely to notice; they would just think it was another one of those Ponies in Real Life videos that were so popular.

Because I didn't want Luster to become too fixated on eating only strawberries for every meal, for dinner that night, I ordered pizza. I always got the newspapers and magazines that had coupons for restaurants and take-out places, and now was the time to use one that I had been holding on to for a while: a buy one, get one free large pizza with two toppings from Dominoes. I had never used it because I never thought I could eat two large pizzas in a few days unless I ate them for every meal, but I had a feeling Luster could.

I placed the order online and immediately set out to the store afterward to pick it up. The approximate time it took for me to walk to the Dominoes closest to me was about a half-hour away which was the same amount of time it took for the pizzas to get ready. Of course, it was still raining, so I was forced to take a plastic bag to cover the pizza boxes so that the pies inside wouldn't get soaked.

Luster was still glued to the TV screen. I guess that there wasn't a very good equivalent to television in Equestria, but still, she lived in a world of magic! Certainly, technology paled in comparison to that! I had to remind myself that she didn't remember Equestria at all, and this probably seemed like magic to her.

She lifted her nose into the air when I walked in, feasting on the haunting smell of fresh pepperoni and cheese pizza, straight from the oven. "What... is... that... amazing... smell?" She slid off the couch and slowly trotted up to me, her mouth watering and her eyes wide. I smiled at her reaction.

"Pizza. Welcome to the amazing world of fast food." I set one of the boxes on the table and set the other in the fridge, to save for later. Luster used her magic to open the box, releasing a tidal wave of pizza smells. She sighed contentedly before greedily grabbing a slice and swallowing it whole, pepperoni and all.

Not to be outdone, I also hurriedly grabbed a piece and shoved it in my mouth. This went on for some time until Luster downed two pieces at the same time. I gaped at her; her mouth was practically unhinged like a snake's. I wondered how in the world ponies were able to get their mouths open so wide. Then I remembered Pinkie Pie. And I stopped wondering.

Obviously, Luster finished the pie and ate more pieces than me. I relented and brought an ancient tub of moose tracks ice cream out of my freezer that I hadn't touched in a week. Thankfully, the frozen treat was still edible and still tasted amazing. Both of us just grabbed spoons and ate straight out of the carton.

She struck up a conversation about what she'd seen on TV while I was gone.

"So, there were some clips of riots going on about how 'Black Lives Matter, although I'm not exactly sure how a life could be black..."

I explained that there were some people with dark skin tones, and they were being persecuted and abused, so people were going on strike to try and change this. Luster nodded understandingly.

"Got it. Anyway, why couldn't they just, like, go to the president and ask him to tell the people being mean to stop being mean? Seriously, a lot of problems that they have could be solved with a simple chat. And then there was a bunch of talk about an election, and honestly, none of the candidates sound very promising. I mean, they're basically just going to try and rule the world with an iron fist and make it no fun for anyone. Seriously, who would even vote for them? It makes no sense."

So I explained how a presidential candidate would promise to do things so that people would vote for them. Sometimes they would follow through with their promises, sometimes they wouldn't. Then I had to explain how the government worked, and how politics worked, and how there were a bunch of different countries out there ruled by their own kinds of government.

Luster sighed and stuffed another bite of ice cream into her mouth. Once again, I shoved down my questions about how this applied to the laws of physics and things. "This place is so depressing. Except for one thing. I saw this story about how this family lost their house to a flood, and a bunch of people came together and raised enough money for their house to be fixed and refurnished and to pay taxes for the next few years. I mean, isn't that cool? For every bad person there is, there's a good person, doing the right thing, to counter that. How many good people do you think live near here?"

I shook my head. "Good people are rare. You don't find a lot of them around here."

"Or... maybe the good people are everywhere, doing acts of kindness so small that other people don't notice them, but it makes a big difference to the people they help. Doing something good doesn't have to be as extreme as someone else buying five boxes of strawberries for you."

I stared. "H-how did you-?"

"Seriously?" Luster waved her hoof around the room, gesturing to the scarcity of furniture and the run-down state of the room. "I'm not dumb."

I gave up. There was no way I could hide anything from this pony.

"Like I was saying, small acts of kindness are more than enough. Good people are everywhere. I think people just aren't willing to look."

There was no way I could argue with that logic. I watched as she scraped the bottom of the ice cream container with her spoon to get the last bits and felt a strange appreciation for having this pony in my life.

Author's Note

Constructive criticism is appreciated. Thank you for reading!
Inspired by My Little Dashie.

Ever Wondered What It's Like To Go On A Rescue Mission?

Since Luster was last seen at the Bean, I thought it would be most logical to go there and pick up on a more specific trail to follow. Under normal circumstances, I would have walked, but the emergency clouded out all caution I had on spending money. As soon as I stepped out of the house, I waved down a cab and told the driver to take me to the Bean. He chuckled.

"Haven't seen the news, kid? The Bean's crowded with authorities. Police are trying to find out about the unicorn scandal that happened there, trying to decide if it was a prank or actually real. You sure you want to go?"

"Yes!" I said, although the bit about the authorities worried me. How many people would be there? I shook myself, fixating my mind on one single thought: Luster was in danger, and I needed to go rescue her.

The driver rolled his eyes, muttered something about crazy people, and stepped on the gas, propelling the cab down the road. I stared out the window, watching the brightly lit signs advertising products above stores, watching the people, casually strolling down the street, chatting with their friends, as if nothing was wrong. My blood boiled with anger, anger that they would ignore everything that was going on, disregard it as nothing, when it was the most important thing in the world.

The cab skidded to a halt, the driver having slammed the brakes to avoid hitting the barriers that had been placed on the road to keep anyone from going any further. Police officers came over, and the cab driver rolled down the window to speak with them.

"Evening," the driver said to the two officers.

One of them nodded. "You can't go any further," he said. "This area's under inspection by the federal government. They want to find more about that unicorn who was spotted here a few minutes ago; want to find it before it gets away."

"You hear that, kid?" The cab driver turned to me, his eyebrows raised. "Bean's closed. Guess you'll have to find some other tourist attraction for your scrapbooks."

"First of all," I said, my anger reaching a boiling point (which almost never happened), "I live here. Second, I don't scrapbook. Third, I lost something, and I think it might be at the Bean. So, if you officers would be kind enough to let me look..."

The second officer shook his head. "Sorry, kid. Nobody goes in until the investigation's over. Your... thing will still be there afterwards."

"NO!" I shouted, attracting the attention of other officers and some shoppers and tourists on the streets. They all looked at me with strange looks, but I didn't care. I was usually a quiet person who hated being the center of attention, but right now, my rage blocked everything else out. I didn't care what they thought. I didn't care what they could do to me. I was going to find Luster Dawn and keep her away from these goons.

I got out of the car and stepped up to the first officer, my furious face an inch from his. "Listen to me," I growled, my voice deathly quiet. "I lost someone extremely important to me because of my own mistakes, and now she's running around in the real world with no idea how it works, and she's probably scared out of her mind, and the fact that you guys are chasing her down isn't making it any better. And I'm going to find her and you guys can get back to more important matters like all the people walking literally right in front of you who refuse to wear masks when they go shopping."

The police looked to the shoppers, and, sure enough, at least half of them scrambled around in their bags to pull out a grimy disposable mask which they shoved on and shuffled along, avoiding the gaze of the police officers.

While they were distracted, I pushed past them, jumping over the barriers. I imagined me heroically leaping over the fences, landing perfectly on my feet, running into the heart of the square, and Luster would come running out of her hiding place and would leap into my arms, and we would both have a lovely moment where we apologized profusely to each other, and then we went back home and binge-watched My Little Pony for the rest of our days while the government paid me a generous amount of cold, hard cash for getting this problem off there hands.

Obviously, it didn't work like that.

First of all, I tripped over the barrier and landed on my face, so it was far from the heroic entrance I had imagined. I also lost valuable time, because now the police had figured out what had happened, and they didn't look too happy about it. "Hey, kid!" one of them shouted. "Get back here!"

I scrambled to my feet, running as fast as I could to gain enough ground to search for Luster. I had been walking to just about every place I'd ever been for the past few years, so I was in pretty good shape, but these police guys were better. I had to duck and dodge and slip into and out of the groves of trees at least a dozen times before I could take refuge under one of the picnic tables, my drab clothing helping me to camouflage.

From my little hideout, I saw the police officers confiding with the people from the FBI or something; the people who had come to do the investigation for Luster. I shrank back into the shadows, but the sound of a twig snapping (cliché, much?) made me turn towards the forest. Err, grove of trees. I guess that was the closest Chicago could get to a forest.

Between the trees, I could clearly see Luster Dawn, talking with a human.

My breath stopped. I nearly choked.

The human was vaguely familiar... until my heart froze in my chest, and I was sure I was about to die of shock. The human wasn't just vaguely familiar, I knew her. And, in all my life, I would never have guessed that my girlfriend, the hater of all things pony, would be casually chatting with Luster Dawn from My Little Pony, hidden in the woods in the middle of a restricted area that was swarming with government officials.

"There he is!" came a voice, loud and clear. I turned to see a policeman, pointing an accusing finger at me, several dozen other officials behind him. All of their faces were contorted with anger.

Luster and Lissa looked up, startled, as I bolted out from under the table and into the trees, having no idea what would happen when I inevitably got caught.

Author's Note

Constructive criticism is appreciated. Thank you for reading!
Inspired by My Little Dashie.