Contrast

Chapters

Unresolved Conflicts
Cracked Barriers
Opening Up
Navigating The Bumpy Trail of Friendship

Unresolved Conflicts

There was a bright flash of lighting as the heavy rains poured down onto the moonlit forest.

Our dad had taken us out for some late night hunting, but things went south faster than he ever could’ve imagined.

“I-I can’t use a shotgun!! I don’t want to accidentally shoot you!!” Mom yelled, as she looked at the black bear that was looming over Dad with horror.

“Damnit, don’t worry about me!!” Dad choked, as he was crushed under the weight of the bear standing over him. “Just kill this damn thing!!”

After dad said that, mom aimed the shotgun at the bear, her hands shaking as she stood still for a few seconds, her eyes radiating fear, before she shut her eyes and ran back to the truck to get a pistol.

By the time she came back, she was too late.

Dad was gone, his body so mangled that it was barely recognizable.

I just sat beside him, my eyes wide. My brain was still comprehending what had just happened.

My sister Avianna had tried to help my dad fight the bear with a spear while mom was gone, but she wasn’t enough to stop it from killing him, despite her best efforts, and she was only able to drive it away after it had finished him off.

My mom ran to our dad and fell to her knees, her eyes filled with tears as she collapsed on top of him.

I looked to my sister as she looked to our fallen father, then to mom, as she gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, her eyes brimming with fury.

Normally, I’d try to help her and calm her down, but I was going through my own emotional storm right now, as what had just happened was now finally catching up with me, as tears steadily began streaming down my face, before I hugged my mother tightly, shutting my eyes.

After a few moments, I opened my blurry, tear filled eyes and looked at my sister again.

She was holding dad, too, but it looked like she went out of her way to be farther from mom as she did so, as she looked at her with an intense glare.

My sister’s face of intense rage is still burned into my memory even to this day.

But just then, I was snapped out of my thoughts of the past, and brought back to what was happening now, as Frank, our school’s worst bully, was trying to take my seat on the subway train we were taking to school, knocking me out of my thoughts.

“Hey, James!” He said mockingly. “Thanks for keeping my seat warm, I’ll be taking it now if you don’t mind.”

“Euhhhh, this jackass,” I thought to myself.

I hid my defiant annoyance as I stood up and got out of my seat. The moment my seat was open, he slid into it, nearly bumping into me, and immediately put his arms behind his head, making himself comfortable.

I held onto one of the vertical bars next to me while I was standing, as I avoided eye contact with Frank.

“It wouldn’t have been worth the trouble, anyways.”

When we finally reached our stop, I stepped out of the subway train, as Frank intentionally bumped into me, based on his smug expression when he looked back at me, before I walked out of the subway tunnel and into our school, where I saw my sister in one of the main hallway’s, getting her things from her locker.

“Sup, Avianna,” I said, lightly punching her shoulder. “Ready for the history test we have in first hour?”

Avianne sighed when I said that, which made me feel a bit bad about seemingly having reminded her.

“Nope, I’m not good with history,” she said, as she looked at me and smiled ever so slightly. “I totally forgot about that test.”

“It’ll be fine, it’s not hard to keep a good grade in Mr. Jawson’s class,” I said assuringly.

We then talked about the newest issue of Superman: The Golden Cape. It’s a comic series we both love reading for the shining, strong superhero who’s always there when people need him, even in their darkest moments.

By the time we got into our first hour class, I’d already told her in the hall that I went and bought the latest issue in the comic book store yesterday and already read it, and that I wouldn’t spoil anything for her.

Before we went to our separate seating, though, she playfully grabbed the collar of my shirt and made me promise to let her read it later, and I nodded, which made her smile as she let go of me and dusted my shirt off, before she went to sit in her seat, and I went to sit in mine.

It was nice being around Avianna, as she was the only person in school I really trusted enough to frequently talk to, being my sister and all.

I want to improve on opening up to other’s, but it’s hard. I just wish I could GET BETTER, like the popular people in school do, and like the happy people in life are, with their multiple friends and outward personalities… but it’s really difficult to change.

I enjoy my time alone, and while I do need SOME socializing, it’s easier said than done, at least for me. But seeing how happy other people are makes me want to be more like them, despite how different our personalities are.

I was about to open my new comic book to reread some of it, as Avianna couldn’t see from the complete other side of the classroom where she was seated, before a history test paper was dropped on my desk, making me sigh internally as I put my comic back in my backpack and pulled my pencil out of my pocket.

Throughout the test, I couldn’t focus for a few reasons. One of them was my lack of studying the night before, and the other reason was because the thoughts of Superman’s daring adventures were still replaying in my head, despite how much I tried to silence them.

I have trouble focusing on schoolwork at times like this. There isn’t really a school subject I would say that I “like”, but my brain still tries to keep me entertained in other ways all the same.

As the back of my mind was thinking about Superman’s intense battle with Batman, something that I could barely stop, I filled out the questions that seemed correct, and guessed on the questions that were unnecessarily specific information that would be useless to know in real life.

What happened at the Battle of Yorktown?

C. George Washington surrendered to General Cornwallis

Maybe I should’ve taken the time to actually study last night, but in my defense, the Superman comic I read last night was REALLY good!!

After I finished with the history test, the hour ended shortly after, and me and Avianna went our separate ways.

For the next few hours that passed, I mostly just mopingly fought through my unengaging school assignments and used my free time to continue rereading my comic, taking extra care to read it in the seats in the corners of my classes, so no other potential fans of the series would see it and get spoiled, and probably also so I wouldn’t be in the center of class or anything.

One thing about me is that since I usually barely talk with anyone in my classes day to day, my brain tries to make me “connect” to others in a different way, and it makes it quite easy for me to kind of “sense” other random people’s emotions just by being around them, even if I don’t want to, and it usually ends with me doing small, subtle things to make others feel better, like holding open a door and moving out of someone’s way, stuff like that. It’s sort of how I’m mentally built, I guess.

I’m sure that nearly everyone else has that kind of common courtesy, but it just feels a bit different for me, and it’s hard to explain why.

Whether I partially got these senses from my mother, or because it’s mostly just how my brain has adapted to my years of comfort in my own company, I’ll never know, but it’s sort of a blessing and a curse. But I’m glad to be more like her in that way.

When mom was still with us, before we moved in with our grandparents, Avianna used to see mom’s kindness as weakness, which she still does today as far as I know, but I think mom’s compassion was powerful.

Although mom would sometimes spend her time catering more to me rather than Avianna when we were younger, which is probably the reason Avianna was so close to our dad rather than her before we lost him, I still thought of her as a sweet, generous woman, who was kind to everyone she met, family, friend, or mere acquaintance.

As I walked through the hallway after my fourth class has just ended, I stopped in place when I saw Avianna being picked on my Frank and four of his buddies.

In addition to being taught how to hunt by our dad, Avianna was also taught some basic self defense, but this many people at once were just too many for even her to handle alone.

Frank and his thugs were laughing as they pushed Avianna around and were touching her in a… less than comfortable way, before she looked at me.

“James!! I could use a hand here, little bro!!! These punks really want an ass whooping, and we can give it to them!!” She yelled to me.

I took a few steps closer to her, but froze as Frank looked back at me with an intense glare.

“Stay out of this, James, unless you want your nose broken,” he said dryly.

I stood there, motionless for a few seconds, before I looked around quickly.

“I-I… I’ll get a teacher!!” I blurted, as I ran down the hall to Mrs. Joosey’s room, which wasn’t far.

Frank laughed as Avianna looked at me with intensity.

“Wha-No! James! Come back here!! Please…,” she yelled, her voice trailing off at the last word.

My eyes were watery, as I cursed myself internally, before I darted into Mrs. Joosey’s room and told her what was happening.

By the time we were back in the hall, Frank and his thugs were already gone, and Avianna was laying on the floor, with a few facial bruises and a black eye.

Mrs. Joosey then got Avianna back on her feet to take her to the nurses office.

When they passed me on the way there, Avianna looked at me with intense anger and fury, which brought back flashes of the night we lost dad, which according to Avianna, was because mom was too weak to stand her ground in the heat of the moment.

Her expression was like a knife in the chest, as the thought of the memory only added to my downcast emotions, as I stood there, tears rolling down my face, even after they were out of view.

I was about ten minutes late for my next class, and once I got there, the whole hour was sort of a blur, as all I could think about was my cowardice for failing to defend my sister, the ONE person left in this world who I truly felt connected to, and who I ran away from when she needed my help.

For once, I wasn’t sensing any emotions around me beside my own, since I was using all of my energy as I was mentally berating myself harshly.

“DAMNIT!! SERIOUSLY?!? SHE’S YOU’RE SISTER!!! AND YOU BAILED ON HER!!!…. I’m such a goddamn coward…”

It took a lot of mental strength to stop myself from sobbing in that moment, but I had to keep my composure, around all of these damn people, who I didn’t want to make uncomfortable by having them see me cry.

After an eternity of mental sorrow, when the hour ended, I headed to lunch, dried tear marks still quite visible on my face, as I dreaded the thought of running into Avianna.

I was a coward… and I didn’t deserve to be around her.

Ever since we lost dad, Avianna has always been there for me when I needed her. She helps me with the school assignment’s I struggle with in the best way that she can, and she doesn’t let any bully, even Frank, get away with picking on me.

I just wish I could’ve been the same kind of person to her…

After I got my lunch, I looked around and saw Avianna sitting at a table near the edge of the cafeteria, all by herself.

My thoughts raced over what I should do.

“I-I don’t want to run into Frank again!”

“Damnit, if Frank shows up again, we’ll give him all we’ve got!! It’s the LEAST we could do for her now!!“

“Eughh… I… I have to make things right with her, otherwise we’re going to avoid each other all week. I don’t want to leave her like this.”

Once I made my way over to her table, I slowly set my tray down and took a seat, before I scratched the back of my neck awkwardly.

After some mental contemplation, I gathered what little courage I had and looked at Avianna.

“Avianna?… I’m really sorry,” I said quietly.

She stayed silent, as she looked away from me, at the wall.

“Please, Avianna, I want to be strong like you… but I’m just… not,” I said, my voice becoming a bit more audible. “You’re an amazing sister, and I look up to you. I’m so sorry if I remind you of mom. I know you two weren’t exactly close after we lost dad.”

Avianna turned her head to look at me. Her expression was clearly angry, but it had a hint of sadness, too.

“Sorry doesn’t fix everything, James. Just leave me alone,” she said, as she stood up and headed for the cafeteria exit doors.

I stood up, as I was about to follow her, before I stopped myself, and slowly sat back down, before I laid my head down on the table.

“She needs time to herself. At least I told her sorry I am.”

I lifted my head back up as I looked to the exit doors.

“Not that it matters much. The best thing I can do for her right now is give her time alone like she said.”

I then stood up and threw away my lunch before I’d even started eating it, as this emotional rollercoaster hadn’t helped my appetite in the slightest, before I went to the nearby men’s bathroom to clean myself up.

I sighed to myself loudly as I looked in the mirror, at my pitiful reflection, before I washed my face with water, and heard the door to the bathroom open.

I looked to the side and saw Frank walking in, by himself, looking at me with a confident grin.

“So, I assume that you and Ave had a bit of a falling out, huh?” He laughed.

I blinked rapidly, as I clenched my fists.

“This… bastard has the gall to tease me after I failed to protect Avianna. He deserves to be punished…”

He then put his hand on my shoulder, patting me uncomfortably.

“But hey, at least now she finally see’s you for what you really are.”

I turned my head and looked at him directly, my eyes radiating fury as he spoke.

“A pathetic, quiet little boy, who just scared without his mo-“

He was interrupted as I just couldn’t hold my emotions in any more and socked him in the nose, causing him to take a few steps back, before he looked back at me and smiled.

“Heh, wow! Never thought you’d have the guts to even try nailing a single punch,” he said, stepping closer to me, as his smile grew more devilish. “You really want to do this?! Here?! Now?!”

I didn’t respond as I looked at him angrily and held my fists up, standing my ground.

He laughed for a second, before he quickly swung his fist at me, too quickly for me to respond to in time, as he slammed me in the side of the head, the force causing my head to smack into the sink, before I fell to the ground.

My vision was blurry, as he grabbed my shirt by the collar and gritted his teeth, as he punched me repeatedly.

Over, and over, and over, and over again, as his hand was being coated with more and more of my blood, before the corners of my vision were becoming a void of black.

Before my vision was completely overtaken by black, I noticed that Frank had stopped punching me and was looking at something behind me that was glowing a bright blue and purple, his eyes wide.

He then let go of my shirt collar and took a few steps back, before he ran out of the bathroom, at least I assumed, based on how little I could see, before I shakily lifted my hands to the sink next to me and very slowly pulled myself back onto my feet, and turned around.

I didn’t know if it was because Frank had hit me too hard or what, but this looked like some kind of a large floating crack, sort of like cracked glass, as the outlines were glowing blue and purple.

Before I had the chance to try to comprehend what the strange anomaly was, it opened widely, showing a void of white, before I was suddenly pulled into it, as the force caused me to fully black out, before I shut my eyes.

Author's Note

James will be in the world of Equestria in the next chapter!! This chapter was mostly just meant to describe our main character’s personality, so stay tuned for more coming soon!!
(Also quick disclaimer: this story is NOT meant to make anyone feel bad about not having friends, or being introverted(I’m like that and I WROTE this story!), it’s just showing pain from our main character, James, who WILL learn how to be happier with himself over the course of the story, as he evolves, so hang tight for that!!)

Cracked Barriers

When I opened my eyes, after who knows how long, I saw that I wasn’t in the men’s bathroom anymore.

I was soaking wet, laying in a small pond looking up at a bright blue sky, the gentle sunlight beating down on my skin as a cooling breeze brushed past me.

The blinding light made me hiss in pain, before I briefly tried to focus on my surroundings.

When I could barely see anything around me with my blurred vision, I weakly swam out of the pond, before I stood up.

I shivered as I hugged myself with my hands, as I looked around and started to panic when nothing looked even remotely familiar.

“Av-AVIANNA!!” I yelled loudly, before I suddenly got lightheaded and fell to my knees.

“This, this can’t be real.”

“I don’t like this…”

I seemed to be in a disturbingly realistic hallucination. That seemed like the only possible explanation, aside from the possibility of me having actually died during the fight and this being some form of afterlife. But I was much more comfortable with the first thought.

It’s not like there were any pretty countrysides near New York, so it’s not like someone brought me out here. Or even if someone did, why would they?

Even though I was going with the assumption that this was all in my head, I was still terrified just by how real it felt, and throughout my panic I could hardly even form coherent thoughts in my head.

I just wished that Avianna were here, and that she could somehow help me, in this strange, unfamiliar place that I was in… a-a hallucination? Afterlife? until I thought of a breathing technique that she had taught me about a year or two ago.

Avianna had always known that I was the kind of person to freak out about REALLY small stuff in life. It was easy for my whole mood to be thrown off just because of one awkward encounter with someone else, or because I’d take someone else’s remark on my shirt too personally or something like that, so this whole situation was prompting a nasty mental breakdown.

I’ve been working at improving my stress, but I still have my anxious moments, like anyone else.

Her technique used to really help me with giving speeches in front of my classes at school, and other stressful moments like that, so I tried doing it now.

I laid down on my back on the soft grass and shut my eyes, as I recited the steps of the technique in my head, in Avianna’s voice.

“Ok… just forget all of your stress little bro… think of something better… something calming, and take slow… soft… breaths. In… and out… in… and out… in… and out…”

I repeated this in my head for a few moments, as I pictured myself laying on a sunny beach, with the sensations of sand under my back, as I thought of the sounds of gentle waves splashing, until my breathing had slowed and my heart rate had calmed down somewhat, before opened my eyes and stood up, looking around at my surroundings, and being sure to try to keep my breathing under control as I did so.

My vision was still blurry, but it was getting a bit better, and I could make out that I was in some kind of… farm, with lots of apple trees.

As I looked around, I nearly jumped when I heard feminine voices coming from beyond a nearby hill.

I smiled, as I ran in the direction of the voices, before I got to the top of the hill and looked down to where the voices where coming from, only to see what was quite literally the last thing I’d expected to see.

There were two weirdly colored horses… ponies it seemed, based on their smaller size, talking to each other.

This was… beyond unnatural, but even without their unusual colors, they really didn’t look like any normal ponies I’d seen before.

For starters, they had unnaturally large eyes, that shined in a strangely human kind of way, and they had little symbols on their butts, which was quite unusual.

What seemed to be the weirdest thing though, was that these two… creatures, were talking to each other. Actually TALKING!!

I took a step back, my breath getting slightly faster, as I was unsure if I even wanted to get involved in… whatever this was, before I thought of Avianna, and how I didn’t want to just back away from my fears like how I did with her.

I then stopped myself from backing up, and slowed my breathing, as I looked to the two creatures with as much determination as I could muster, before I took slow, shaky steps forward as I walked toward them, as they continued talking, their voices becoming easier to hear the closer I got.

“Look, ah’m glad the princess sent you here to test this spark of yer’s, Lucky,” the light brown creature said in a southern accent. “But just try to control it a bit better. It just seems kind of random.”

“It’s not random, Applejack!” The bright purple one responded. “I know my spark is connected to ponies I can help, I just need to get the hang of it…”

Their voices were becoming even more audible as I got closer, and passed a few apple trees, which made me wonder if I should hide behind one of them.

“I should hide… I don’t like this!”

“NO!! Just c-calm down, these… things seem to have conscious thought, maybe they can help!”

“…Okay, I’ve got no choice, the best I can hope for is that these two… creatures can at least help me find out where I am.”

When I was closer to them, but still far enough away that I could run if I needed to, I cleared my throat politely, which caused them both to look in my direction, their eyes widening when they saw me.

“Umm, hello? …I think I’m lost, could one of you please tell me where I am?” I asked nervously.

After a few moments of them merely staring at me, they looked at each other, before the light brown one stepped closer to me, as the purple one looked down at the floor, seemingly in deep thought.

“Uhhh… sure, partner! You’re in Sweet Apple Acres, my cozy little apple farm here in Ponyville!!” She said politely.

I raised an eyebrow, confused, until I shook my head and shifted my expression to something more polite.

“Ermm, Ponyville? I’m sorry, but I don’t understand… what is this place? And how are you… talking?”

She looked confused, before she looked back at the other purple creature, as the purple one’s eyes widened, as if she’d just realized something, before she looked at me.

The purple one then stepped forward and spoke.

“You… you don’t know? You’re in Equestria. I’ve never seen a creature like you, but you’ve lived here you’re whole life haven’t you?” She asked quickly.

I shook my head.

“No… I uhh, I used to live in New York.”

They tilted their heads, and I was worried by how much I was needing to specify.

“You know, New York city?”

They still looked confused, as my fear started too creep it’s way back into me.

“Whe-where am I?!” I asked quickly.

“We already told ya partner, you’re in Equestria,” the light brown one said.

I put my hands over my face a second later, as I sat down and laid down on my back.

“God, can this please just end? This hallucination feels WAY to real, and it’s VERY unsettling. Please God tell me I’m not dead… I can’t imagine what Avianna would feel…”

I got a bit distracted from my thoughts when I felt something… what felt like a hoof, on my shoulder.

I took my hands off of my face and looked to the purple creature who was laying next to me, looking at me with a worried, caring expression.

“You… you’re not from this world, are you?” She asked sadly.

I couldn’t think to do anything else but simply nod, which caused the purple pony to shut her eyes in what seemed to be sadness.

“I’m sorry, but I think it’s my fault that you’re here.”

My eyes widened as I sat up on my back and looked at her, as she opened her eyes to look back at me.

“And I don’t know if I can send you back. At least not yet…”

I raised an eyebrow, as I gave her a pleading look.

“Why not?” I asked.

She then stood up, and held out a hoof for me to grasp.

“Because I’m not experienced enough with my spark to fully control it, but I will be soon. I promise.”

I grabbed her hoof, as weird as it may have felt, as she helped pull me back onto my feet.

“What’s a spark? And how did you even bring me here?” I asked.

She opened her mouth to speak, before her gaze went from my eyes to the side of my head, as her eyes widened again.

“Sweet Celestia, you’re bleeding!!” She said worriedly.

After she said that I put my right hand to the side of my head, and was surprised when I saw quite a lot of blood on my fingers when I drew it back.

“Hold on, ah’ve got some bandages in the house!!” The brown one said, as she ran into a nearby farmhouse, and gestured for us to follow.

As we all entered the weirdly manmade looking farmhouse, I took a seat at a table in the kitchen, as the brown creature gave some bandages to the purple creature, who was in the seat next to mine inspecting the side of my head, and set a wet cloth down on the table.

The light brown pony then ran through the kitchen and opened the front door, before she looked back at us.

“Umm, I reckon I’ve got some chores to stay on top of,” she said. “Can you take care of him alone, Lucky?”

The purple pony looked back at her for a second and nodded confidently, before she looked back at the side of my head and somehow used on of her hooves to grab the wet rag next to her.

The light brown one then nodded back to her, and ran outside.

When the door shut, the purple one started inspecting my wound more deeply, using her hooves to gently maneuver me at different angles, before she gently rubbed the side of my head with the rag, which made me involuntarily hiss in pain.

“Sorry!! Sorry! I just… have to clean this wound…” she said, as she wiped the blood from the side of my head.

“…This is pretty bad. What happened to you?”

When she said that, my fist tightened in slight anger as I thought of the fight I had with Frank.

“I was in a fight with a bully, and he was pretty tough,” I said slowly.

“I can only imagine,” she said, as she moved her chair to be right in front of me, before she started wrapping a bandage around my head, whilst trying to keep it from blocking my eyes. “By the way, have you happened to have any temporary black spots on the outside of your field of vision, or had any blurry vision in general?”

I looked down at the table for a second before I nodded.

“Yeah… why?” I asked worriedly, afraid of what the answer would be.

The purple creature was silent for a few seconds, before she sighed lightly, and spoke again.

“Then I think you got a concussion, buddy.”

I was confused for a moment, but when I remembered how harshly Frank had slammed the side of my head into the bathroom sink, it made some sense.

“Sorry, I don’t know your name yet. Would you mind telling me?” She asked in a mind tone, as she finished with the first layer of bandages.

“My uhh… my name is James Falter,” I said, as I blushed slightly from the sheer kindness of her tone. “What’s yours?”

She smiled as she started applying the second layer.

“My name is Lucky Trail,” she said jubilantly.

I had to suppress a laugh, before I smiled at her, which caused her to smile back at me awkwardly.

“What?” She laughed.

“Nothing, nothing,” I said quickly. “It’s just, I’m not used to people having names like that… but I guess, you’re not really human are you?”

I then tapped the table we were next to with my finger awkwardly, as my expression darkened a little, before she stopped applying the bandages and looked at me directly, which made me stop, as I looked into her vibrant, cyan eyes.

“Hey buddy, it’ll be ok,” she said, smiling as she patted my shoulder with her hoof. “I will get you back home. That’s a promise.”

I smiled.

Even though she wasn’t human, this… pony… Lucky Trail, was really sweet. The last person I recall tending to any wounds I may have had in the past was my mother, before we lost her.

Avianna always had my back of course, but most of the time she wasn’t that… motherly. As far as I can tell, she mostly just wanted me to be able to take care of myself, as she would show me how to, without offering any general assistance aside from tips and advice.

Her method honestly wasn’t the easiest for me to follow.

I love Avianna and respect her ways of helping me grow, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss how mom used to take care of me, too, despite how childish that sounds.

Lucky then went back to applying the last layer of bandages, before she spoke again.

“But, if it’ll make you feel better, you could tell me some things about you’re world and I could tell you some things about mine? Would that help a little?” She asked, as she stopped applying the bandages briefly and tilted her head as she looked at me.

I nodded.

“Sure, I guess that would be nice,” I said.

I then told her some things about my world.

I told her about how humans are the dominant species, and the only species that can talk, among other things. And I also told her how I got here through something that looked like a crack in space and time.

When she took in what I’d said, she returned the favor and told me some things about this world.

She told me that I was in the lands of Equestria, a world filled with fantastical creatures and magic.

It almost sounded too bizarre to be true, but based on the fact that she was a talking pony telling me this, I was willing to believe it.

She also told me what ‘sparks’ are.

“The concept of a ‘spark’ was discovered a long time ago, but only recently have ponies been giving it so much attention,” Lucky said, as she finished wrapping the last layer of bandages around my head and walked to the kitchen sink, filling two cups up with water, before she sat in the chair next to mine and placed one cup next to me. “Princess Celestia even made a… sort of school, for ponies to find their sparks.”

She took a sip of her cup, and I did the same, before she shook her head and smiled shyly.

“Anyways, as far as I know, a spark is basically a pony’s innate deepest form of magic, or their true passion in life, manifesting itself in the form of a new magical capability that supports that passion.”

I looked at her curiously, before she got off of her seat for a moment and moved a bit to the side, showing me the symbol on the side of her flank, as I blushed.

“It’s similar to what cutie marks represent, except it’s a bit deeper, and can be a bit more powerful than a simple talent,” she said, before she sat back down to face me.

She then grinned slightly and looked up, before she raised her hooves up in the air.

“I mean, look at this!! I can create rifts between different places… and even entirely different world’s! I have magic, even though I’m not a unicorn!!” She said, her eyes shining joyously at those last words.

As if to accentuate her point, at that moment, a tiny purple and blue… ‘rift’ appeared in the air above us, opening and revealing what looked like the tall tree canopies of a jungle, or some kind of dense forest, as Lucky was visibly straining to keep it open, before it slowly shut, despite her determined efforts, and she face planted on the table, sweating bullets.

“Man that must take a LOT out of her.”

“Ih hnnyy hrks hf hhm hryhgg ho hhpp humhohy hho,” she mumbled incoherently, her face still flat on the table.

As unexpected as it was, her silliness actually caused me to briefly laugh, for the first time in a while.

Honestly, even back home, I’d been going through a pretty rough time in the past few months, but I was grateful that Lucky was able to make me laugh from something so… simple.

“Huh?” I asked, smiling.

She then raised her head once again and used her hooves to part her long black mane so it wasn’t blocking her eyes, as she looked at me and smiled.

“I said that my spark is easier to use when I’m using my rifts to connect to somepony who needs my help,” she said, before her expression grew more sad. “I suppose with my training today, that somepony was you…”

I looked out the window for a second, without actually looking at anything, before I looked back at her and gave her a small, assuring smile.

“It’s… it’s ok. Just know that I’m not holding anything against you,” I said, before I put a hand to my chin in thought. “To be honest, if you hadn’t brought me here when you did… I don’t even want to think about what would’ve happened to me.”

She looked at me curiously, but before she could ask me what I meant, I spoke again.

“Erm, do-don’t worry about it, or anything,” I said, as I looked out the window, at the lush green fields of this beautiful, strange world. “Just know… that I’m grateful… for you helping me in this.”

I turned my head to face her, as I looked into her eyes.

“Thank you, Lucky.”

She smiled, as she looked at me, before she looked out the window, too, a few seconds later.

“You’re welcome, James. Anything for a friend.”

I smiled, and we both then looked out the window for a while, before I felt a weird, tingling sensation on the palms of my hands.

I raised my hands up and was surprised to see that two yellow, sparkly glow’s were forming on them, and wouldn’t come off, even when I shook my hands aggressively.

Lucky noticed this a few seconds later and asked what was wrong.

I looked at her and showed her my hands, as she held them in her hooves, looking at them curiously.

“This looks like magic,” she said slowly. “…But how? You’re not a pony.”

Before I had a chance to respond, the glowing faded just as quickly as it had appeared.

“Hmm… how interesting. I’ll have to look into that,” she said quietly, almost to herself, before she looked back at me and stood up, before she headed for the door, using her head to gesture for me to follow.

“I have an apartment near the school where I’m testing with my spark. Until I get you back to your world, you can think of it as your home away from home.”

“Thanks Lucky,” I said simply, as I stood up and followed her.

“You’re welcome buddy,” she said, as she held the door open for me.

When we were leaving the farm, Lucky looked up at the sun’s position in the sky and said that she’d forgotten the time and that we needed to run to catch the next train for ‘Canterlot’, so I picked up the pace as I ran behind her.

Author's Note

Looks like these two have a train to catch!
I hope ya’ll enjoyed this chapter, and stay tuned for more in the future!!
Have a swell day! :derpytongue2:

Opening Up

As me and Lucky ran on the dirt trail, after some time running, we made it to the train station with a few minutes to spare, as we were both gasping for breath.

Back at home, running was fun for me sometimes, but I never made it into an actual sort of exercise routine, so I nearly collapsed once we made it to the station.

I looked at Lucky, who was catching her breath as well.

“Wish I had some water or something to give her. I don’t want her caring for me and me not returning the favor somehow.”

I opened my mouth to ask her how expensive water was in Equestria, before three mares who’d just trotted into the station greeted Lucky enthusiastically, which caused Lucky to smile once she’d recognized them, as they struck up a casual conversation.

My mouth slowly shut before I looked into the distance, at nothing, and scratched the back of my head awkwardly.

“Damnit. Even in whole other worlds I’m still quiet with everyo-… or um, every… pony, I meet.”

I looked at Lucky and her friends, as Lucky laughed at whatever they were talking about, before I looked at the floor of the station.

“I wish I could make her laugh like that, make her happy. Or just get to know her more as an… individual.”

After a minute or so of them talking, the train’s whistle blew suddenly, as the conductor announced the last train to Canterlot was leaving soon, which snapped me out of my thoughts and reminded me why we were here in the first place, as I quickly looked back at Lucky, who stopped talking with her friends and looked in my direction once she heard the whistle.

She said goodbye to her friends and hugged them briefly, before she ran past me, into the passenger cart.

“Come on, James!!” She said quickly, looking back at me as she stood in the doorway of the cart.

I stood there, looking at her for but a second, before I came to my senses and ran into the passenger cart behind her, as the door shut behind me a few seconds later.

When we were inside, we found that the train wasn’t very busy today, as there were only a few other ponies aboard, which made it easy to find our seats.

Lucky asked if I preferred sitting next to the window or the middle, and I said I liked the window, so she let me sit first, before she sat next to me.

I rested my head over my arm as I looked out the window, just as the train started moving, and saw Lucky’s reflection, as she looked at me and then at the floor as she tapped a hoof on her seat, which I assumed was out of discomfort.

I gritted my teeth in frustration at myself, at the thought of me making Lucky Trail, the only creature in this new world who went out of her way to help me, uncomfortable.

I must’ve looked pretty down, because after just a few moments of silence between us, Lucky suddenly asked me if I was ok.

I looked back at her, being sure to not look angry or upset, as the first thought that came to mind was to tell her that I was fine.

But I then looked into her beautiful, imploring eyes, before I let out a sigh, as I shut my eyes.

“Can I… be honest with you, Lucky?” I asked, looking into her eyes deeply.

She looked a bit confused, but nodded earnestly nonetheless.

“Lucky… back in my world… I never really had any friends, aside from my sister, Avianna, I guess,” I said, as I broke our eye contact and looked out the window. “I was usually the kind of person to be in my own company, quite a lot of the time.”

I looked into the eyes of Lucky’s window reflection, as I continued.

“For a while, I felt like I was living a worse life than others just because I didn’t have any close friends, and that having friends like that is what everyone should do, and that it should be easy, or something.”

I then turned my head to look at her directly once again.

“But it’s not easy. I don’t know why, but it was never that simple for me to really connect to anyone enough to want to be friends like that.”

“I was usually pretty happy in my own company, reading comics or playing video games, and I know that being around other people is important for your mental health, but I never really feel the need to have casual conversation with other people I see day to day, except for my sister.

Lucky tilted her head slightly.

“Me and my sister talk casually and have fun together, but that’s because we’ve known each other so long, and we trust each other.”

I sighed lightly.

“But now I’ve met you. You’re not my species, but you seem like a sweet person, and I want to get to know you better, and I want to help you like you’ve helped me.”

I shut my eyes and looked forward, breaking eye contact again, as my hands squeezed my legs.

“I just want to have a real, understanding friendship with someone. I just want us to make each other happy, and enjoy each other’s company.”

I was silent for a bit, before I spoke again..

“But when I saw you with you’re friends at the train station, with you laughing and talking so casually, it makes me worry that I’m never going to feel a friendship on that comfortable of a level.”

I opened my eyes, as I kept looking forward, unable to look at Lucky, out of fear of me making her uncomfortable with everything I was saying.

“I know we’re obviously not friends at that level, since we’ve just met each other, and maybe we never will be, but I still want to try to be. I want to get to know you, and if you’d like, I’d like for you to get to know me, so we can have each other’s backs and enjoy each other’s company, as real, genuine friends.”

I gathered my courage and looked in her direction, and saw that she was blankly looking out the window, seemingly in thought, before she noticed that I was looking at her, and blinked as she shook her head slightly, and looked back at me with a brief, small smile.

“James… I’m sorry you feel that way,” she said, as I looked away.

My hand squeezed my leg again, before she gently put her hoof over my hand, which made me look at her.

“Friendships like that take a lot of time and trust to build, and… they’re never perfect. But, from what it’s worth, I’d like to get to know you too. You’re a perceptive, nice gentlecolt, and it’s pretty hard to find pony’s like that these days, at least in Canterlot.

I smiled, as I looked into her eyes, before I looked down and frowned slightly.

“But… I just don’t know WHY I’ve always felt that way. Like I’ve always NEEDED close friends to be happy.”

I looked back at Lucky briefly as she scooted a bit closer to me.

“Can I be honest with you, James? And tell you why I think you feel like this?” She asked slowly.

I looked at the floor for a second, before I looked her in the eyes and nodded.

“…Based on what you’ve told me…”

She put a hoof to her chin, as if she was gathering her thoughts.

“…you seem to just want friends you really emotionally connect to and who you can really rely on in hard times,” she said, before she looked me in the eyes. “I can understand it. Not everypony needs multiple friends to just have small talk and do little activities with, sometimes we just need those few that we can REALLY talk to, about our problems and everything, if you catch my meaning. Friendship is about compromise, acknowledging your differences and working through them, and building trust because of that, and finding joy in your similar interests and in each other’s goals and pursuits.”

She then let out a small giggle a moment later, before she looked at me, smiling.

“And with my friends at the train station who I was talking to, I consider them friends, and I can have fun with them when we go shopping or when we go out for a coffee, but I would be lying if I said that we often talk to each other on an emotionally deep level. I guess the definition of friendship sort of varies from pony to pony. But it’s just important to accept that they are never perfect, even if they look like they are...”

My eyes widened slightly as she said that, which only prompted her smile to grow bigger once her eyes met mine, as she scooted close enough that she was laying her head in my lap, as she shut her eyes.

It made me tense up at first, but after a moment of thought, I relaxed, and slowly put my hand on her side.

“Small talk can be fun for some ponies,” she started, as her smile faded slightly. “But other ponies just need somepony to really be there for them, and to have the most important, real quality time with, and I think you’re that kind of po-… I mean… erm, what are you exactly?”

I smiled slightly.

“I’m a human, Lucky.”

I looked down at her, as she had a small grin on her face.

“Well, then you seem like the kind of human who just needs somepony to connect to, not just to have small talk with, y’know?”

I smiled, as I felt a bit more at ease about my perception of needing friends, for the first time in… well forever, really.

“Yeah, I know.”

I patted her back, and rubbed it soothingly, which prompted Lucky to sigh contently, nearly inaudibly.

“And to be honest,” Lucky said suddenly. “I think the idea of having a good friend where we’re both dedicated to each other on a deeper level of friendship sounds… really lovely, actually.”

I looked out the window.

“Yeah it does.”

I then felt a bit more anxious, and gently squeezed my leg with my left hand, which Lucky seemed to notice, as she asked me what was wrong.

“It’s just… I-I don’t want to sound rude, but don’t all friendships and relationships need a common bond?” I asked.

Lucky’s ears perked up.

“Yknow, like something they both like doing, or another reason to be around each other? So they can enjoy being in each other’s company and feel like connecting to each other because of that?”

I looked back down at Lucky, as she opened her eyes and looked back up at me.

“Yeah, I guess any strong friendship would need that. Friendship can be complicated, but I’m sure we can find some things we both like doing,” she said confidently.

“You said you like comic books and video games, right? Well, I really like reading books.”

I scrunched up my nose, as I thought to myself.

There were some books back home that I’d been forced to read for my school classes, that were actually pretty interesting after a while of reading.

I was feeling pretty sure that me and Lucky could find some activities we liked doing together.

“Lucky?” I asked.

Lucky looked up at me.

“Yeah?”

I scratched my neck awkwardly.

“Sorry to still be on this subject, but, one more thing…”

“What if… what if it doesn’t work out? What if we don’t find a common bond? What if I never find true friendship?” I asked anxiously.

Lucky took her head off my lap and looked at me, placing her hoof on my leg, as she looked at me assuringly.

“Hey, relax. You’ll be living with me until I can get you back to your world, remember? We’ll be around each other often enough that learning about each other should come naturally to us.”

She then looked at me a bit more seriously.

“But just know, that friendships happen naturally. As long as you have an open mind to meet new ponies, and the confidence to be your true self, things will work out. So if a deep friendship doesn’t form between us immediately, we still shouldn’t try to force anything. It would just hurt both of us.”

“Man, you’re wise,” I almost whispered a moment later, slightly surprised that I’d said those words out loud.

Lucky gave me small smile, but I couldn’t tell whether it was from my slightly dazed expression or my blunt statement. Or if it was both.

“Thanks! I know quite a bit about friendship from… erm… past experiences...”

I was about to ask her what she meant but she raised a hoof to stop me.

“It’s…. its not worth talking about,” she said slowly, as she looked at the floor sadly.

I nodded, before I looked at the floor, as we had a moment of silence, aside from the sound of the train chugging.

“Thank you for listening, Lucky,” I said quietly, a moment later. “And… sorry for dumping all of this weird stuff on you.”

Lucky smiled, before she laid back down on my lap.

“You’re welcome. I’m glad you were able to get it off your chest. And I look forward to getting to learn more about you!”

“Me too,” I said.

It seemed that we were talking for longer than I thought, as after a few moments of slightly awkward silence between us, the train came to a stop at what I assumed to be Canterlot.

As me and Lucky left the train station and walked along the sidewalk, I saw just how fancy Canterlot was.

There were rows and rows of tall, exquisite buildings, some of which were high class looking restaurants and shops.

There was even a giant castle higher up in the distance that seemed to reach up to the sky, as the sun was beginning to set overhead, blanketing the whole city in a crisp, orange aura of light.

“This place looks really nice!” I said cheerfully.

Lucky didn’t respond however, as she was looking to the left and the right of the street in front of us, to watch for traffic, I presumed.

“Wait, how would these ponies even use vehicles? Do they use carria-“

“Come on James, let’s go!” Lucky said, as she trotted down the walkway, with me quickly following suit.

As we walked for some time, we soon found ourselves in a bit more of a rundown, lower class looking part of the city.

I looked around for a few seconds, but when I was met with the cold glares of some seedy looking strangers, I looked around in random directions to avoid their eye contact. It was only when I saw a mare in an alley across the street, wearing clothes… rather inappropriate ones at that, give me a saucy wink as she licked her lips, before she motioned with her hoof for me to come over to her, that I blushed profusely, as my eyes darted forward blankly and I picked up the pace behind Lucky.

“O…k, this is uncomfortable.”

“Maybe this place isn’t ALL sunshine and rainbows like I thought.”

Lucky was looking down at the sidewalk, maybe to avoid eye contact with the strangers here.

“I doubt she CHOSE to live here,” I though as I looked down at her. “I won’t judge her for living in these conditions.”

After a little bit more walking, we made it to an apartment complex, which was thankfully a bit better looking than the rest of the buildings here, before we swung open the main doors and stepped inside.

When we were inside, the receptionist pony, a pretty unicorn with a white coat and a slightly darker white mane, was reading a book, and Lucky rang the bell at the desk, which made the receptionist’s ear flick, before she put down her book and looked at us tiredly.

When she saw me her tired eyes widened for a moment, before she returned to her normal weary expression, before she looked at Lucky.

“Evening, Lucky,” she said in a sophisticated tone. “Who’s your friend?”

”I doubt she even cares who I am. She probably didn’t even noticed the bandage I have wrapped around my head right now.”

”She’s probably just exhausted, in more ways than one. Working a most likely miserable job like this, I can understand.”

“Evening, Fleur. This is just my new buddy, James, he’s not a pony, but he’s a gentleman,” she said.

I looked back at her and raised an eyebrow humorously, as she gave me a wink and a look that said “just go with it”.

I then looked forward once more to avoid suspicion, before the receptionist reopened the book she was reading before Lucky rang the bell on her desk.

“Ok. You two can go now,” she said, rather impatiently.

Lucky didn’t seem to mind her tone as she walked past her desk and down a hallway, with me following behind her.

I gave the receptionist pony a disapproving look, not that she even noticed it with her muzzle stuck in her book, before I followed Lucky down the hallway and up a staircase for a few floors, and then finally up to her apartment.

When we were at the apartment, Lucky pulled a pair of keys out of her saddlebag with her hooves and used them to unlock the door.

“I’ll never understand how that’s possible to do with hooves.”

When her apartment door opened, I was greeted with a smell that seemed like a mix of mildew and slightly expired milk.

It wasn’t bad enough to make me gag, but it definitely wasn’t pleasant.

Lucky didn’t seem to mind the smell, as she flipped a light switch, revealing a not perfectly well kept, but cozy looking living room, before she shut the front door and locked it, and looked back at me.

“You can sit wherever you’re comfortable, James. I’ll prepare us some dinner, just give me a few minutes.”

I nodded and thanked her, before she went into the kitchen.

When she left the living room, I sat down on the couch, which caused it to squeak under my weight as I sunk into it.

I was a bit worried for a few seconds that it wouldn’t be able to support me, but it was fine, and it was pretty soft.

After a few minutes of me laying there, staring at the ceiling, and sort of soaking in everything that had happened to me in the span of a day, Lucky entered the living room with two bowls of red liquid, and handed one bowl to me, as she sat down next to me.

“It’s tomato soup,” she said. “You don’t mind tomato soup, do you?”

I waved my hand at her quickly.

“No, no! I appreciate it! Soup is nice.”

Lucky smiled and looked around her less than perfect looking apartment, then back at me.

“Sorry about the smell and everything, I wasn’t really expecting guests.”

“It’s fine,” I said.

Lucky then looked down at her soup bowl and started drinking from it, but before I dug into mine, I looked at her questioningly.

“Are you ok with us eating on your couch?”

Lucky shrugged casually, but remained silent, as her mouth was full of soup, before she took a few seconds to swallow it, and spoke.

“I’ve spilled so many things on this couch, I really don’t mind.”

I froze when she said that, which she noticed, as she blushed.

“N-no! I mean, um, yeah! This couch is totally clean, you could eat off these cushions!”

“Relax, Lucky, I won’t judge you for your couch, or for where you live.”

Her ears folded when I said that, as her hind legs moved up and down, maybe out of nervousness.

“Oh… you uh, you noticed the ponies in the streets, did you?” She asked.

I nodded.

“Mhmm. I’ll be honest… I umm, I wouldn’t really be comfortable living here myself, but I doubt you chose to live here, did you?”

After a second, she shook her head.

“No, that’s a long story. One that I’m not too comfortable with talking about.”

“Gotcha,” I said quickly, to assure her that I wouldn’t push any further for details.

I then took a spoonful of my soup and slurped it down, before my eyes widened.

I was actually really hungry.

I held my spoon in place on the bowl with my thumb, as I slurped the soup down as if it were a drink, as Lucky looked at me, her eyes slightly widened.

I was lucky that the soup wasn’t hot, otherwise I would’ve surely burned my mouth drinking it quickly like that.

When I stopped basically chugging my food, and gasped for air, Lucky gave a small snort of a laugh.

I looked at her, and she raised her hoof.

“Sorry, it’s just, I didn’t think my cooking was that good.”

I looked down at my bowl, which only had a small portion left, as my appetite was mostly satisfied.

“Yeah, I was just really hungry.”

I looked out the window of the living room, as the sun had already set and the moon was rising into the calm, dark blue sky.

I then looked at Lucky.

“Hey Lucky, where can I sleep for tonight?”

Lucky looked down at the couch we were sitting on, then back at me, and smiled sheepishly.

I rubbed my hand on the fluffy cushions of the couch, and laid my back further into it, as I got comfy.

“I’m cool with that,” I said, as I shut my eyes.

I then felt my soup bowl leave my hands a few seconds later, which made me open my eyes, as I looked at Lucky holding the tip of my bowl in her mouth, as she froze when I looked at her.

“My bad, I though you were done,” she said, barely coherently.

“I am, but I can take those bowls for you,” I said, as I sat up in a more polite position.

Lucky looked down at the bowl she had in her mouth, and her empty bowl which she was holding with one of her hooves, as she looked at me.

“I’ve got it, James, it’s fine.”

“No, no, I insist Lucky! You’ve done quite a lot for me today, you should get some rest.”

She raised an eyebrow at me.

“Says the person forced here from another world… I appreciate it James, but just think of this as me paying for my mistake of bringing you here…” she said, as she looked down at the shag carpet.

I leaned back on the couch and looked down when she said that, as she looked back at me.

“I-I mean, it’s my fault that you’re here. I’m not saying you being here is that kind of mistake, I just… I-“

“It’s fine, Lucky, I understand,” I said, giving her a smile to assure her. “But you… shouldn’t be so hard on yourself. You didn’t mean to bring me here, and I’m not angry at you because of it.”

She looked into my eyes deeply when I said that, with an expression that I couldn’t read the emotions from, before she shook her head slightly and gave me a small smile.

“Thanks James,” she said simply, before she left for the kitchen, rinsed off our two bowls and turned off the kitchen light, then walked back into the living room, and opened a nearby door, which seemed to be her bedroom, before she looked back at me.

“Good night.”

“Good night, Lucky.”

She then turned off the living room light, before she went into her bedroom and shut the door behind her.

It was dark now, but I could still see a bit from the natural moonlight pouring in through the window.

Luckily, Lucky already had a blanket draped over the couch, so I pulled it down, and laid sideways, before I moved the couch’s pillows to cushion my head with, and wrapped the blanket around myself.

As I looked out the window, at the moon, I felt a sense of comfort, before I slowly shut my eyes, and let sleep overtake me.

Author's Note

There we go!! Chapter 3 done! Hope y’all like it, and hope you have a swell day/night!!

Navigating The Bumpy Trail of Friendship

In the morning, I was awoken by the feeling of something rubbing my shoulder, rather frantically.

I groaned and slowly opened my eyes, and saw that it was Lucky’s hoof, and I saw that she was looking at me a bit anxiously, and was dressed in some sort of uniform.

“James! Come on, my school hours start in about thirty minutes, and I usually try to be early… now come on!! Before we’re late!!” She half whispered.

By this point she dropped a large backpack she was wearing on the floor with a thud and was basically pushing me off the couch with her head, until I fell to the shag carpet, barely catching myself with my hands.

“O-ok, ok… I’m going,” I mumbled, as I stood up on my feet.

I looked out the window briefly, and saw that it was still dark outside. The sun hadn’t even started to rise yet.

“Euughh, school schedules. Even in other worlds, they’re still just as terrible…”

Me and Lucky then ate some breakfast. Whole grain cereal that was shaped like pony hooves.

This world never ceased to amaze and confuse me.

When we finished breakfast, Lucky grabbed her heavy looking bag and held it on her back, and practically ran out of her apartment(as best as she could anyways), with me struggling to keep up with her surprisingly fast pace, and we both went down the stairs of the apartment complex before she waved the receptionist goodbye, as we both hastily left the front doors.

When me and Lucky were in the streets, she calmed her pace after a little bit.

“Ok, we’re almost to the school now.”

I looked at her and yawned.

“How is this going to work for me? I’m not enrolled, and on top of that, I’m not a pony.”

Lucky looked back at me and gave me a small smile, partially in pain from the weight of her bag.

“It’ll be fine. Princess Celestia allows students to bring one guest with them temporarily so they can ‘find themselves’, too.”

“Mmm,” I said in affirmation as I looked forward at the mostly empty streets around us. “They’re ok with people who aren’t ponies?”

“I’m pretty sure, yeah,” Lucky said. I’ve seen quite a few yaks back in the day, and even a kirin or two, though the kirin I’ve seen have usually been pretty quiet, almost silent, actually.

I rubbed my shoulder, as the thought of sort of being an outcast… again, made me nervous.

I looked back at her, as she struggled under the weight of her crazy large bag.

“Hey, umm, can I help with that?” I asked.

“I’ve GOT IT James, don’t worry. I do this EVERY day of school,” she said, with a hint of aggression.

“Okay, geez,” I whispered, nearly inaudibly.

I looked around to see if I could spot the school we were next to, but I had no idea what it would even look like, so I just kept walking.

“Wonder what Lucky was mad about. Maybe she doesn’t like people helping her? Or something.”

“Maybe I’ve been too needy. Damnit, I should really try and get a job here and make some money to help her, depending on how long it’ll take her to send me home.”

“I really hope we have some similar classes together. I don’t want to be even more of an outcast in a world of talking horses, of all things.”

After some more walking, we soon made it into the school, which looked rather exquisite, at least compared to some of the schools I attended in New York.

The school also had some kind of older ages, castle sort of theme to it. Come to think of it, this whole city actually did.

“Maybe this world isn’t exactly as advanced and evolved as mine.”

When we got to the entrance, Lucky painfully made her way up the front steps, with me looking at her concernedly, until she made it up, and swung the front doors open with her hooves.

It was… actually rather amazing on the inside.

And I don’t just mean how fancy and stylized things were.

It was actually incredible, seeing so many creatures talking in the halls, some using unique magic, ranging from giant plants to strange optical illusions, and some of them flying above us.

It was pretty chaotic, but it was really cool.

As I saw everyone socializing, I felt a familiar sense of inadequacy compared to them.

But then I looked down at Lucky, who was looking around at all of the students doing aerial stunts and using magic with wide eyes, and smiled.

“I already have a friend. And I’m gonna to focus my energy to helping her, as she helps me.”

“Wow… I’ve never seen the halls this lively before. I suppose there are just a lot less students who arrive an hour early to study for classes, like I usually do,” she said, before she smiled sheepishly.

Me and Lucky then heard the school bell ring, and Lucky immediately grabbed my hand with my hoof and pulled me into a hallway with her, as we nearly bumped into a few ponies.

“COME ON!! WE’RE GONNA BE LATE!!” She yelled, over the sounds of every creature else, who were talking and shouting loudly, as they started scrambling to get to their classes.

I ran behind her, until I was knocked back from all the ponies we’d been running through, as Lucky kept running forward to her first class.

I yelled for her, as there wasn’t an easy way through the crowd in front of me.

When she didn’t respond, I just stood in a gap in the wall that had a water fountain, as I waited for things in the hallway to calm down.

I probably could have caught up to Lucky if I was really quick, but this hallway was apparently really busy, so there wasn’t much I could really do.

By the time things were calm enough to walk in the hallway without being trampled under a hundred pony hooves, I started walking down the hallway, in the direction Lucky went.

I was clearly late, but I was hoping that whatever teacher I would have would be a bit more lenient since it was only my first day.

“Man, what am I gonna do? Just knock on every classroom door in this wing of the building and just HOPE that Lucky is in one of them?”

“This… will be awkward, but I guess it h-“

I was pulled from my inner thoughts as I looked up at a… monstrous creature, who stood in front of me with his arms folded, as my jaw dropped.

This… thing, towered over me, and was standing on two legs, just like me.

But he looked like he was an amalgamation of different animals, and he looked down at me with condescending eyes and a wicked grin.

“Well, it would seem you’re late for class, hairless monkey, I might just have to write you up!”

My eyes widened as I stood there, trembling slightly.

“W-who are you?”

The thing took a step closer to me, before there was a sudden flash of light around him, and he was suddenly dressed in a security guard outfit, as he smiled and… bowed? in front of me.

“You can call me Mr. Chaos, though my fans call me Discord.”

“Discord?” I asked, confused, as I took slower breaths to calm myself down.

He smiled at my question, before he snapped his fingers, and the floor under me was turned into solid ice, and the lockers and hallway were lined with a coat of snow, which was falling from the ceiling (which didn’t really make any sense).

The ice caused me to slip and nearly fall a second later, before I caught myself, and looked at him disapprovingly.

“The one and only spirit of chaos and disharmony! I look after this school and it’s… unique, and sometimes chaotic, students,” he said proudly.

“Ok… well, I need to get to my friend’s class, I’m a guest here,” I said, as the snow falling from the ceiling was piling up on my hair.

“And who might this friend be?” He asked intimidatingly, as he lowered his head closer to me.

“Lucky. Lucky Trail,” I responded.

Discord then snapped his fingers, as a pen and a small book appeared in his hands, as he pulled a pair of glasses out of thin air, and started flipping through the book.

“Lave Lime, Looming Light, ahh! Lucky Trail…”

He then shut the book, before it, and his pen and glasses disappeared with a brief flash.

“Yep, she is quite the interesting student, very determined in her pursuit of magical power!” He said, as he smiled villainously.

He looked down at me, and my repulsed expression, before he smiled sheepishly, and a glowing, golden halo appeared on his head, and he looked at me innocently.

“By which I mean, it’s so sweet that she is fighting so hard to reach her true potential to “use her power to help others”, as she’s told me. It almost brings a tear to my eye seeing how far she’s come!” He said, as he wiped his eye with a finger, without even drawing back a single drop of tears.

He then shook his head, as the halo dissipated into thin air.

“Anyways, I will send you to your ‘friend’s’ class, but I am writing you up. You’ll learn how to get to your classes on time soon enough, but until then…”

He then pulled out a giant stamp from behind him, that was colored red and had the words ‘TARDY’, shaped into it, before he slapped it in my face.

“YOU’RE TARDY!! Now get to class, and don’t let this happen again…” he said ominously, before he snapped his fingers, and with a flash of light, I was sitting in a desk in a classroom, right next to Lucky.

Lucky jumped for a second, but then just looked at me with wide eyes a few seconds later, once she had seemingly recovered from the shock of me appearing out of nowhere.

“J-James! I’m glad you could make it!!”

She looked at the snow that was coating my hair.

“I take it you’ve met our ‘security guard’, Discord?”

I nodded, and Lucky sighed.

“He’s such a weirdo,” she said, as she used one of her hooves to brush the snow off my head and onto the floor, before she licked her hoof clean of what snow remained on it.

The teacher hadn’t started talking yet, and was still sitting at her desk, so I took this as my opportunity to ask her some things.

“Why didn’t you come back for me when I fell behind?” I asked.

Lucky took a second to respond, before she cleared her throat.

“I… I just… had to get ready for this class! This class really helps students with the instinctual properties of their spark, and it’s been helping me, too.”

“…Mmmm,” I said in affirmation, with a hint of annoyance, as I faced forward.

“I’m… sorry, James. I didn’t want to leave you back there, this class is just really important!”

“It almost feels like she cares more about schoolwork than friends.”

“She’s… ‘sigh’, she’s just trying to help. She needs to learn to control her magic.”

“But she didn’t even look back…”

I looked at her, as she was copying words from a board in front of the class on a sheet of paper.

‘Sigh’… “whatever. Maybe I’m just not being committed enough to helping her.”

“Why does this have to be so complicated?”

For the class that followed, despite how it was about ‘magical instincts’ and stuff like that, it was hard for me to pay attention as my mind mostly dwelled on Lucky being unloyal, or me just being too needy of a friend.

When the school bell finally rang to release us to our next class, I followed Lucky to our next class, but we didn’t talk much on the way there.

I could feel that she was uncomfortable, but I didn’t have it in me to comfort her.

“Don’t be like that Lucky.”

“You’re the one who left ME behind.”

At our next class, which was about the physical bodies of magical creatures, or something, me and Lucky sat apart from each other, with me in the middle back section, and her in the front left section.

I was next to a unicorn mare with a bright green coat and cyan mane with a white stripe, who had a warm smile.

Her smile lightened my mood ever so slightly, before I looked forward.

After a few minutes of me just sitting there tiredly, I jumped slightly when the green unicorn tapped my shoulder, before I looked at her.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you. My name is Crystalline Lime, what’s yours?” She whispered quietly.

“Huh, engaging the conversation?”

“This pony is bold.”

“Um, James Falter, I’m a human, in case you couldn’t tell,” I replied just as quietly.

She nodded.

“Yeah, I noticed. I don’t know if I, or all of Equestria, have ever seen one of your species’ before.

“Ye-,” I said briefly, before our unicorn teacher shushed us politely, before he continued talking, as he pointed at the pictures on the chalk board with a stick he was levitating.

After a while of me staring at the board blankly, hardly interested, the phone on our teachers desk rang, and he walked over and answered it.

After some talking, he then put the phone down and told the class that he needed to take care of something for a few minutes, and that he expected us to be on our best behavior while he was gone.

When he left though, it only took all of about ten seconds for things to turn into screaming level of loud.

As I looked down at my desk, with my head leaning on my hand, I felt a hoof tap my shoulder, and saw that it was Crystalline, who was out of her desk, facing the door, and looking back at me, as she gestured for me to follow her.

I stood up and walked to her.

“We still have class, where are you going?” I practically yelled, so she would actually hear.

“Somewhere where both of us might be more comfortable, away from everything,” she said loudly, before she smiled assuringly.

I looked at the board in front of class, then back at her worriedly.

“Don’t worry. Today is just a study day anyways, we don’t have schoolwork. One day of absence won’t hurt anything,” she yelled.

I looked at the floor for a moment, then looked at her and nodded, before I followed her out of the class and shut the door behind me.

It was much more calm and quiet in the hallway than it was in the classroom, and I relaxed a bit.

Crystalline then led me pretty far down the hall, until we arrived in the library. I was glad we didn’t run into Discord.

She opened the door and held it open for me, before I stepped inside and thanked her.

This school’s library was very grand looking, but not too much differently than the one I had on Earth, surprisingly.

It was a large, open space, with the morning sunlight pouring in through the ceilings windows and the windows on the walls, revealing dust particles that were floating calmly in the air.

There were rows and rows of shelves, filled with books, which looked rather dusty.

It was really peaceful, and the shag carpet beneath us was also rather comforting.

Crystalline took me to a corner of the library, with some cushioned, comfy looking seats, right next to a few windows that were pouring in sunlight.

Sitting in the seats was a group of other ponies, some reading books, and some just relaxing, looking up at the ceiling as they smiled.

The ponies looked at Crystalline, then at me, before they quickly went back to reading and trying to relax.

“I… think I’m making them a bit uncomfortable.”

“I’ll just tell them that I‘m not her to intrude on their relaxing.”

“Everypony,” Crystalline said in a quiet, calming tone. “This is James Falter, he’s a human, but he seems like the kind of person to enjoy calm time alone, sort of like us.”

“Us?” I asked.

Crystalline then stepped closer to the other ponies and took a seat in a cushioned chair, before she nodded to a beanbag that was next to her, as she smiled at me comfortingly.

“She’s really trying to make me feel comfortable, with how much she’s smiling.”

“Hmm, she seems sweet, and this seems like a nice group of ponies who are content with themselves.”

I walked to her, then plopped down in the large bean bag, sinking into it and shutting my eyes as I relished in the silence and comfort of the library.

“James,” Crystalline whispered.

I opened my eyes and gave her a small smile.

“We are a group of ponies who just prefer time alone over time with others. I organized this group, and all we do is sit, and relax, in the silence and freedoms of our own imagination.”

“Yeah,” a stallion with a book said. “We don’t talk to each other often, but it’s not really awkward or anything. We already know that we’re all the same in this way, and we just relax knowing that we’re accepted for that here.”

When he said that, I looked up at the ceiling and relaxed in the silence of everything as they did.

“I can understand why you all enjoy relaxing like this,” I said. “I think I’m like you guys in this way too.”

My expression grew a bit darker, as I sat upright.

“But… I’ve mostly just been making myself feel bad about it…”

Most of them looked to me.

“What do you mean?” Crystalline asked.

I shifted in my beanbag, as I looked at the floor.

“It’s been hard to accept myself for the way I am. I used to see people at my school with friends, and I would feel like I was doing something wrong by not having close friends.”

There was a brief moment of silence before Crystalline spoke.

“It’s ok, James. We were all born like this, and have all had feelings like that once. But we’ve accepted that we can’t change who we are, and that we simply just aren’t the kind of pony’s fit for making friends, so we live contently in our own little group of quietude.”

My face morphed into a slight grimace when she said that.

I was glad that they accepted their differences and how they need to be alone more often than others might, but by the sound of it, they don’t even try to make friends outside this group.

Things aren’t exactly easy with Lucky, and now that I know that my mental image of a perfect friendship was totally wrong, it’s been even harder to accept.

But it’s worth a shot, in any case, to try to work through our differences, as friends.

Me and Lucky need each other(me more than her I’m sure, but still), so I should just stop being petty and talk to her.

I stood up slowly, as the ponies looked at me.

“Sorry, but I need to get back to class, and talk with my friend,” I said, as I was already walking to the exit.

Crystalline then teleported in front of me, as she stopped me with her forelegs.

“Hold on, James! Don’t you just want to relax in the calmness? Be with yourself, and us?” She asked quickly, as she smiled, and tilted her head.

I looked back at the rest of them, as they were looking at me, slightly confused.

I then looked at Crystalline, as I slowly pulled her forelegs off of me.

“Thanks Crystalline, but I’m fine. Like my friend Lucky told me, there’s no such thing as a perfect friendship, but… that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to make friends.”

Crystalline stood in front of me for a moment, staring into my eyes, before she blinked and stepped aside, looking at me with a hint of annoyance.

She then raised her right foreleg, as it glowed a bright green, until there was a bright, green flash of light, and a book appeared in her hoof.

She looked confused for a second, before she looked at me, and levitated the book in front of me.

“My spark pretty much allows me to use my magic to manifest an object that could help someone best in a certain situation. Take this with you.”

She levitated the old looking book into my hands, and I read the title.

“The Art of Spark Magic: Learning For Two”

I smiled.

“This is perfect.”

Crystalline didn’t smile, but I could tell she was glad to help.

“You’re welcome, James,” she said. “I’ll be back to class in about ten minutes.”

I nodded, and started walking to the exit, before she spoke again.

“But please, don’t tell anypony else about this space, ok? It’s just our own little comfort area that we all need,” she said, as she stood in front of her group.

I thought for a second, then turned around and nodded, which prompted her to nod and smile slightly in return.

When I returned to class, while being quiet and sneaky to not alert Discord, I opened the door and saw that our teacher was back, writing on the board, and the class was nearly silent.

Our teacher asked where I was, and I looked at Lucky, who looked at me sadly for a second, before she faced forward and read through her book that was in front of her.

“I… was getting a book for a friend.”

Lucky’s ear perked up, and she turned around to look at me.

“We’re both just having trouble learning our magic, so I got a book so we can learn together,” I said with a small smile as I looked at her, as a small smile crept onto her face in return.

“Alright, well, just tell me where you’re going next time you leave, okay?” The teacher said.

“Okay, I will.”

Our teacher nodded, before he pointed to my seat.

“Now take your seat please, and get ready to take some notes.”

For the rest of class, I mostly just listened to the teacher drone on about different creatures, since I didn’t have materials to take notes with, before class ended, and I walked with Lucky down the hall to our next class.

Hey, thanks for getting that book,” she said as we walked. “It has some good material, and honestly, I’ve been struggling training by myself.”

“Of course, Lucky,” I said, as I flipped through the complex looking pages. “I may not know much about magic, but you can show me the basics, right?”

Lucky smiled.

“Yeah, I’ll help you out. It’s also rather fascinating to think of a creature from another world using Equestria magic.”

I looked at her.

“You really think that that glow on my hands the other day was… my spark?”

“I’m positive,” Lucky responded.

She looked at the book.

“But that book is pretty complex, we can go over it and use it tomorrow, over the weekend, when schoolwork isn’t in the way.”

“Okay,” I said simply.

She looked away for a second, before she looked at me.

“And… I’m sorry about leaving you in the hallway back there. Sometimes, fixing my mistakes can just… really take priority over other things for me, it’s nothing personal I swear.”

“It’s fine, Lucky.”

“It’s not fine,” she said immediately. “You’ve just been trying to help me, and you’ve been kind to me, and all I’ve been doing is push you away.”

I didn’t respond, as I wasn’t sure what to say, before Lucky continued.

“I swear to you, James, I won’t make that mistake twice. From now on, I’ve got your back, through and through, got it?”

I nodded.

“Yeah, I believe you. Thank you, Lucky, just don’t stress it too much, I imagine your studies are important, too.”

Lucky sighed lightly.

“Yeah… but you’re also important.”

Once we got through all of our classes, and school had ended, as we walked out the front doors of the school, I saw Crystalline, as she was being harassed by a pegasus who was flying in the air in front of her.

“Damnit,” I mumbled under my breath, as I ran to see what was happening, with Lucky following right behind me.

“I got an F on that group assignment because of you!! You didn’t even help!!” The pegasus shouted angrily, as several balls of light blueish flames manifested around him.

Crystalline looked at him defensively.

“I gave you everything you needed!!” She said, as she stomped a hoof on the ground. “It’s not my fault that just happened to be a history book!!”

“Oh, I know equestrian history! You were just pulling some sick prank!! And you made me look like a fool in front of my friends!!” He said, as he aimed the fireballs at her menacingly.

Crystalline took a step back, as he flew above her.

“You were quiet the whole time!! You didn’t even try to help with our research on Saddle Arabia!!” He said furiously.

Crystalline looked at the floor with a scowl when he said that.

I took a few hesitant steps closer to them.

“Hey, how about you just calm down, ok?” I said calmly. “There’s no reason for anyone to get hurt.”

The pegasus looked at me with anger, before his expression turned into disgust.

“Oh, shut up, monkey. You should mind your own business.”

I gritted my teeth in frustration at his remark, before I sighed, and took slow steps between him and Crystalline, before I was completely between them.

“Look, you don’t have to do this, please,” I said, with my arms raised defensively, as my hands glowed.

Her looked at me angrily, as he gritted his teeth, before he held a fireball in his hoof, as my eyes widened.

“Just, SHUT UP!!!” He yelled as he aimed the fireball at me, and was right about to throw it.

In the heat of the moment I didn’t move, but I held my stance.

“Don’t!!” I said quickly, as I held my hands in front of me.

In that brief moment, my hands glowed brightly, before two brightly glowing, yellow tendrils, almost like ropes, shot right out of my palms and immobilized the pegasus as they wrapped around him tightly, causing him to fall to the ground, as the rest of his fireballs disintegrated, before the ropes swung back around and wrapped around me too, as me and the pegasus were tied up together, back to back.

I was just sitting there, confused, while the pegasus was wriggling aggressively, trying to get out.

“What the tartarus is this?! Stop it!! Let… me… go!!” He said, as he strained.

“I… I don’t know! This has never happened before!!” I responded.

The pegasus continued struggling to get out, before he soon gave up, and sighed.

“Can’t you… can’t you just undo this? It’s pretty uncomfortable…”

I shut my eyes for a few moments and tried to focus on making the tendrils disappear, as I strained myself for a bit, only to find that the ropes were still wrapped around us tightly.

By this point, Lucky was using her hooves to try to break the ropes by force, but it wasn’t really helping.

I then heard the pegasus snort, before he continued to berate Crystalline.

“This is all your fault!!”

“No… don’t blame her. I’m the one who made these ropes,” I said, as said ropes were making it a bit hard for me to breathe.

The pegasus snorted again, as he was breathing heavily, possibly from anger.

“Look… you’re angry, I get that. Based on what you’ve said, Crystalline might not have been the best partner to work with.”

I could feel Crystalline’s glare burning into the back of my head.

“But this isn’t worth it. Has Crystalline at least apologized for not talking with you about your research project?”

“NO!! SHE HASN’T!!” The pegasus said aggressively.

“Ok then… Crystalline? Could you please apologize to him?” I asked, as I turned my head to look at her, as she looked at me with annoyance.

I nodded my head to prompt her to apologize, as I looked at her imploringly.

Crystalline then sighed lightly, before she took a few steps forward.

“I’m… sorry. I guess… I guess I should have actually talked with you about our work,” she said, as she looked up at him. “I’m sorry. This is my fault.”

The pegasus scoffed, and was silent for a few moments, before he sighed again.

“Whatever,” he said. “You should really just work on being a better partner.”

As I felt him calm down, the yellow, glowing tendrils that were tightened around us dimmed, until they faded away completely, releasing us from their tight grip.

Lucky helped me to my feet, as the pegasus dusted himself off, before he looked at me and Crystalline with annoyance, before he left, and walked down the street, without saying a word.

I looked at Lucky, as she shrugged, then at Crystalline, as she watched the pegasus walk down the street.

Crystalline then walked past us with her ears folded, before she turned around to face me for a brief moment.

“Thank you, James.”

When it was just me and Lucky there, we looked at each other, before she walked down the street, as we headed back to the apartment.

Author's Note

If you’ve made it this far in the story, thank you for following along with it!!
I’m no professional writer by any means, so some constructive criticism would be appreciated, if you have ideas on what I could be doing better.(just please don’t be harsh about it)
Hope y’all have a swell rest of your day!! :heart: