Sun shined down through the yellow and orange leaves above my head, peering down onto the book I was reading. I was currently just sitting beneath a tree and getting some reading in while Chrysalis had wandered off for the day, saying she wanted to ‘go explore’ while holding a coupon to a local spa behind her back. I would’ve gone with, but it was apparently Chryssy Private Time, so I was left to my own devices.

So I borrowed a book from the library, which was run by a baby dragon, and was reading a new book, one more based in horror, but so far, everything seemed kinda tame. Like the monster in this book just reminded me of… Well, a Scooby Doo monster. So to me, this was more comical than scary, despite it boasting ‘the scariest story of the decade’ while being released at the apparent start of the decade.

With fancy quotes from reviewers stating that this left them with Nightmares.

I was also kinda bored, as the characters were really flat, and the story seemed to heavily rely on this monster being nigh unstoppable. When in reality, it sounds like you can take a knife, shove it in the monster’s head a couple of times, and walk away unscathed. Now, I won’t hold that against the book, since horror movie characters must, not usually, must be complete idiots.

Also ponies are easier to scare than humans, hence why ponies are somehow more racist towards ponies, so what maybe tame for me, is way less tame to the mind of a pony.

I could rewrite Friday the Thirteenth, publish it as horror, and get a nice letter from Luna telling me to cease and desist. Also rewriting Friday the Thirteenth would be as cheap as rewriting Star Wars to get rich. And would probably put me on a pedestal or whatever if my adaptation is successful or not. So I’m not going to do that, mainly because Luna would kill me for making her job even harder.

Luna could apparently dream hop, not something I have not personally witnessed, or seen a Luna in my dreams, but given that I’m dating a magical bug horse in a land full of magical ponies, I’m not surprised at this point. Especially when my new country’s leaders are apparently goddesses that can control celestial bodies. Oh yeah, and when the world decided to take a shit and make skinned, ready to cook chickens attack, that was from some doomsday causing creature called Discord. Who, for some fucking reason, was kept on display as a stone statue in the Royal Fucking Gardens.

In other words, what the fuck is up with magical pony land?

I sighed and set my book down. God that was a drag… and it didn’t even take that long to read, which is a shame. Well, I might as well go back and return the book. Who knows? I can probably go explore town a bit.

It turned out that Twilight Sparkle actually lives inside of Golden Oaks Library, or the only library in all of Ponyville. I know this because I walked in on Twilight, sitting in the main lobby, ignoring a nice daisy sandwich while a couple books and a journal occupied her. I sat and stared at the unicorn as she flipped through a few pages in a book, writing it down in her journal with a quill constantly. She was doing all of this with her magic, which seemed a bit unfair.

I mean, I could just about apply my magic onto objects and hold them, since I only learnt how to use magic a couple days ago, and that was after having somebody skilled with magic(I think Chryssy is skilled at least) had taught me how.

“So…” I looked down at the baby dragon, who I now know is named Spike. “How far gone is… your mother? Sister? Cousin? What the heck is she in relation to you?”

Spike rubbed his chin. “How did you know I live here too?”

“You’re a baby for one thing,” I pointed at Twilight. “And somebody has to keep an eye on ya. Despite how old you probably are, I think you still kinda need an adult, pony or dragon, to show you the ropes of life. Even if you’re way more mature than anybody I spoke with at your age… Whatever that age may be.”

Spike raised an eyebrow before shrugging. “Well… It’s kinda weird. Unofficially, but kinda officially, I am Twilight’s personal assistant, but Twilight is kinda like an older sister to me. Since, when I hatched, Twilight was barely six and wasn’t ready to properly take care of me, so her parents did. Out of the other two children in the house, I liked hanging out with Twilight more, helping her find a book she needs… and then I actually became her assistant as she got older under Princess Celestia’s tutorage. Now I am Twilight Sparkle’s number one assistant!” Spike said, a bit of pride swirled up into his voice at his proclamation.

“Huh… That’s pretty neat, I guess,” I look at Twilight. “Think she’d notice if I were to bonk her on the nose?”

“Wanna try it?” Spike asked with a grin. Without another word, I simply nodfrf, and tiptoed up to the busy unicorn.

I reached over with a hoof, having successfully sneaked up on the wild Twilight, and booped the purple snoot. For a moment, Twilight had gone crossed eyed and went right back to hyper fixating on the books in front of her. So I did it again, and again, and again and laughed. God that is kinda cute, but also incredibly unhealthy. Like, you cannot get that invested in studying, ever, especially when somebody might feel like waltzing up to you and shoving a knife in your back or something. Luckily, I don’t think anybody around Ponyville would do that to Twilight, but it was still kinda dangerous.

“W-wha?” Twilight blinked, looking here and there, the items in her magic fell to the desk that the unicorn was studying on, and her eyes fell on me.

“Oh, so me actually poking you won’t get you to notice me, but a laugh will?” I chuckled, while Spike was rolling on the floor and wiping tears from his eyes. “Seriously, you focus way too much on studying… whatever the heck,” I looked at the book, barely lifting it up in my magic, and just about threw the thing while spinning the book around.

“Ah, yes, oceans. I know a lot about those?” I commented. “They’re filled with a liquid, that’s similar to the liquid every living thing on this planet needs to survive, but is so salty and poop filled, that nothing can drink it without dying.” That got a good giggle out of Twilight, which was admittedly adorable(why was every other pony in this country kinda adorable? Even Chryssy is really cute, and she has fangs that are as long as salad knives).

“Yeah… I just felt the urge to study the biography of the ocean; it’s pretty interesting. Surely, you’d get what I mean when I say that the ocean is an interesting place, and that you’d want to learn as much as you can about it.”

“Shouldn’t you… go outside? It’s a nice, lovely day, birds are singing, flowers are blooming. On days like this, ponies like you should be taking a light jog, or enjoy the scenery of this peaceful, little town.”

“Well… All of my friends are busy at the moment, so I figured I might as well do this. Want to join me? I know you said you like studying.”

“Psychology and body language. And while I do love learning about random, stupid stuff, like How Celestia’s ribs, just below her wings, are very ticklish. Or how Luna knows at least seventeen different languages, including a couple languages that, for all intent and purposes, are dead languages.”

“As in languages nopony even uses anymore… How do you know any of that? It’s like you’ve spent a decent amount of time around the Princesses, as a friend, privately.”

“I do on occasion. Sometimes after work, Luna and I chat for a bit, sometimes she teaches me a few words from these languages, and I have a lot of fun with that. Language is a huge part of history, it’s how history’s written down, and I love some history every now and then. I got invited over to the castle a few times and ended up tickling Celestia until she cried…” I chuckled at the mental image of what Princess Cadance must’ve seen:

Her aunt, one of the tallest creatures that Cadance has ever known, leaning onto a unicorn that’s below the average height for mares, while crying and catching her breath.

Boy did Celly get me back; my hooves are ticklish apparently.

“That…”

“Is why you should treat Celestia as more of a friend… She’s your teacher right?” Twilight nodded. “Your Princess?” Another nod. “Well, your Princess is probably sick and tired of being treated… basically as a goddess all the time. I know she wants to get ponies to relax around her and treat her like, well, a pony. Luna is in a similar vein, even if she is a bit more reclusive than Celestia is.”

I patted Twilight on the head, she was staring at me like a child would stare at candy. “As somepony, who would like to think he’s good friends with Celestia and Luna, do this for me, and for them. While speaking with Celestia or Luna in private, relax a little, joke a bit. They’ll love it. Underneath all that regality, titles, and wisdom, lies two ponies who’d love friends, not worshippers or subjects.”

“Oh dear Celestia…” Twilight trailed off. Huh, didn’t know Celery’s name was used in sayings like that. “I know! I can send Celestia a letter, and ask if she’d like to chat over some tea!”

I chuckled. “I bet she’d love that.”

I stepped out of the library, leaving Twilight to write her letter to Celestia, and took a deep breath. God this town was nice, it was so much quieter than Canterlot. Who knows? I might come here when I retire, and, hopefully, live out the rest of my days with Chrysalis before I eventually pass… on. Oh fuck.

Chrysalis has stated that she's been around for several ‘lifetimes’. Chances are, those are normal pony lifetimes, which means Chrysalis has to be pretty damn old at this point. And while she did look amazing for her age(she was hot as fuck), that did leave me wondering… What will happen when I pass away? There’s a solid chance that Chryssy will look as young as she does now, while I’m old and gray, and probably will look the same when I’m long dead.

Will I be remembered for anything? Will Chrysalis remember me at all in a hundred years? Will I be able to make anything of myself? Hell, can I make a difference in the world? Make it better than when I entered it and whatnot. I doubt it, but that won’t stop me from trying to leave the world better when I found it.

God damn, that is a lot to think about. So much so that I didn’t notice that I had ended up in the marketplace somehow. Well, I didn’t notice until I bumped into a sign that had marked the entrance to the marketplace.. Well, when you’re feeling down, or just a downright existential crisis like I am right now, just buy something sweet and forget your worries! Haha… that’s how I do things at least. I don’t need to let anybody know about what I was thinking about.

My emotions weren’t worth stressing over.

Oh look! Candied apples! Oh my… Only five bits? I trotted on over, just to realize that Apple Jack’s the pony running the stand.

“Howdy der Fruit’ Punch! How can Ah help you today? You kinda walked into the marketplace lookin’ like y’allre about to have a mental breakdown. Is everything alright?”

“Yeah. Everything’s fine,” Apple Jack raised an eyebrow. “I just need something to clear my mind, and I think one of those,” I pointed at a candied apple. “Would help me clear my head.” I pulled out my money pouch and quickly got five bits out with my hooves.

“Okay… but if somethin’ on yer mind, you can tell me. It’s not good to keep yerself all bottled up, or else ya’ll explode all over the place.” I handed over the bits, and I was given that candied apple in return. “Say, ain’t you gonna hold that in your magic?” I looked down to the apple’s stick in my hooves.

“Uh… No. Why?”

“Ah figured as a fancy, Canterlot dwellon’ unicorn like yerself wouldn’t want to get your hooves dirty.”

I laughed. “I work in fast food. I couldn’t give less of a shit when it comes to cleanliness beyond brushing my teeth and taking showers. So what if a little caramel gets stuck in my fur? Pretty sure Crystal would just groom me, and find it more enjoyable when I taste faintly of caramel.” I took a bite from the side of the apple, like a normal person and hummed.

Jesus christ this is the best thing I’ve ever eaten. Yeah, it’s sugar on an already sweet fruit, but the caramel’s so god damn good! And the apple is unlike any apple I’ve eaten. Apple Crack, what the fuck? You too? You stick crack into your food too? If so, keep doing it, I love the taste of cocaine-laced-shit apparently.

“Ah take it you like it?” I nodded. “Want another? On the house!”

“Uh…”

“Yer a friend o’ mine, you get a discount.”

“But…”

“No butts, Mister. Yer a friend ol’ Rarity’s, and it seems like Twilight likes ya, so ya can’t be that bad. Ah’d like to think we’re friends.”

“The friend of my friend is my friend?”

“Uh… yeah, something like dat. Ya’ll Canterlot folk and your fancy sayings.”

It was a quote I saw from Star Wars, shut up Mom.

“I think I’m good on sugar today, Apple Jack. Thanks for the offer though.” I took another bite from the side.

“You can eat the whole thing. The stick is a cinnamon stick,” Apple Jack commented.

“But the core-“

“Is safe to eat. Are you even a pony?” AJ was now glaring at me through half lidded eyes.

“Yeah. This is like, the first time I’ve had a candied apple in forever. I kinda forgot how to eat these things.” Technically, that wasn't a lie!

“... Sure thing, partner.” I quickly wobbled off before Apple Jack could question me further. That pony is scarily good at catching half truths. I shoved the whole candied apple in my mouth(huh, the core IS edible and the best part), and at the whole thing including the stick, before running-

Ow… Ow… Fucking hell! I groaned, rolling onto my side, taking a moment to let my vision clear up. What the shit hit me? I opened my eyes, to see Apple Jack facing three fillies, and probably yelling at them. I don’t know because my head was ringing, and my ass feels like it’s broken. Along with everything, anything connected to, or is a part of my body. My vision cleared up by the time I sat up, and my head wasn’t ringing nearly as hard.

“Mr. Fruit Punch?” I looked down to see the three fillies, one of which was wearing a bicycle helmet and I could kinda put two and two together if my head didn’t feel like it’s been skullfucked really hard. The orange filly looked like she was about ready to apologize simply because she was told to, while the other two looked genuinely sorry. “We’re sorry for hitting you. We weren’t looking where we were going,” the unicorn walked up to me and nudged me with her head.

“It’s fine,” I groaned. “I’ll just ask Crystal to hit me with a healing spell later, and I’ll be as good as new,” I patted the unicorn on the head. “Just watch where you guys are going while traveling at terminal speeds next time. Why were you guys in such a rush?” I asked, tilting my head.

“We were going to go get our diamond mining cutie marks and… then we crashed into you- wait!” The orange one looked at her flank and sighed in disappointment. “No crashing into pony cutie marks!” She sighed. So if I know cutie marks, it’s that they’re supposed to kinda help define who you are, and what you’re good at. Something that you love to do, and insanely talented at that thing you love doing. Finding who you are… I can’t help but sympathize with that, when back in college, I was finding out who I want to be.

“So… you kiddos don’t have your cutie marks…” I hummed. “How are you going about it?”

“Just trying things and seeing if we get our cutie marks, and nothing seems to be working!” The pegasus stomped her hoof on the ground.

“Look,” I sat up and placed both hooves on the kid’s shoulders. “If you can’t get your cutie marks, what’s the big deal? Your life isn’t defined by being good at something, or whatever magical mark appears on your flank one day. What matters most is what you do with yourself; be the best pony you can be, and be good to others.” I chuckled to myself. “I remember when I once struggled with finding out what I was good at. It got so bad that I couldn’t fully appreciate what I already had going for me. And while cutie marks are awesome, you shouldn’t stress over them.”

“That…” the orange filly looked up into my eyes. “Sounds…” she never broke eye contact. “Lame!” She pushed my hooves off her shoulders, got on her scooter, and called her friends to her. In moments, those children were gone.

“Fruit!” I turned around, seeing Apple Jack was still around. “Ah must say, that was pretty sound advice even if it fell on deaf ears.”

“Eh, I hope that those kids at least listened to some of what I said. But if they didn’t, it’s whatever. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.” Apple Jack raised an eyebrow. “It’s a saying I’ve heard over my travels. Kinda means that you can offer to help somebody, but you can’t make them accept the help.” Apple Jack nodded. I waved a hoof. ‘Well, I’ll see you around.” I turned and trotted out of the market.

“Fruity!” Wait, wha- Chrysalis, under her usual disguise, walked up to me, threw me on her back, and began trotting off to where we were camping. Why do I let this happen? Well, Chrysalis is capable of murdering me, but that isn’t why. You see, I feel really safe here, like nothing can hurt me while I’m being holstered on this bug’s back. And, what’s even better, Chrysalis smells like chocolate cake right now, and makes me actually want to be her even more than usual.

“Why do you smell faintly of depression, Fruit?” Chrysalis asked, coming to a sudden stop. We were in the middle of the forest, so Chrysalis had quickly sat down, and undisguised herself. “Is something wrong?” she nudged me. “Well? Please tell me; it would help if you did.”

“Will… you outlive me?”

“It… Oh, I see. You wonder if I will remember you when you are long gone, correct?” She asked, pulling me close to her chest. “I can taste how you’re feeling, Fruit. I know that’s what is bothering you. And the answer is yes. I remember many lovers, and I will especially remember you. You are the only pony I have chosen to date, that would be willing to date me, as… this, and not as somepony I am disguised as. For that, I already love you, and I will keep loving you even while you are old and gray.” My ears flattened, and she nipped my neck. Both of my forelegs popped out from under me.

“Oh? A spot to remember?” I was now blushing, and currently trying to bury my face into her neck. “But just know Fruit, my hearts will remember you, and will forever beat for you. There will be some nights where I might long for your embrace long after you’ve passed on.”

“Chrysalis?” I looked up at her. “I love you.” I nuzzled into the big bug.

“I know,” she whispered, holding me tighter.

Neither of us slept in the tent that night.

Author's Note

bug horse is best therapy horse.