You're Not Hereby SolariusChaptersPrologueChapter 1 - With You, With MeInterlude - Love Was Never Meant To Be Such A Crazy AffairPrologueDear Princess Celestia, Something amazing has happened. This morning Fluttershy found a creature that I've never heard of before, and that isn't in any of my books. A Human. Somehow, he speaks Equestrian, though he has an accent I've never heard before. He seems to be from another world entirely, one very different from Equestria. But that's not all. His magic is different from ours in so many ways, and it breaks most of the Laws of Unicorn Magic. I haved used a new spell to transcribe my memories of the meeting, (With some editing and notes, of course.) for the sake of completeness. --Begin Transcript-- "So, you're the new arrival everypony's been talking about." The creature was tall, far taller than a pony. Thin, too, with long arms ending in some kind of blunt claws. It...She? Was it a male or female? It did seem slender and somewhat mare-ish, but it's clothes were masculine, a white suit and matching fedora hat. Better ask about that soon. But first... "My name is Twilight Sparkle. Now, you're a "Human", is that right?" He nodded. (Fascinating, it also shares our body language. To a degree, anyway.) "And what is your name?" It bowed, one forelimb over its chest. "I am Kazamura Sankashu." Hm. Definitely not an Equestrian name. Not even similar to any of the species we know of. "Are you a mare or stallion?" "Am I what...Oh, I get it. I'm a "stallion", in your terms. Uhh, what else should I tell you...I come from a land they used to call Japan, before the Great War. I am a scientist, an expert in Thaumaturgic Resonance." I was slightly put off by this. "So, can you use magic yourself? Actually cast spells?" He looked uncertain. "Well, normally I can, but I'm not sure about how it works in your world. The magical energy of this place is very different from my own." "Really?" I asked, intrigued. "How so?" "Well, where I come from, magical energy is like a mist that covers the land, with Magus drawing it into themselves from outside, or objects named "Cauldrons" that produce it naturally. But here, in this "Equestria", magic inhabits everything; the trees, the grass, the animals, even the very ground itself. It flows, perfectly in sync with the entire planet." "That is fascinating, I must send a letter to the Princess about it...well, I should tell her who you are, first. She'll probably want to meet you herself." "You mean Princess Celestia, right? Your friend told me about her. I guess I should see her, if this is her land." "Great!" I smiled wide, barely containing my excitement. "But first, could I see some of your magic?" "Of course. Let me just think for a moment...ah yes. That should do.' He raised a arm, a mathematical formula appearing in front of him, glowing blue. He waved his arm slightly, and one of the low stools slowly moved across the floor, then fell over. "Okay, not as good as I hoped, but at least it worked, eh Miss Sparkle? Uh, Twilight?" How did he do that?! He didn't have a horn or reagents or anything! He didn't even channel the magic through one of those claws of his! "How..." I shook my head slowy. "How did you do that? What did you use to control the energy? Why didn't the stool glow? None of that made any sense!" "Well, I just repeat this equation in my head, forming the magic together in a very specific way, and execute the results with my mind." "But that's not...magic doesn't...." "Miss Sparkle? Are you okay?" Everything I knew about magic, turned upside down in a few seconds. The Princess will definitely be hearing about this. The implications were astounding. "That equation...could I see it? Please!?!" "Sure. Here you go." He grabbed a piece of paper, muttering to himself as the formula appeared, again glowing blue. I walked up next to him, eyes scanning the paper frantcially. But if I was hanging on the edge of the precipice before, I fell off completely after I read that page. "THIS IS TOTAL GIBBERRISH!! NONE OF THOSE SYMBOLS HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH EACH OTHER! IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE!!" (Apparently that was the point where I passed out.) --Transcript End-- As you can see, Princess, Kazamura is very different from most creatures in Equestria, and his magic is utterly unique. I would like to study him further, but I trust your judgement in this matter. Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle. Chapter 1 - With You, With MeMy name is Roseluck, you might have seen me around, maybe selling flowers at the Ponyville market. I've always been a very "normal" sort of mare, as normal as one can be living in this town. Never got involved in all that stuff Twilight Sparkle and her crazy friends seemed to cause on a regular basis. Then I met the human. I'd never seen anything like him before, and the moment I laid eyes on him, I had to know everything. Who he was, where he was from, what it was like there. Why he seemed so sad behind that cheerful face. I first met Kazamura in the market, when Twilight Sparkle was showing him around the town. She'd brought him around to the flower stands, and I couldn't help staring. He looked so tall and graceful, the tails of his coat flapping lightly in the breeze, one hand resting on his hat. He noticed me staring, and walked closer, smiling. As he drew up to me, some tiny part of my brain screamed in terror. This creature seemed so dangerous, with pointy teeth ready to tear my throat and hands that could snap my bones with ease. I was frozen in place, staring at his toothy grin, until he spoke. "These are very nice roses. Do you grow them yourself?" I managed to regain some control of my body. "Um, yes. They're one bit each. Ten if you want a dozen. Oh, I'm sorry, you won't have any money if you just got here." "It's okay. I was just having a look. My name's Kazamura, by the way. You've probably gathered that I'm not from around here." He chuckled. "Oh yes, I'd heard rumours that a creature from another world had appeared around here. Though, most of them said you were three metres tall and had tentacles." He laughed, but I could see something else cross his face for a moment as his smile wavered. "Oh, where are my manners? My name is Roseluck, you can call me Rose if you want. Sorry for staring at you." "It's fine. I would have done the same if I was in your position. It's so different here from my home...and way more colourful. It's like a child's picture book." "Yeah, it is a bit too cheerful around here for me sometimes. Will you be staying a while?" "Well, I'm not even sure how I got here. Twilight and the Princesses are looking into spells that could help, but we don't know if my world is another planet or a parallel version of this one." I shuddered, imagining what it would be like to be in some alien land, with no idea how to get home, or even where home was. "Wow, that really sucks," I said. "Oh, damn, I'm probably not making you feel any better, huh?" He smiled. "That's okay, Equestria seems like a cool place. I'd like to spend some time here and have a look around." "Really? That's great. Maybe I could show you around sometime? Oh, here, I'll give you a rose on the house. Once you get some bits you can buy a few, if you want more." "That's very generous of you," he said, placing it in his top pocket. "How does it look?" "Pretty good." I wasn't just trying to get him to buy more, the red really did stand out brilliantly amongst his white suit and dark hair. "Thank you, Rose." He bowed slightly, one arm over his chest, the other holding his hat in place. Twilight had returned, and was looking annoyed. She'd probably scheduled this whole tour of Ponyville. "It's been a pleasure meeting you. But it seems my guide is impatient to show me something. I'll be sure to come back when I get the chance." "That would be great. I'd like to know more about you, Mr Kazamura." **** Later, I had gone drinking with a few friends. Daisy, Lily, Cheerilee. Derpy too; her daughter must have been at a sleepover. Nothing too crazy ever happened on our Girls' Nights, we usually just got slowly drunk and talked about nothing in particular. But that night there was very definitely something they wanted to discuss. "So, you were checking out the human, weren't you Rose?" I sighed. "No, Lily, I was not 'checking him out.' We just talked; nothing happened." Daisy chuckled at that. "Sure you were. Did you get a good look at him? Does he have a tail?" "A tail? I don't think so, there wasn't one I could see, and it probably wouldn't fit into those clothes of his." She smiled triumphantly. "I knew it! You were looking at his flank!" I sputtered into my drink and mumbled several curses at her under my breath. Then Cheerilee spoke up. "I don't like him. Twilight brought him around to the schoolhouse before to talk to the foals so they wouldn't be scared of him. Well, maybe they should be! I swear he looked hungry behind that smile of his." "His name is Kazamura, and I think you're being way too paranoid, Cheer. Xenophobic, even. Remember what happened with Zecora? Just because he's different doesn't mean he wants to eat foals. Sure, he's intimidating at first, but once you talk to him he's really polite and nice. Oh, what is it now?" Lily and Daisy had been exchanging a knowing look. They both giggled. Derpy just looked at them, confused. "You totally want to boink him!" Don't know why I even bother sometimes. Those two just don't listen. I managed to form a half-hearted comeback. "Go easy on those drinks, girls. Wouldn't want you two to get drunk and wake up in bed together for, oh what was it, the fourth time now? Maybe this time you can get Derpy to join in." She looked indignant at this. Well, I think she did, it's hard to tell, with the, you know. "I don't like mares, Rose! You know that." I snorted. "Neither do they, to hear them tell it. Doesn't stop them from having gay sex all the time." I had won this round. I could tell from the bright blushing of the mares in question. Not that I had any problem with filly fooling, it's just that these two were so buried in self-denial it was ridiculous. Even Derpy could see it. "So then, shall we abandon the topic of sexuality? Good." There was an uncomfortable pause. Eventually, the conversation started up again. I lay back in the booth and downed my drink, letting the alcohol flow through me as Cheerilee talked about the students and whatever destruction Scootaloo and friends had caused lately. My thoughts began to drift back to my earlier encounter. This being from another world, who was he, really? What had he done? How many of the rumours were true? I resolved to seek him out tomorrow and ask him. Interlude - Love Was Never Meant To Be Such A Crazy AffairRose woke in the middle of the night to a tapping on her window. When she saw who was there, she facehoofed. "Oh for Celestia's sake, what now?" She opened the window. "Lily, what the hay are you doing out there?" "RosehelpmeIdon'tknowwhattodo." "Slow down, and come inside. No, not the window, come to the back door." Rose let her inside, and that sat down in the living room. "Now, what's the problem?" "It's Daisy. She...I...Well. You know about all those nights we went home together, and yes, things did happen. Things we don't really understand. And they happened again tonight. Sort of." Rose sighed. "I'm glad you're finally acknowledging it, late as it is. But tell me what you mean by sort of." "Well, you see...I was, um, you know, my face was like..." Lily made a gesture indicating between her thighs. "You were going down on her?" Lily blushed hard but nodded, embarrassed. "And?" "She, she started crying. I didn't realise and I kept going until she came and then she pushed me away and ran out of the house. I don't know where she went. What do I do, Rose? She's my best friend, and I scared her away." "Lily. Do you really care about her?" "Yes, of course." "Do you want to be with her? You know what I mean." "I...yes. I do." "You know what that means, right?" Lily sighed. "Yes. I'm a lesbian. I've been lying to myself for so long. We both have, me and Daisy. Neither of us have really been interested in stallions. We've been best friends for so long, and one night we both got really drunk and went to my place to sleep. We just started cuddling and it sort of went on from there. It felt so good to hold her against me, her warmth, her soft body..." "And there's nothing wrong with that. Now, you better have a shower before we go around looking for her, you're a bit...damp." “Oh. Sorry about that, I did run straight here after going to Daisy’s. Don’t worry, I know where your bathroom is.” As soon as Lily was out of earshot, Rose sighed and rubbed her face. “Oh you silly girls, why did you have to make this so hard? Well...I suppose love is never really easy...not that I’d know from experience. Now I’m talking to myself again.” She sighed even harder and went to get a jacket. *** “Alright, so where do we start?” “Hm. I already went to her house and there was nopony there, so maybe...her parents’ place?” “You know where it is?” “Yup. I’ve been there a few times. Come on, follow me!” “Wha- Lily, slow down!” *** “This is it, Rose.” “Do you want me to knock for you?” “No, I’ll do it.” Lily took a deep breath, and knocked on the front door with her hoof. A middle-aged mare answered, giving a disapproving look. “So it’s you, Lily. I should’ve known you were the one who got my daughter into such a state. She’s in her old room, crying. I don’t know what exactly is going on between you girls, but you better fix it.” “Yes Ma’am. I’ll go talk to her. Thanks for all your help, Rose.” “It was nothing. I’m gonna go home and sleep now, I’ll see you girls in the morning.” Lily steeled herself and went inside, slowly opening the door to Daisy’s old room. She was lying on the bed, hugging a pillow. “Daisy?” “Lily? What are you-?” She was interrupted by a hug, the breath suddenly rushing out of her. “Oh Daisy, why did you have to run away? You made me so worried.” “I...I just didn’t know what to do. What’s wrong with us, Lily? Why am I like this?” “There’s nothing wrong with us. I love you, and I want to make you happy. We’ll never be happy lying to ourselves. “ “But what about our families and friends? They’re going to hate us...” “If they really want what’s best for us, they’ll understand. And if they don’t...well, we don’t need them, as long as we have each other. You’re more important to me that anypony else in the whole world.” “Lily...do you really mean that?” Lily moved forward until they were almost nose-to-nose, and then kissed Daisy gently. “Of course I do. I love you, you silly pony.” Daisy pulled her friend into a passionate hug. “I love you too.” *** Rose eased into her bed, stifling a yawn. “Sometimes I wish people could just fix their own problems for a change. But I’m happy for those two.” You’re talking to yourself again. “Shut up, brain.” She drifted off to sleep, but her dreams were filled with snakes and chains and a cruel laugh she did not recognise.
PrologueDear Princess Celestia, Something amazing has happened. This morning Fluttershy found a creature that I've never heard of before, and that isn't in any of my books. A Human. Somehow, he speaks Equestrian, though he has an accent I've never heard before. He seems to be from another world entirely, one very different from Equestria. But that's not all. His magic is different from ours in so many ways, and it breaks most of the Laws of Unicorn Magic. I haved used a new spell to transcribe my memories of the meeting, (With some editing and notes, of course.) for the sake of completeness. --Begin Transcript-- "So, you're the new arrival everypony's been talking about." The creature was tall, far taller than a pony. Thin, too, with long arms ending in some kind of blunt claws. It...She? Was it a male or female? It did seem slender and somewhat mare-ish, but it's clothes were masculine, a white suit and matching fedora hat. Better ask about that soon. But first... "My name is Twilight Sparkle. Now, you're a "Human", is that right?" He nodded. (Fascinating, it also shares our body language. To a degree, anyway.) "And what is your name?" It bowed, one forelimb over its chest. "I am Kazamura Sankashu." Hm. Definitely not an Equestrian name. Not even similar to any of the species we know of. "Are you a mare or stallion?" "Am I what...Oh, I get it. I'm a "stallion", in your terms. Uhh, what else should I tell you...I come from a land they used to call Japan, before the Great War. I am a scientist, an expert in Thaumaturgic Resonance." I was slightly put off by this. "So, can you use magic yourself? Actually cast spells?" He looked uncertain. "Well, normally I can, but I'm not sure about how it works in your world. The magical energy of this place is very different from my own." "Really?" I asked, intrigued. "How so?" "Well, where I come from, magical energy is like a mist that covers the land, with Magus drawing it into themselves from outside, or objects named "Cauldrons" that produce it naturally. But here, in this "Equestria", magic inhabits everything; the trees, the grass, the animals, even the very ground itself. It flows, perfectly in sync with the entire planet." "That is fascinating, I must send a letter to the Princess about it...well, I should tell her who you are, first. She'll probably want to meet you herself." "You mean Princess Celestia, right? Your friend told me about her. I guess I should see her, if this is her land." "Great!" I smiled wide, barely containing my excitement. "But first, could I see some of your magic?" "Of course. Let me just think for a moment...ah yes. That should do.' He raised a arm, a mathematical formula appearing in front of him, glowing blue. He waved his arm slightly, and one of the low stools slowly moved across the floor, then fell over. "Okay, not as good as I hoped, but at least it worked, eh Miss Sparkle? Uh, Twilight?" How did he do that?! He didn't have a horn or reagents or anything! He didn't even channel the magic through one of those claws of his! "How..." I shook my head slowy. "How did you do that? What did you use to control the energy? Why didn't the stool glow? None of that made any sense!" "Well, I just repeat this equation in my head, forming the magic together in a very specific way, and execute the results with my mind." "But that's not...magic doesn't...." "Miss Sparkle? Are you okay?" Everything I knew about magic, turned upside down in a few seconds. The Princess will definitely be hearing about this. The implications were astounding. "That equation...could I see it? Please!?!" "Sure. Here you go." He grabbed a piece of paper, muttering to himself as the formula appeared, again glowing blue. I walked up next to him, eyes scanning the paper frantcially. But if I was hanging on the edge of the precipice before, I fell off completely after I read that page. "THIS IS TOTAL GIBBERRISH!! NONE OF THOSE SYMBOLS HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH EACH OTHER! IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE!!" (Apparently that was the point where I passed out.) --Transcript End-- As you can see, Princess, Kazamura is very different from most creatures in Equestria, and his magic is utterly unique. I would like to study him further, but I trust your judgement in this matter. Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle.
Chapter 1 - With You, With MeMy name is Roseluck, you might have seen me around, maybe selling flowers at the Ponyville market. I've always been a very "normal" sort of mare, as normal as one can be living in this town. Never got involved in all that stuff Twilight Sparkle and her crazy friends seemed to cause on a regular basis. Then I met the human. I'd never seen anything like him before, and the moment I laid eyes on him, I had to know everything. Who he was, where he was from, what it was like there. Why he seemed so sad behind that cheerful face. I first met Kazamura in the market, when Twilight Sparkle was showing him around the town. She'd brought him around to the flower stands, and I couldn't help staring. He looked so tall and graceful, the tails of his coat flapping lightly in the breeze, one hand resting on his hat. He noticed me staring, and walked closer, smiling. As he drew up to me, some tiny part of my brain screamed in terror. This creature seemed so dangerous, with pointy teeth ready to tear my throat and hands that could snap my bones with ease. I was frozen in place, staring at his toothy grin, until he spoke. "These are very nice roses. Do you grow them yourself?" I managed to regain some control of my body. "Um, yes. They're one bit each. Ten if you want a dozen. Oh, I'm sorry, you won't have any money if you just got here." "It's okay. I was just having a look. My name's Kazamura, by the way. You've probably gathered that I'm not from around here." He chuckled. "Oh yes, I'd heard rumours that a creature from another world had appeared around here. Though, most of them said you were three metres tall and had tentacles." He laughed, but I could see something else cross his face for a moment as his smile wavered. "Oh, where are my manners? My name is Roseluck, you can call me Rose if you want. Sorry for staring at you." "It's fine. I would have done the same if I was in your position. It's so different here from my home...and way more colourful. It's like a child's picture book." "Yeah, it is a bit too cheerful around here for me sometimes. Will you be staying a while?" "Well, I'm not even sure how I got here. Twilight and the Princesses are looking into spells that could help, but we don't know if my world is another planet or a parallel version of this one." I shuddered, imagining what it would be like to be in some alien land, with no idea how to get home, or even where home was. "Wow, that really sucks," I said. "Oh, damn, I'm probably not making you feel any better, huh?" He smiled. "That's okay, Equestria seems like a cool place. I'd like to spend some time here and have a look around." "Really? That's great. Maybe I could show you around sometime? Oh, here, I'll give you a rose on the house. Once you get some bits you can buy a few, if you want more." "That's very generous of you," he said, placing it in his top pocket. "How does it look?" "Pretty good." I wasn't just trying to get him to buy more, the red really did stand out brilliantly amongst his white suit and dark hair. "Thank you, Rose." He bowed slightly, one arm over his chest, the other holding his hat in place. Twilight had returned, and was looking annoyed. She'd probably scheduled this whole tour of Ponyville. "It's been a pleasure meeting you. But it seems my guide is impatient to show me something. I'll be sure to come back when I get the chance." "That would be great. I'd like to know more about you, Mr Kazamura." **** Later, I had gone drinking with a few friends. Daisy, Lily, Cheerilee. Derpy too; her daughter must have been at a sleepover. Nothing too crazy ever happened on our Girls' Nights, we usually just got slowly drunk and talked about nothing in particular. But that night there was very definitely something they wanted to discuss. "So, you were checking out the human, weren't you Rose?" I sighed. "No, Lily, I was not 'checking him out.' We just talked; nothing happened." Daisy chuckled at that. "Sure you were. Did you get a good look at him? Does he have a tail?" "A tail? I don't think so, there wasn't one I could see, and it probably wouldn't fit into those clothes of his." She smiled triumphantly. "I knew it! You were looking at his flank!" I sputtered into my drink and mumbled several curses at her under my breath. Then Cheerilee spoke up. "I don't like him. Twilight brought him around to the schoolhouse before to talk to the foals so they wouldn't be scared of him. Well, maybe they should be! I swear he looked hungry behind that smile of his." "His name is Kazamura, and I think you're being way too paranoid, Cheer. Xenophobic, even. Remember what happened with Zecora? Just because he's different doesn't mean he wants to eat foals. Sure, he's intimidating at first, but once you talk to him he's really polite and nice. Oh, what is it now?" Lily and Daisy had been exchanging a knowing look. They both giggled. Derpy just looked at them, confused. "You totally want to boink him!" Don't know why I even bother sometimes. Those two just don't listen. I managed to form a half-hearted comeback. "Go easy on those drinks, girls. Wouldn't want you two to get drunk and wake up in bed together for, oh what was it, the fourth time now? Maybe this time you can get Derpy to join in." She looked indignant at this. Well, I think she did, it's hard to tell, with the, you know. "I don't like mares, Rose! You know that." I snorted. "Neither do they, to hear them tell it. Doesn't stop them from having gay sex all the time." I had won this round. I could tell from the bright blushing of the mares in question. Not that I had any problem with filly fooling, it's just that these two were so buried in self-denial it was ridiculous. Even Derpy could see it. "So then, shall we abandon the topic of sexuality? Good." There was an uncomfortable pause. Eventually, the conversation started up again. I lay back in the booth and downed my drink, letting the alcohol flow through me as Cheerilee talked about the students and whatever destruction Scootaloo and friends had caused lately. My thoughts began to drift back to my earlier encounter. This being from another world, who was he, really? What had he done? How many of the rumours were true? I resolved to seek him out tomorrow and ask him.
Interlude - Love Was Never Meant To Be Such A Crazy AffairRose woke in the middle of the night to a tapping on her window. When she saw who was there, she facehoofed. "Oh for Celestia's sake, what now?" She opened the window. "Lily, what the hay are you doing out there?" "RosehelpmeIdon'tknowwhattodo." "Slow down, and come inside. No, not the window, come to the back door." Rose let her inside, and that sat down in the living room. "Now, what's the problem?" "It's Daisy. She...I...Well. You know about all those nights we went home together, and yes, things did happen. Things we don't really understand. And they happened again tonight. Sort of." Rose sighed. "I'm glad you're finally acknowledging it, late as it is. But tell me what you mean by sort of." "Well, you see...I was, um, you know, my face was like..." Lily made a gesture indicating between her thighs. "You were going down on her?" Lily blushed hard but nodded, embarrassed. "And?" "She, she started crying. I didn't realise and I kept going until she came and then she pushed me away and ran out of the house. I don't know where she went. What do I do, Rose? She's my best friend, and I scared her away." "Lily. Do you really care about her?" "Yes, of course." "Do you want to be with her? You know what I mean." "I...yes. I do." "You know what that means, right?" Lily sighed. "Yes. I'm a lesbian. I've been lying to myself for so long. We both have, me and Daisy. Neither of us have really been interested in stallions. We've been best friends for so long, and one night we both got really drunk and went to my place to sleep. We just started cuddling and it sort of went on from there. It felt so good to hold her against me, her warmth, her soft body..." "And there's nothing wrong with that. Now, you better have a shower before we go around looking for her, you're a bit...damp." “Oh. Sorry about that, I did run straight here after going to Daisy’s. Don’t worry, I know where your bathroom is.” As soon as Lily was out of earshot, Rose sighed and rubbed her face. “Oh you silly girls, why did you have to make this so hard? Well...I suppose love is never really easy...not that I’d know from experience. Now I’m talking to myself again.” She sighed even harder and went to get a jacket. *** “Alright, so where do we start?” “Hm. I already went to her house and there was nopony there, so maybe...her parents’ place?” “You know where it is?” “Yup. I’ve been there a few times. Come on, follow me!” “Wha- Lily, slow down!” *** “This is it, Rose.” “Do you want me to knock for you?” “No, I’ll do it.” Lily took a deep breath, and knocked on the front door with her hoof. A middle-aged mare answered, giving a disapproving look. “So it’s you, Lily. I should’ve known you were the one who got my daughter into such a state. She’s in her old room, crying. I don’t know what exactly is going on between you girls, but you better fix it.” “Yes Ma’am. I’ll go talk to her. Thanks for all your help, Rose.” “It was nothing. I’m gonna go home and sleep now, I’ll see you girls in the morning.” Lily steeled herself and went inside, slowly opening the door to Daisy’s old room. She was lying on the bed, hugging a pillow. “Daisy?” “Lily? What are you-?” She was interrupted by a hug, the breath suddenly rushing out of her. “Oh Daisy, why did you have to run away? You made me so worried.” “I...I just didn’t know what to do. What’s wrong with us, Lily? Why am I like this?” “There’s nothing wrong with us. I love you, and I want to make you happy. We’ll never be happy lying to ourselves. “ “But what about our families and friends? They’re going to hate us...” “If they really want what’s best for us, they’ll understand. And if they don’t...well, we don’t need them, as long as we have each other. You’re more important to me that anypony else in the whole world.” “Lily...do you really mean that?” Lily moved forward until they were almost nose-to-nose, and then kissed Daisy gently. “Of course I do. I love you, you silly pony.” Daisy pulled her friend into a passionate hug. “I love you too.” *** Rose eased into her bed, stifling a yawn. “Sometimes I wish people could just fix their own problems for a change. But I’m happy for those two.” You’re talking to yourself again. “Shut up, brain.” She drifted off to sleep, but her dreams were filled with snakes and chains and a cruel laugh she did not recognise.
