Being Different

"Just keep an open mind." Twilight's words were careful and hesitant. Whatever she's about to ask she knows I'm not going to like it.

I narrow my eyes a little and say "Okay."

"It isn't safe here. We should relocate, head into to-"

"Absolutely not."

"You said you'd keep an open mind!" she whines.

"I did, then you said we should move into town." I retort, trying to make it seem as though she's the crazy one. "Look, whatever comes our way I'll take care of it." She's about to start arguing again. "You don't get a say in it, future girl. You want to go to town? Be my guest, just don't let the door hit you on the way out." I finish, then raise my brow waiting to see what she's going to do.

She stands there, looking downright furious. "Fine." is the only thing she manages to let out and I grin triumphantly. "I'll write to you when I've settled in."

Huh? "Huh?"

Shit. I didn't think she'd actually leave. After all, she's relying on me for protection, despite her powerful magic. Something about affecting the space-time continuum. She went into a rant about it but I just zoned out. Too many long explanations and silly sounding terms I can't pronounce. I think that she thinks I was paying attention though, hopefully it never comes up. Oh, crap. I'm spacing out again.

"...So I really think that it is our best course of action. We need to get away from this place." The last part catches my attention and I choose to pretend I heard everything she said again.

"What happens here?"

"I...Can't tell you. I can tell you that you leave this place anyway, because when I show up here years from now you don't live here anymore."

Damn it all. I sigh. "Look, Twilight, I believe your story, okay? I do. You need to give me something to go on though. I can't do anything unless I know what's going on. You say you've come back to ensure I don't die, yeah?"

She nods.

"Then maybe you've come back to the wrong time. Shouldn't you have gone back to where I got killed and stopped it?"

"Your theory is sound, but there so much more going on. There's a reason I chose to come back quite a bit further, several reasons in fact. It's a long process and I didn't think everything through. I knew I had to get out of there though. I had to do something. It's impossible to save Equestria from where I was. The only way I can save Equestria from the Chimera is to stop them from ever coming into power. They're too strong, Sora. Their leader, especially."

"That makes sense...Except for one thing. If you're trying to save everyone why come here for me?"

Twilight's whispers this next part. "Because I strongly believe that saving you will directly impact the future."

"How?"

"I can't say..."

I throw my arms up in the air, exasperated. This is impossible. She might as well have left me out of the loop completely. It's not like I'm doing any good here. I turn away from her, putting a hand to my forehead as I feel a headache coming on. This is too much.

It's been a few days since she's told me she's from the future and luckily we've been safe from any other attackers, but that might not last forever. Not to mention there's the added difficulty of my new friend. Is it new friend? I'm not sure...Since she technically already was my friend. Right, not important, focus. I feel like I'm adapting pretty well, but my patience is thin. I have a hard time keeping my frustrations in check when it comes to other people; I don't know any other way. It's so confusing, so hard. Throughout all the confusion there's one thing I know for sure and that's that I don't want Twilight to go. Despite the many frustrations that come with being around her she clearly understands me. I guess it's an advantage for me, she must have gone through this with me before, when she originally met me. The bond is there, and now that it is I don't want to lose it. That goes only for Twlight though. I don't think I'm ready to be around others. In a town, full of people. It makes me uneasy. When you're friends you can't always get what you want though, right? If I understand that much why am I so frustrated at her? I feel a hand on my shoulder then jump, spinning around and jumping away from Twilight in the same movement. I'm staring at her, she's wide-eyed. Guess she doesn't know everything about me if she didn't know I'd react like that.

"What's on your mind?" She's choosing her words carefully again. She knows how to speak to me. Anyone else would have asked 'what's wrong?', not her.

I swallow hard. "I want to help." There's more but I can't bring my lips to form the words.

"You will, I-"

"No, you don't understand!" I snap at her. She looks surprised again, and confused. "I want to help but not just by...Fighting. I don't...I don't want to kill again, Twilight. I know this might sound off but I feel like if you need my help I can contribute with more than just my strength..." I'm not explaining myself very well but Twilight's expression softens.

She walked up to me and it looks like she's about to hug me. She probably would have too, if she thought I was able to handle it. I guess she doesn't want to make this period of adapting anymore difficult than it already is. She puts a hand on my shoulder though, like she did the other night. She squeezed reassuringly. "Always remember that you're more than that. Your strength isn't what's going to define you, Sora. Your heart is." She smiles, probably not even realizing the weight her words carry to me. I like that idea and maybe if Twilight can look past what I am others can too.

Before I say anything I realize that for the first time in a while I opened up to someone, willingly. It wasn't very good, it was crude at best but I did it myself. To some this would probably seem stupid, not even note-worthy but for me this is big. I'm a little proud of myself. This is only the beginning though. I groan. "I guess we're moving to Ponyville."

**

"You want to explain how this happened again?" I'm seriously lost. "How do you walk into town, have a very brief conversation with the person who owns the library, then somehow end up living in it?"

"Well, in the future I live here already. Well, I used to until everything went to hell. I chose Ponyville because I feel safe here, comfortable. Not to mention I know it like the back of my hand. As for the library it was really quite easy. The library is closed most of the time, it's unfortunate. I simply offered to work here and keep it open everyday. In exchange we'll be provided a place to live, the library itself, and I managed to sweet talk our way into a food budget every month."

Despite her clear explanation I still don't understand but I decide to let it go. There's really no point in arguing it. The bottom line is that we have a place to live and hopefully we'll be safe here at least for a little while. Twilight still has to figure out what our next move is. I find the sofa and plop myself down on it. "How do you people manage it?"

"What do you mean?" Twilight tilts her head quizzically.

"Well, there's nothing to do all day. I usually spend my days running around collecting supplies, or something like that. What I mean to say is that there's always something to do and it was always in order to help me survive. If I can walk into any store and buy food and I have a stable living space what do I fill my days with?"

Twilight giggles softly. "You relax, Sora. Take a breather for once. We'll be busy soon enough." She takes a more serious tone, suddenly. "Now, if you'll excuse me I'm going to go take a shower. As fun as living in the middle of the forest was I definitely need one."

"Alright." I reply.

She climbs up the stairs, playfully yelling down "I better not catch you up here trying to get a look at me!"

"Don't worry, you won't." I call back in an uninterested voice. Hopefully that doesn't come off as rude. It's not that I don't find Twilight's form pleasing, it's just that the idea of invading someone's privacy repulses me. After a few moments I hear the water turn on and I decide to explore before I get bored.

I walk around the library, looking at row after row of books. I've never been in a library before and it's all very fascinating to me. Maybe I won't ever have to get bored. There's an awful lot of books in here and I doubt any sane person could read them all. I stumble across a section consisting of old yearbooks from Ponyville High. I pull the latest one out and return to my previous position on the sofa. I open it and start flipping through the pages. Everywhere there's pictures of the happy students, each in their own group. No one looks unhappy, they're all smiling, all with friends. As I keep flipping through I find the pages with the individual photos with each student, and each box has a little blurb written underneath. It says each student was asked to briefly describe their dreams for after High School. Each blurb is filled with these people's hopes and dreams and I find myself envious. I slam the book shut and toss it aside, glaring at it as though it had done something wrong.

"Hey, now! Treat books with respect!" I turn around immediately, because it's the angriest I've ever heard her. "Pick it up and put it back exactly where you found it." she says, sternly and I'm just sitting there watching her with my mouth wide open looking like an idiot. "Go on!" She calls again and I get up. I pick up the book and return it to where I'd found it. "There we go."

"There we go." I repeat in a mocking tone then, for the third time, return to my seat not failing to notice Twilight roll her eyes. That's when I notice her though. Not just notice her but really notice her. She's the same but different. Cleaner, obviously but she seems...Shiny, almost. Her hair that had started to get dirty now flowed down her back in brilliant waves of violet and pink. Her skin looked smooth, I hadn't noticed before because to be honest it had gotten covered in quite a bit a dirt. An unfortunate, unavoidable side effect of living in the forest. She wore the same uniform she had when I met her, except this one was clean. The way it matched her hair, and eyes, was intriguing and brought symmetry to her appearance. She was standing by me now, and I looked like a freaking idiot, my mouth still open.

"You okay?" Her brow was raised, her arms crossed over her chest.

Oops. I realize I've been staring a while. I close my mouth and I start thinking of something to make myself maybe not look ridiculous. What would be funny, in this situation? "You're pretty." a sweet comment but I say it as though I'm suffering from a mental disability. I thought it would fit, what with me having sat there staring blankly with my mouth open.

Twilight gets flustered, her cheeks taking a rosy tint. She giggles softly and I'm not sure if it's because of what I said or how I said it. I decide it doesn't really matter. She seems pleased that I said it and that's good enough for me. I briefly wonder why I chose that specific phrase, but also discard that as unimportant. I find her looks pleasing, no big deal. She takes a seat beside me and smiles.

"Can I tell you something?" She asks, casually.

"Sure."

"Believe it or not when I was younger I didn't have very many friends. It was hard for me to fit in so I decided to focus on my studies. As you can imagine this only made things worse, the other students would tease me. They'd call me nerd and egghead. It bothered me, sure but not too much. They weren't cruel to me like I know student were to you. At first it was only my textbooks but eventually I started to read books in general and it helped me get through. I convinced myself I didn't need friends, but really the books were there to help me through the loneliness. When I read a book I was transported to new and exciting places, I didn't need friends. Then Princess Celestia sent me to this very town to learn about friendship, for that I'll never be able to thank her enough."

It was easy for me to relate to the first part of her story. Not because of the books but the isolation. The rest of the story makes me feel...Hopeful. "Why are you telling me all this?" I can't help but ask.

"Because I want you to know you don't have to be alone, and you won't be anymore. If I'd known how wonderful friendship can be I would have been a much happier little girl. I feel like going to see myself right now, and smacking myself. I'm probably sitting up in Canterlot Castle right now reading."

"I thought you said you weren't Celestia's student yet." I accused.

"I might have lied, a little." she said sheepishly. "I guess I was worried about how it could affect the timeline, but I don't think you knowing that really changes anything. In less than a year I'm going to be coming here and my life is going to change forever. I'm supposed to meet you a few years after that."

"I won't want to hang out with you." I reply as casually as I can.

Twilight does some kind of exaggerated gasp and cries "Why not?"

I grin. "Because you're a nerd."

She playfully smacks my shoulder before falling into a fit of laughter. I quickly fall along with it too, surprised to find myself laughing. When we finish, both breathless I turn to her and ask something that returns the conversation to a more serious tone. "Do you miss it? The future, I mean."

"I miss some things. I miss my friends." she says but I could have figured that out. "What I miss most though is the way things used to be. It's why I came back, after all. Even if I fail it was worth coming back though.

"How come?" I ask, feeling like the answer should be obvious.

"Because even if I die, or go back to the hell that the future's become, I'll have seen you like this one last time." Her voice is laced with emotions, I just can't decipher which ones.

"Like this?"

"Carefree. Even happy, maybe. I'm not sure, it's hard to tell."

"Can I convince you to tell me anything else about your life in the future?" I change the subject, uncomfortable talking about my supposed happiness. I am happy, which is surprising. I just don't want to get too comfortable about it yet.

Twilight smiles, seeming to take the fact that I didn't deny I was happy as confirmation. "Well, let's see. Like I said, I'm going to meet my friends in Ponyville next year. We end up forming the Elements of Harmony and saving Equestria on multiple occasions."

"Ooooo, well aren't you fancy." I grin when I finish speaking.

"I am pretty great." She replies with a grin to match mine. "I meet a nice guy several years from now. We end up getting married, unfortunately my husband is also the man who kills you." That escalated quickly. By the end of that sentence Twilight's voice has turned harsh, bitter even. She's angry, and I suppose I understand. Not completely but I can understand the anger behind losing someone you care about. I know at this point if someone hurt Twilight I would hate them. That's still pretty shocking though.

"Your husband kills me?"

She just nods. "Look, don't worry about it too much because it's not going to happen this time. There's so much more to this story, I wish I could tell you everything but I can't. Not yet anyway, at some point I think I'm going to have to, but not yet. Please understand." She's desperate for me to understand, she's worried I'm going to turn her away I think.

"I understand." I reply.

She smiles. "Thanks."

She then leans towards me and my heart stop beating for a moment. Time slows down as she inches closer to me and I can't help but think she's going to kiss me. My heart hasn't started beating again. Then it does and it's beating far faster than it had been. I swallow hard. I'm nervous, I'm not sure what to do and Twilight is inching ever closer. I'm out of time. I close my eyes. Her lips press against my cheek and time resumes normally. She pulls away with a coy smile. Does she know what I was just thinking, or how nervous she'd made me? Does she know I thought she was going to kiss me. I hope not.

"You're the best." She continues on from her previous thanks before hopping to her feet. "I'm going to get some sleep though." She saunters towards the stairs, then heads up to her room. "Night!" she calls down.

I press a hand to my chest to feel my heart beat. It's crazy, I've never felt a sensation like this before. I feel more alive than ever and nothing even happened. I never would have guess that just the thought of a first kiss by a girl could be so exhilarating.

No, it's not the thought of the kiss that's exhilarating, it's the thought of Twilight delivering it.

I groan and let myself lay on the couch. With that thought I'm left to ponder how much trouble I'm in.