My Little Pony: Friendship is a Miracle

The entire town was soon turned upside down looking for Graham. Each pony looked far and wide within the confines of Ponyville. Every citizen looked within their homes, in the parks, everywhere  and anywhere they could think of, but all to no avail. Twilight and the others were about to give up, when the purple mare thought of something.

“If he’s not in Ponyville...he must be in...” She stopped dead in her tracks as she saw the entrance to the Everfree Forest before her. Her friends had decided to check around the town yet again just to make sure, leaving her alone to her own devices. She slowly walked past the entrance, calling out his name but receiving no answer.

‘Where could he be? He could only get so far...’ She thought to herself as she traversed deeper into the forest. She soon came upon a cliff that seemed extremely steep. Twilight looked down and thought out loud. “I remember this... this was when Applejack first showed her honesty, when I was about to fall to my death..” She looked around for an easier way down. She quickly saw a pattern in a series of small ledges that went down the cliff and cautiously leaped to each one, quickly making her way down to the ground below. She safely walked away from the memory, as she kept trotting forth into the darkness of the forest.

Several minutes passed by as she nervously walked along. She took notice of every detail of the forest floor. All of the leaves and small animals that would occasionally run by her made her feel calmer. The world around her was quiet and sound. She loved the peacefulness of it all. She soon walked into what looked like a narrow clearing, coming across another familiar place. Claw marks were noticed, as they were probably owned by a cat-like creature.

“Now this I could never forget! This was where the manticore attacked us, and Fluttershy tamed it with her kindness.” She could only smile at the thought of the memories racing back, Applejack trying to ride it, Rainbow Dash swirling around it with her ‘Rainbow Tornado’ attack. All of it seemed as though it was only a brief moment ago. The memory replayed in her head as she trotted past the clearing and into a darker part of the forest. Deeper and deeper she went until she could hardly see ten feet in front of her.

“I’d better light the way ahead. It’s getting too dark here.” she muttered to herself as her horn glowed a bright purple aura, illuminating the path ahead. She sighed with relief as she walked past a slew of dead trees. Some looked like they had faces on them. “This was where Pinkie sang that song about learning how to face your fears!” Suddenly, the tune Pinkie had sung so long ago started to play in her head. She started to hum it, but eventually sang it out loud as she walked.

“When I was little filly and the sun was going down...” She quietly hummed the rest as she trotted forth once more. Several minutes had come and gone by the time she had finished humming the entirety of the song. Still, there was no sign of Graham anywhere.

She walked quietly for a while until she came to the bend of a river. The water was calm and clear, and a stream flowed gently through the forest. She looked at the water and noticed a familiar serpent sitting in the bottom of the river. It looked up and sprang out in a glorious spray of water. The serpent looked to be about twenty five feet long, from head to tail. Its scales had a purple shine to them, and it had orange hair atop its head that seemed fancy and suave. To finish it’s wondrous design, it had a big moustache of the same orange hue to match it’s glorious hair that seemed untouched by the water. It grinned and locked eyes with the mare, as if it was happy to see her.

“Why, hello there, little one! It’s been a while since we’ve last seen each other!” The serpent practically sang with glee. Twilight smiled at the friendly face.

“Hello, Steven Magnet.” She said as the creature laughed in such a way that would put a smile on anypony’s face.

“Oh, you do remember me! I don't believe I told you my name though...” It sat in the river scratching its head in confusion.

“Oh, I remember reading up on you once in the Foal Free Press. I have to say, they have a lot of interesting topics.” She said. She reminded herself of the situation with Graham and spoke up. “I don't suppose you know where a strange creature could be lurking, do you?” Steven tapped his chin with his claw and gained a thoughtful look upon his features.

“I know what you’re talking about. About six feet, looks like some sort of naked monkey with clothes for fur?” Twilight beamed in amusement, trying her hardest to stifle her laughter, but failing miserably.

“Yes, the very same. Do you happen to know which direction he went in?” the unicorn hoped with all her might that the serpent had some idea of where Graham had run off to.

“I most certainly do!” he started off excitedly, coiling a claw around his mustache. “He went off in the direction of that old castle just up ahead. You know, past the bridge?” Twilight took note of the location and thanked him.

“Thank you so much! That helps a lot. I’ll see you later!”

“Oh hoo hoo! Anytime my purple little friend! Oh! And tell that white unicorn I said hello!” With that and a laugh, the serpent sank back into the watery abyss he took refuge in. She immediately began to trot towards the mentioned bridge and smiled.

“This was the same bridge that we found those Shadow Bolts that Nightmare Moon conjured...trying to trick Rainbow Dash into ditching us.” she said with an angry look and tone. “She sure showed them.” Her expression quickly changed back to a more cheerful as she reminisced at the potential betrayal that had been swiftly averted. She carefully worked her way to the other side and saw the ruins ahead. She went into full speed towards it to see the missing Graham sitting by his lonesome in the midst of the debris of the battle she had with Nightmare Moon over a year ago.

“Graham! There you are...” Twilight slowly walked towards into his field of view.

He looked up and smiled, happy to see a friendly face. “Oh, Twilight, what are you doing here? I was gonna come back to the party, but I wanted to explore a bit!” Graham tried his hardest to look sincerely happy, but the slight cringe she gave him in return for his smile made him look away from her.

“You ran away from your own party, that’s not very nice, you know...Aramis told me that you were sad about something. Care to talk about it?” She asked him, her voice fully laced with concern.

Graham scratched his head. “Aramis always thinks I'm sad." He sighed with annoyance before he continued. "Well, I’m just not into being in the spotlight. It’s nice and all, but I’d rather just be by myself.”

“But why? Why would you want to be alone, when you have new friends to be with?” She questioned. Graham chuckled a bit and sat up.

“Well, it’s complicated, and really, I don’t think you’d want to hear it. It’s pretty long. I mean, I don't mind telling you my life story, since I sorta know yours.”

“I was just about to ask. Besides, if you know about me, I want to know more about you.” A bright spark of curiosity shone in her deep purple orbs. Graham looked at her with a bit of nervousness and sighed. ”Alright, I warned you. It’s pretty long.”

Graham laid back on a clean patch of stone and looked up at the ceiling, or what was left. Twilight found it puzzling for him to do this, but she wanted him to feel comfortable in any way he could. He laid unmoving for several moments before he spoke.

“It all started back in my home town of Winchester, Massachusetts. This place is part of a big continent called America, which is part of a planet we like to call Earth. I was just a small boy, about...I want to say only 2 years of age. Things were pretty well for me. Nice home, a family who had loved me...”

“Had loved you..?” Twilight interrupted. “Don't you mean loves you?” Her head tilted to the side in way  that made Graham smile momentarily, but go back to what he was saying just as fast.

“Well, it was about a few days after my birthday, when something went wrong... my mother, god- err, I mean Celestia bless her soul, took me away from him and divorced their marriage.”

“What’s ‘divorced’ mean?” Twilight interrupted again, curiosity piqued. Graham shifted for a moment before replying.

“Basically, when a married couple don’t love each other any more, they, well, separate.” Twilight nodded slowly, now understanding the gravity of the action. Graham continued.

“We moved to another place known as Live Oak, which is placed in another state called Florida. We moved to this trailer, which is just a rectangular house, to live out our normal lives. About five years passed until my mother started dating someone who wasn't exactly the nicest man I ever knew.” He trailed off a bit and twiddled his thumbs a bit.

“Why wasn't he?” Twilight asked immediately. He looked upon her, his eyes filled with interest.

“My ‘step-father wasn’t a man of honor. By far he is almost the darkest thing to have ever step foot on Earth. The things he’s done to my mother, to me, to our family are completely unforgivable. If I didn't know any better, I would punch him right in the mouth, but I'm bigger than that.” He looked at Twilight, seeing a look of sympathy.

“Can you tell me what he’s done?” She asked quietly, hoping to find out.

Graham only glanced at her. “Well, I suppose.” He sighed before he continued. “He’s run over my leg with his car, which is a giant piece of metal on wheels. He’s also bashed my mother over the head with a bottle of booze multiple times, he wasted a good chunk of money on stuff we don't even need...” Graham’s anger rose past these sentences until something made him stop. He cooled down quickly and went on with his story.

“Anyways, I don't know what happened, but he sorta...left.” His forest green eyes held a faraway look, as his mind thought about the horrors of his childhood. His face, however, seemed to hold a look of nonchalance.

“Left...as in just vanished?” Twilight’s interest peaked to a new height.

He only shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah, just kinda, you know, left. They weren't married, so he just packed his things and left us. After that, we were back to being on our own for a couple years until my mother died.”

Twilight gasped in shock. “What did she die of? If you don’t mind me asking that is.” she absentmindedly dug a hoof at the ground.

“Um, well... it was a disease called Hepatitis C.” Graham said with a sigh.

Twilight heard with her enhanced hearing and dropped her ears. “Oh my...I’m so sorry...” Twilight said with a bit of a quiet voice. Graham looked over, and frowned a bit.

“How deadly is it? Is there a cure? How is it passed?” Twilight’s mood worsened at the thought of Graham’s overall loss. Graham looked increasingly saddened because of what he told her, but he kept moving forward.

“It’s a disease that can be passed by blood, sexual intercourse, the usual. I don't know what happened, but turned out my step dad passed it before leaving. It was kinda like having a knife shoved right in your back, while being flipped the bird.” He said, showing her the meaning of the phrase by holding his middle finger in the air. “Never do that to another human. We hate that.”

“So...all this...and you bottle these things up...just like that?” Twilight asked him in disbelief, not understanding how someone could bottle up so much pain.

“It doesn't really stop there, either.” He said with a passive expression. Twilight couldn't understand it. He was in so much pain, but he didn't care? This was completely unnatural to any creature who could think on it’s own. None of her friends played off such serious business like this.  So why is he doing it? Is it because nopony ever cared about him up to this point? And that he slowly gave up on it all? What else was he hiding? She had to know.

“Graham, please don't bottle your emotions like this.” Graham lifted an eyebrow with confusion towards the purple mare.

“I’m not bottling up anything. I’m perfectly fine.” Graham replied as Twilight looked at him with a frown.

“Graham, you’ve lost so much, what else have you lost...?” She asked with concern.

Graham sighed. “Well, I’ve lost multiple girlfriends. That’s pretty fun. Losing, oh I don't know, about...five?” Twilight frowned.

“How did you lose them...?” She asked immediately. Graham scratched the stub of his chin where his little bit of orange hair stayed. “Let me see...I lost one from her getting bored of me, another by breast cancer, another one from cheating...actually the rest of them were from cheating...but there is ONE girl in particular that I remember doing the most damage...”

“Go on. If it makes you feel better to talk about it, I’ll listen.” She came closer towards him without him paying attention.

“It was around the beginning of middle school, and I found this girl. Her name was Crystal,” He said with a hint of anger in his voice. “Her and I were only friends at the time, but hormones took over my mind when we started dating a a couple years later...”

Twilight lied down to listen more comfortably. Graham continued his little story with another sigh.

“We dated for about five years. Around the fifth anniversary, I had the wonderful idea of buying her a ring...problem was, I didn't have a job, or money...so I got working on doing as many chores for as many people as I could find. It took two years to finally be able to obtain the money to buy her that special ring...”

“And then what happened?” She asked with raised tone. Graham looked at her and frowned.

“Well, it went about like this,” he said as he cleared his throat. “It was prom night. It was during our last year in high school, and everything was set to perfection. Me and my girl were eating, and I looked at her, and she was looking somewhere else. I decided it was time, and I knelt down and proposed with the most dazzling ring a woman of my species could ever ask for. When she looked upon it’s beauty...” He began to tear a bit.

“She said no?” Twilight moved closer, but kept her distance.

“...She giggled...but it didn't stop there...she started to laugh...she laughed so hard even the Deejay stopped to see what the fuck was going on. She looked at me, grabbed the ring, tossed it in the trash, told me she was cheating the entire time with someone else, to whom I did find after I ran out of the prom...and that was it...I was finished with her, and everything.” He said as he clenched his left hand into a fist. “I wanted her to die for what she did...” He soon realized what he was spiraling into, stopping himself early and sighed to cool off.

Graham soon yelped in surprise as Twilight soon jumped up to him, holding him into as best a hug as she could. “Please...enough...Graham...I know I don't know you that well...but everything you’ve told me so far, it’s too much...is this what it’s like back at your own home? Are all humans like this? A-are they all so heartless?” Twilight’s face couldn't have shown more sympathy for the man if she wanted to, after hearing all the heartbreaking and miserable experiences he had suffered through.

Graham looked down at her, feeling a little bad about everything he said. He slowly gave her a hug back. Even he found himself a little sad, especially since he hadn’t talked about his in such a long time, and yet he easily made her sit through his life story.

“You don't have to hide anything anymore...” Twilight muttered under her breath as Graham kept hugging her.

“Look Twilight I didn't mean to make you sad. But you don't have to show me sympathy. I’ve been through a lot, and yes, I am a little angry at times, but I’ve learned to suck it up and move on. That’s all I can do.” He started to calm down as he looked at her.

“But I gotta thank you for staying here. I’m sorry for running...it’s just that I’ve never really had anyo- err, anypony throw a party, or give me things, or anything that you ponies did on my planet. It’s been just me and Aramis for awhile.” He then patted her on the head.  “You ponies, just like on the show, show kindness, and do everything to make us smile. I can’t name a darn thing that you all did that wasn't nice.” He said as he smiled a bit himself. Twilight took her hoof and smiled warmly.

“We only try to be nice because it’s the right thing to do, and we want everypony to be happy.” Twilight felt good about being there for her new friend. Graham soon found himself hugging the purple pony even harder.

Graham spoke up abruptly. “I do wanna apologize for having you sit through my whole story, though. I told you it would be long. But I do wanna thank you for sitting through it, I know I already thanked you, but it felt kinda nice talking about it after so long. Even if it’s under the weird circumstances of me knowing all about you, and you knowing nothing.”

Twilight was beaming with happiness. “Graham, it’s no problem at all, it’s what friends do for each other. We all help each other out, and get to know each other. So far, you’ve been nice to us, and even though I found you knowing me before I ever met you was both scary and surprising, I’m glad I got to meet you and your friends.” She let go of him as he stood up. They wanted to make sure they didn't miss the party, after all!

As they walked towards the remains of a front door, Graham thought of something. “Hey, Twilight. If I talked about myself, and you now know more about me from all of this, does that mean we’re even?”

Twilight was a little confused. “What do you mean ‘even’?”

“Well, I knew about you before I even met you in person, and you knew nothing about me, and I gave you that shock of your life, does this mean we’re even?”

Twilight laughed at this. “Yes, Graham. We’re even.”

While they kept talking each other, they heard rustling in the surrounding bushes. Graham stood up to see what it was, only to find Aramis walk out from them. Gypsy, along with other five ponies closely behind with joy.

“Ugh...do you know how much trekking it took for me to find this damn place, Graham? Jesus, I had to backtrack through my memories based on the one episode you showed me just to figure out where we were going!” Aramis exclaimed, one of his eyes dangerously twitching in frustration. Graham and Twilight looked at each other and started to laugh.

Applejack trotted up next to Aramis and looked at the two and developed a question in her head. “So what happened to y’all? Why'd you leave?” Graham and Twilight stopped laughing immediately and blushed, looking away from each other.

“No reason, Applejack. I just wanted to take a little bit of time for myself, and After Twilight found me,  we had a little “Man to pony” talk. That's all.” Graham responded with a smile. Applejack had a look of understanding as the group of friends backed off.

As the others calmed down from the excitement of finding them, Graham looked back at Twilight while the others led them back into town. “You know, you’re the nicest friend I’ve ever had, next to Aramis anyway.” He watched as Twilight grinned from ear to ear.

“No problem, Graham. You’re my friend, and I would never leave you like that. From now on, you and your friends, are our friends.” The girls nodded in agreement. Aramis gave a small smile and heartily laughed when Gypsy barked in reply. Graham gave her a quick hug before they caught up with the others.