Monolith (NMP)

>You got isekaid into the Crystal Empire a couple months ago.
>The transition was rough, but you've been making do.
>One thing that strikes you about this place is how lovey-dovey it is. Everyone old enough to be married seems to be happily married.
>The moment you walk outside of your apartment you're blasted by the sheer amount of PDA happening.
>There isn't a dating scene here because ponies just go to the Crystal Heart as soon as they reach adulthood, and it matches them with their soulmate.
>At first ponies understood you were adjusting to a new world, but lately they've been concerned that you haven't gone to find your soulmate.
>Cadence is the worst of them.
"It's just creepy. Back on Earth we had machines that made big decisions about our lives without our input, and it was terrible. Somehow I got to escape the system, and now you want to put me back."
>"Don't be silly, Anon. What happens when your soulmate goes to the Crystal Heart and it points her your way? Are you just going to reject her?"
"I just don't want an all knowing THING telling me who I should love. I'd like to go out and find her myself, make my own decision about the whole thing. Is that so bad?"
>"What if it takes you decades to find her? There are a lot of ponies out there, and you both deserve to have as much time together as you can get."
"I've already spent half of my life looking for someone. I've made peace with waiting."
>"But you don't have to wait anymore. She's right there for the taking."
"What if the Crystal Heart matches me with someone I don't like? Soulmate just means you're destined for each other. It doesn't mean you'll be happy. I'd rather make my own fate."
>"I've presided over tens of thousands of matches, and I've never seen an unhappy match. You're worrying over nothing."
"No, I'm not. If the Crystal Heart does find my soulmate, and things go bad, then that's it. It'll be proof positive that I've gone as far as I can go. There won't be anything left, and I'll know it for fact. I don't want to face that."
>"And that's why you'll be perfect with her. You know how much this means, and you'll make it work. For your sake and for hers."
"I don't know if that tracks. There are lots of reasons for relationships to fail no matter how hard people try."
>"That's true when you're not with your soulmate. That's why the Crystal Heart is so important."
"I don't have much money. I just live in a small apartment. I don't have anything to offer her."
>"You don't need to offer her anything but yourself. All that will change at first is you'll know about each other, and you can build from there at your own pace."
"But what if she's in trouble and I'm not able to help her?"
>"Then she'll be in trouble whether you go to the Crystal Heart or not. If she is in trouble, she should at least have one more person looking out for her, y'know? There's nothing bad that can come from knowing who she is."
"What if she thinks I'm a creep who's lying about the Crystal Heart?"
>"It's not the Crystal Heart's authority that makes you soulmates. Once you see her it'll be love at first sight, and it's just that simple."
"But isn't that... I don't know, too easy? Nothing on Earth was like that. We had to make do with who we had and make the best of it. Sometimes we just died alone because things went wrong, and we had to be OK with that because we didn't have a choice."
>"You don't have to live such a tragic life anymore. You're here, in Equestria, where miracles are a daily occurrence. You have a choice here: Find her now, or maybe find her later."
"I... I guess. It feels wrong, though. This isn't how things are supposed to be."
>"So you'll do it?"
"I don't know."
>"For me? For her? For yourself?"
"I gue-"
>That was all Cadence needed. She grabbed you by your collar with her telekinesis and started dragging you through town to her palace.
"Oh, well, sure, that's OK. Just treat me like luggage, I guess."
>"There's no time to waste, Anon! We're going to get you a wifey!"

>Minutes later you find yourself in front of the Crystal Heart. It is a deep blue with a thrumming pink energy inside.
"So what do I do?"
>"Just put your hoo-hand on it and think about the hole in your heart that's ready to be filled."
"Alright."
>You pictured yourself when you were young, and how you felt. An image of a great monolith, half of it missing, comes to mind. You can see where it was split when you were created, a perfect negative of what your soulmate's monolith should be.
>Your life begins flashing before your eyes. All of the loneliness and hurt. The abuse you suffered, and the abuse you caused.
>Your monolith is weathering. The mating face is becoming rounded and worn.
>And then you reached the moment in your life when you were at your lowest, that moment when you gave up.
>It's like your monolith is being melted. It's sagging and deformed.
>The years continue to pass by in an instant, and your monolith crumbles.
>All that remains now is a stump surrounded by rubble.
>There's nothing left inside of you for a soulmate.
>When you open your eyes you see the Crystal Heart's inner light has dimmed to a cool purple.
>"Anon? What's wrong? Why are you crying?"
"Because... There isn't anyone for me anymore."
>"What? No, everyone has a soulmate. Try again."
"No, it's-no. The Crystal Heart showed me what I needed to see."
>You wiped your eyes and sniffled.
>"That can't be right. Tell me about what you saw, and we can figure it out together."
"Th-there's nothing to figure out. Whoever she is, we w-won't be able to find each other a-anymore."
>You turned to leave.
>"Anon!"
>You walk out of the palace with Cadence chasing after you.
>"This isn't right. Please, stay here and let me help you. Maybe it needs to be tuned for humans?"
"Stop. I've done what you asked, so l-leave me alone."
>"You can't just give up on your soulmate. She's out there, too, and she needs you as much as you need her."
>You inhale as deeply as you can and screw up your face.
>When you're home you can sob as much as you want, but not here.
>Not here...
>Not here...
>...Not anywhere.