A Cause to Die For

Chapters

The Runaway Girl
The Slave
The Meetings
The Waitress
The Sheltering
The Dream
The Fury's Edge
The Question Game
The Stand-up
The Raven
The First Lesson
The Mayor of Saddale
The Announcement
The Lone Pegasus

The Runaway Girl

Keckla Pottle (pronounced as it looks) was born in the terrible town of Saddale. The worst of all ponies knew Saddale and Saddle knew them back. The town had managed to get a grey brick wall and a deep dirty moat built around it, protecting it from prying eyes. Offering more protection from publicity were the closed in streets and dimly lit houses that even shadows feared to infest. Each building was as bland and as flat as the last, each pony in the street knew how to fight should somepony give them a bad look or a wrong word. Having double the highest death rate of any other city or town in Equestria, indeed, Saddale was a place that both impossible to ignore, and impossible to attack.

Keckla never liked Saddale, nor the ponies in it. She was had by two well respected thieves who worked perfectly together. They were the most effective duet in all of Saddale, and that's saying something. They didn't love eachother, rather they thought it would be a good idea to have a son or daughter to help them in their schemes. They died when Keckla was 7.

It was a calm night, a normal robbery, but something went wrong, the house caught on fire. The 2 ponies who lived in the house had woken up, and, upon seeing the intruders, grabbed what ever they could grab and attacked. No-one knows exactly what happened next, but all 4 ponies never came out of that room alive. On first hearing the tussle, a young Keckla followed her training by taking whatever was easy to swipe and from the room she was in and make for the exit. She was just about to leave when she heard an ungodly scream. It was a noise of true pain, horror and sadness all at once. Then there was an explosion, Keckla turned in horror to see a blaze roaring at her, it had obviously come from the bedroom. She instinctively turned to run but stopped when she thought she heard a single sound. A sound that only the blackest of hearts can ignore. Keckla turned round to face the fire, hesitated for a moment (as you do when you're about to do something stupid) and charged into the inferno, up the stairs and to where she thought the source of the sound was coming from. She threw herself at the door, already choking in smoke. And there he was. A baby stallion, crying for his mommy. Keckla took the baby and rushed out the house, Coughing and spluttering all the way. When she got out of the house she knew she had very little time to get away and that she couldn't stop running. She went all the way back to Saddale with the young stallion on her back.

Years later, she and the stallion had grew up, her into a fine young filly and him into a small worker, who had slaved for Keckla everyday of his life since the fire. Now, Keckla had no real skill that she stood out at when it came to thieving. She didn't lockpick too well, nor was she a master of creeping through a house. Other than her heritage, Keckla only had one strength that grew greater and greater day after day. Her beauty. Keckla had skin that was a pale purple, and big blue eyes that were all too easy to sink into. Her horn was positioned straight above and between her eyes and her snout was perfect, round holes that weren't too big but weren't too small. Her legs were slightly weedy but still showed signs of having strength in them. Her stomach did not droop for it curved nicely and her body was spotless and pure. Not that Keckla was one of the top 20 beauteous ponies in Equestria, but when compared to the very few fillies the town had to offer (Thieving seemed to be a stallion driven buisness at the time) she was by far the most desirable. Yet she was only beautiful because of her thoughts. instead of the perverse, greedy thoughts other Saddale residents possessed she often thought of what it would be like to live somewhere else, some place cleaner. That's why she was leaving when she became of age.

That morning, she laid out on the table a good meal for Mika, the slave kid. She called him down. The baby stallion she saved years ago had grown into an ideal slave. His body was a darker blue but the darker colour did not hide the bags under his eyes. His mane and tail were both chocolate brown. His legs were not muscular but they were clearly the legs of one who had done much manual labor in his lifetime. His eyes, brown and rejecting, were barriers planted firmly between his emotions and the dark, cruel world. Keckla looked at the kid with a certain degree of sadness, but happiness also. The kid looked blankly back at her and said, "You called?"

"Mika," she said softly,"You may eat this meal, and then you may sneak out of Saddale and start a life elsewhere." The boy's barriers opened, and his face of pure wide-eyed shock was implanted in Keckla's mind forever.

"Thank you for your years of service" Tears were welling up in her eyes. saying good bye to the only pony she ever liked in this town was apparently harder then it seemed. "Goodbye!" With that she ran out the door and kicked it shut behind her. She knew where she had to go. Saddale had to have some legal trades to make it look like it could economically support itself, the main one of which was salt (Don't ask). A cargo of salt was being taken to ponyville that morning, meaning the gates would open and the drawbridge would be down. The perfect chance to escape.

It was dawn. The sun, having just emerged, had already encompassed the cobbled stone pathways ways and roads of Saddale. Ponies were just waking up and ordering their slaves to make breakfast for them. Keckla had one chance. Failure meant loss of all reputation and any chance of freedom. She had been here before at this time, analyzing every action involved in the process, and registering the blind spots. The salt cart had 2 stallions at the front pulling it, and one in the drivers street, choosing where the stallions took them. He shouted to the drawbridge keeper;

"Oy! Prickle! Wake up ya lazy git!" Prickle was not one to care about his job: He often fell asleep at the drawbridge switch. This morning was no different. He drolled:

"Ahhhhh, you bloody salt traders are the bane of my existence" The salt driver mockingly replied;

"Your existence? Ha! Your existence is nothin more than sleepin and eatin!" The 2 stallions chuckled to themselves. All the while Keckla had snuck on board the salt cart, and made herself comfy upon the surrounding filled sacks. Prickle had lowered the drawbridge and turned back to the salt cart.

"Move ya bloody arse and let me go to sleep again." The salt cart driver shook his head and laughed as he rode out of Saddale, unaware of the extra cargo he was carrying...

The Slave

Back at Keckla’s home, Mika stood there, legs trembling, still staring at the spot where Keckla once stood. For months he’d waited, readying his time to strike, and this morning was going to be the payoff. The dagger under the table, which Mika had stolen the day before and had intended to use that morning lay there strapped tightly to the underbelly of the surface of oak as Mika gazed at the orderves on top. His opinion on Keckla, the pony who he had hated with all his body and mind, had been blown to pieces. She was no witch of Saddale. Mika didn’t know who she was. Mika realized he didn’t even know who he was. He slowly approached the table and touched the dagger with his left hoof. What had once felt good felt scary, how natural it was in his grip. With Keckla gone, what was he to do with himself? He stared into the dagger, looking for an answer. And, with that, remembered what Keckla had said. He eyes and face stiffened as he gripped the dagger with a new resolve. He stormed out of the house and galloped down the twisting alleyway, leaving Keckla’s door open in his wake.

If Keckla was leaving Saddale, Mika thought, she must have a plan. And that plan must involve and exit opening and Keckla slipping through it unnoticed. The exit of which was most likely to be the nearest one to Keckla’s house, the eastern one. Mika emerged on the empty main street as the salt cart crossed the drawbridge. Prickle flipped his switch before laying down and closing his eyes again. The drawbridge slowly began to rise. Mika knew what he had to do. He dropped his dagger and galloped towards the rising drawbridge in a mad final dash, His head down and his eyes closed as he remembered the creatures in the moat Simian had shown him...

Now, Simian Dibar was not a pony you’d like to meet in a dark alley. Or in broad daylight, either way he’d kill you if you got on his wrong side. He was unique according to himself, A Boss, an Idol. He was a brown pony, with brown eyes, strong legs and a sick green mane that he wore smartly to prove his betterness than other ponies. Because he was better then most. He had to be. He could determine if he was better or worse than a pony just by looking at them. He had to be able to. He could cause pain and not deserve it. He had to. It was fun. Saddale said it was fun, therefore Simian said it was fun. And if Simian said it was fun, it was fun. It had to. He had to.

Simian had visited Keckla many times before. She was his territory, and everyone had to know. 3 years ago, Corsette, Simian’s slave, was Serving tea to the pair. At that time, Simian had just become of age and Keckla’s beauty was slowly turning heads. Now, Corsette was a clumsy type, often slipping or tripping up. Simian had not been very impressed with her. He had bought her with his money, and he felt he’d been horribly ripped off. Simian was talking about his latest theft to a smiling Keckla beside the warm fireplace when the slave girl came in with drinks. She tripped, spilling scorching tea all over Simian. As soon as Corsette looked up at Simian’s predator-like eyes, she knew she was finished.

Mika and Keckla watched and followed Simian as he dragged Corsette by the mane, Her wailing and sobbing attracting the attention of many passers-by. Soon a crowd was trailing simian as he made his way towards the east drawbridge. “DOWN” he roared, thus the drawbridge was drawn. Corsette sobbed and begged for forgiveness and mercy. None was given. She was thrown into the murky moat, emerged, caught her breath, and started to plea again. She suddenly stopped. For a sickeningly long moment there was silence. Simian stared intently down on her, a sadistic smile engraved in his features. Without warning, she was dragged beneath the surface. Another long moment passed. The crowd remained silent. Then she emerged again, with from a large scar on her face. The crowd remained silent. She was screaming and kicking and paddling under the drawbridge, out of sight of the crowd. She remained that way for a short moment, before everyone heard a large crunch and some sort of squelching noise. The crowd remained silent. It had to.

Mika opened his eyes and lifted his head. He was near the foot of the drawbridge. It was around about 40 degrees up and still rising. He took a breath and held it, oblivious to whether any pony had saw him thus far or not, galloped up the drawbridge, closed his eyes and leapt for his life. For a seemingly long moment, immense terror gripped him. As he crashed down on the other side of the moat, he heard the salt cart slowly trotting away. Knowing he couldn’t lose it, for then he’d get lost, forced himself onto his aching hooves, and started after the cart, keeping his distance while doing so.

The Meetings

If “you should never judge a book by its cover” was the rule, Fluttershy would be the exception. She was a Pegasus (Hence the “flutter”) and she was extremely anti-social. (Hence the “shy”) At least, she was antisocial towards ponies. Animals were her forte, she loved them with all the love she had and they loved her back. She was yellow, with a pink mane and tail. Above her right back leg was an image of 3 small butterflies, a cutie mark symbolising her total kindness towards all thing with fur.

As Synther walked by her she was trotting slowly, looking towards the trees, in the outskirts of the forest. “Angel? Where are you?” she asked the trees. Her voice was more of a whisper, sounding warm but weak. Synther recognised her immediately; one of his brothers followed the fashion world intensely as a hobby. He was then interrupted from his staring as something was hastily tapping his leg. He looked down at the annoying pest and saw a rabbit, who put his paw over his mouth in a “be quiet” like gesture. Synther looked back up at Fluttershy, who met his gaze hesitantly, moving her hind left leg back. Synther’s brother had told him all about Fluttershy’s shy disposition, so he stayed silent, keeping a confused and slightly scared look on his face. Fluttershy looked at Synther, who was obviously in a state of worry. Had she done something to upset him? She needed to say something kind and friendly to restore his confidence.

“Um... Hello?” she asked. “I... I’m Fluttershy. Wh-who are you?” She moved her hind left leg then her front right forward as she spoke. Synther took a cautious trot forward.
“I’m Synther... Synther Strongbark.” A silence hung. The rabbit poked his head round the tree to spy on the interaction between the two ponies. Fluttershy realized it was her turn to talk, but didn’t have a clue what to say. He looked lost. Maybe she could help.
“Are you lost?” she spoke, slowly and cautiously
“No, I’m coming along the forest trail here,” he gestured to the trail, speaking only slightly faster than Fluttershy, inspiring confidence in her. Fluttershy herself stuttered for a moment, before inquiring;
“You’re travelling through Ponyville?” speaking now without spaces between her words.
“Actually, I’m coming to live here. I could’ve flown here, but I came on the trail because I love to stroll in the forest and surround myself with all the creatures and life in it.” Synther released the smile.
“Oh that’s just wonderful! Me and angel like animals too, don’t we Angel?” the last part being directed at the eavesdropping rabbit who realised he’d be found. He hopped towards his owner, who was now smiling back at Synther.
“We were playing some hide and seek around the trees when you appeared from the forest.”
“Haha, sorry to interrupt. Pleased to meet you Fluttershy.” He foolishly stuck his hoof out, instantly realising his mistake. Fluttershy looked at the hoof, uncertain for a moment, but then reached out her front two hooves and shook.
“I’m... pleased to meet you too Synther” Synther silently sighed, pleased that his mistake was not as critical as he first thought.

It had been an hour of walking on bad legs, but it wasn’t too hard for a boy that had working his whole life. Mika still trailed the salt cart, anxious that Ponyville was right upon him. Unlike Saddale, the town bristled with colour and activity, Ponies were shopping, selling, chatting, playing, laughing, singing, and moving all over the place. Mika found it harder to keep a safe distance from the cart as ponies were getting in the way. Then he tripped. He slowly struggled to his hooves. When he looked up, the salt cart had gone. He looked around. Ponies trotted by, some talking, some laughing. He started to trot forwards, wondering what to do now.

At the same time, A young purple unicorn with a starry cutie mark came down the path. This was Twilight sparkle. There's no two ways about it. Twilight Sparkle was a bookworm. Everyday she spent before she came to Ponyville was spent reading books about all sorts of things, like magic, history, geography, maths, science, (A personal favourite of twilight's, besides magic) wildlife, dragons, (though there were very few books on dragons at the time: they were a mysterious and dangerous bunch of creatures) and all other sorts of things that filled her head with invaluable knowledge. When she went to school, all the others in the class envied her for her knowledge. It became very clear very quickly that she was bound for more than just a normal Canterlot pony's life, and was an applicant for Celestia's personal tutorship in next to no time at all. After getting in at such a young age, her knowledge continued to grow, as did she. Under Celestia's guidance, she became the single most intelligent pony of anyone her age.

And yet, her true potential did not shine until she was sent to Ponyville. There was where she met 5 ponies, who all became her greatest friends. (It may anger you that O don't go over these ponies, but seeing as only one of them is of any importance, I find it would be a waste of time to tell you about them.) Through her interactions with her friends Twilight developed even more as a pony, becoming far less shy and trusting of others. Her liking of all things logical and orderly and constant worrying could sometimes cause her and her friends some distress, but Twilight's pure heart would overcome any difficulty she or her friends went through.

She was trotting along with her baby dragon Spike on her back. Spike was small and had purple scales with green spikes on his back and green lizard-like yet kind eyes. They were arguing about Spike’s gem soufflé that had gone horribly wrong.
“Imagine how tasty it would’ve been twilight!” She rolled her eyes. ”All of those delicious rubies and sapphires cooking in to one beautiful, not to mention tasty, piece of kitchen-produced art!” Spike looked into the distance, hungrily dreaming. She closed her eyes while sighing and opened them to face the ground.
“Spike, what am I going to do with y-“ Twilight reeled back, her head having just bumped into Mika’s. She looked up and saw him for the first time: his legs looked strong but weary, and his face showed signs of his lack of sleep. She was taken aback when he first opened his eyes, those steel barriers of defense that eternally guarded emotion. She’d never seen anything so grim in a pony so young. Mika spoke first.

“I’m sorry, ma’am.” His voice was not that of a warrior, nor that of a slave, it was just a normal child’s voice. Yet he used it with such formality, such darkness that it was more believable that he was a mature stallion with a voice impediment than a young boy. He proceeded to study the stunned twilight and spike as she spoke back;
“Oh... errr don’t be. It was my fault really.” A pause as twilight searched her mind for something to say. “Where are you parents?”
“Dead” Mika said sharply.
“Oh! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to...” Mika had stayed staring until now, as he looked away. Look at this pony, he thought, trying to be kind. Everypony has his or her secrets. This one’s no different. What the hell am I doing wasting my time on her. Twilight stopped as she looked at the young boy, hoping to find some way to make him smile. Then she had an idea.
“Do you want to come over to the library?” She beamed her best smile at him. “I’ll make you tea and talk or we can both sit down and just read a book or-“
“No,” he cut in, “I’m fine as I am” Twilight was shocked. This boy was so alien to her. He was emotionless and confusing. Mika had had enough of this pointless conversation. “I will be on my way now.” And with that, he trotted away from her. As Spike and Twilight stared at the strange boy they had happened to meet trot down the road, they were both coincidentally thinking about how silly the gem soufflé now sounded.

Author's Note

Yes, this chapter is split into 2 parts. sue me.

The Waitress

Mr Purgley was the owner of Ponyville’s local pub and inn. He was nothing to look at, his brown skin, spots around his head body, slightly oversized belly, and his dull brown eyes all made him seem like a very unremarkable pony. But, in the working of this ponies brain was a boatload of what he thought truly mattered in life. Experience. Purgley had seen it all, from whirlwinds to earthquakes, from the posh to the poor, from the weak to the strong, Mr Purgley knew ponies better than he knew himself. That was why the choice between Agatha’s daughter and Keckla Newfound was so difficult to make.

On the one hand, you had Agatha’s daughter. She was a stroppy, rude and arrogant mare who had had nothing but herself in mind for her whole life. The only reason to employ her was her status: Agatha herself was a charming pony, who had been the chef at the pub for 10 years. The pub needed a new waitress, her daughter needed a new job, the pieces had just fell into place really. He’d put an advert for the job up on the window, but no came to be interviewed. Until tonight.

She had knocked on his office door when she first came in, which is more than could be said for Agatha’s daughter. She was calm and collected, despite a worried glint in her eye. When he asked for name, she had stuttered a bit after saying her first name. Purgley was confused by this. She said that she didn’t wish to be paid, but instead would work for her keep. She said wished to stay at the Inn for she was starting a new life, the irony of the statement made Purgley laugh in front of the young girl. She was something to look at, he supposed, and she had a brilliant attitude to accompany her looks but could Purgley really take a girl who came from no-where over a relative of someone who loyally worked for him for 10 years?
Just then, he heard the pub’s door open and hit against the wall, and Agatha’s daughter’s awful voice;

“Oy, Puglay,”
“It’s Purgley” He had left his office to face the foul filly.
“Whatever. I was just wonderin’ if there was like, an outfit for tomorrow? Or somethin’?” She turned to see Keckla, who was waiting at a table, staring intently at her. “What dya think you lookin’ aht? Keckla seemed to snap back to reality with this and replied;
“I’m waiting to see if Purgley has given me the waitress job. Ignore me, sorry.”
“Are you kiddin’ me!? You said i wud have the job you mule-headed twat” screeched the foul mare
“Well things have changed, haven’t they?!” He roared back, making up his mind. “You are NOT going to have the job tomorrow and you will NOT step in here again. You’re BARRED, you hear me?!”

If looks could kill, Agatha’s daughter would be a murderer as she gave Purgley a cold hard stare. “Fair enough.” She hissed, defeaten. She slowly trotted out the bar, ignoring the looks of the few ponies there who had all seen the commotion, and slammed the door behind her. Purgley trotted to the bar desk, and with his teeth got a key on a key ring and tossed it to Keckla. It landed on the table. She glanced at it before looking back up, gleaming with joy.
“Be up at 7, that’s when we open.“ smiled Purgley.
“I will, Oh thank you, thank you so much!” Then, much to Purgley’s surprise, Keckla ran up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He blushed as Keckla sped up the stairs to her new home and, unbeknownst to Purgley, kissed her old life and Saddale goodbye.
Or so she thought.

The Sheltering

Mika lay there between two houses, in the dark of night. The moon and the stars shone brightly down on the different assortment of homes and shops Ponyville had on display. A couple of lovers idly strolled through the centre of town, lost in each other’s eyes. Mika had never seen such ponies like this, and watched them with fascination as they made little in-jokes and comments on the beauty of the night, all of which he couldn’t hear, yet the expressions on their faces told him was really being said. Something that was near-illegal to say in Saddale.

Twilight saw the amazed expression on the boy’s face as she came home from one of her friend’s parties. For a moment she did nothing, her memories with the conversation with him earlier flooding back into her mind. She still had no idea how this boy thought, or why he was out this late. She was opening her mouth to talk when he noticed the boy’s eyes fill with terror. A shriek came from where the lovers once contently drifted, along with a low, tough voice;

“Give the necklace to me. NOW.” Twilight noticed movement. She looked to see Mika galloping towards the thief, who, pointing a knife at the 2 cowering lovers, continued:
“Or else someone is going to get hurt.” At that moment, Mika smashed his forelegs down on the mugger’s head. He was instantly knocked out. “STAY AWAY FROM THEM!!!” he cried at the body. The lovers ran away, keeping close together as they did so. Twilight readied her horn and ran over to help the boy, but found the thief unconscious. Twilight turned to the boy who had just taken down a stallion in one hit, the boy who ran into danger without a second thought, the boy who was out at night with no guardian to look after him, whose dead eyes only opened to a couple of lovebirds...
And the words that had been niggling her all day poured out like rain.

“Who are you?!” She almost shouted at the boy. Mika turned, noticing her for the first time. Lights around the town centre were beginning to be lit, people wondering what commotion had taken place near their homes. Mika stared into her eyes, and contemplated the question himself. Who was he? Why had he followed Keckla’s cart? Why had he stopped the thief? Why did he just waste his day walking around town looking for someone who’d probably want nothing to do with him anymore? What was the point of it all? There wasn’t one. He should’ve died all those years ago in the fire. Tears welled to his eyes as his face slowly dropped with these thoughts.

Twilight, alarmed by these tears, realised she was probably the cause of the upset and panicked, trying to think of a way to apologize. The thief stirred. As if it were an alarm clock, Twilight heard this and realised the reality around them. The thief was clearly a thief, Twilight wouldn’t get into trouble because she was thought as the aggressor and Mika wouldn’t be in trouble for knocking him out, either. Probably. But, the boy would be taken away and put into a home. That couldn’t happen. Ponyville homes weren’t prepared for this type of foal. Rather, he wasn’t prepared for them. Twilight looked at the boy again, a certainness in her eyes.

“Follow me. Now.” She ordered, before galloping away. Mika followed but never took his eyes off the ground where they had strayed. No-one had seen them. They reached her home in no time at all. Mika looked up at questionable structure. Twilight’s house was, quite literally, and overgrown tree house. The roof was blocked out by hoards of leaves and at the bottom of the house there was a door cut out of the bark with a warm glow coming from its window. Twilight opened the door, and they trotted inside. Inside, where the fire was warmly lit and a small baby dragon was snoring very loudly. Inside, where the walls were lined with books all neatly organized alphabetically by the surnames of their authors. Inside, where the light bounced off the walls and encompassed the room and the two green leather chairs and brown wooden table lay comfortably on rainbow carpet underneath. Mika looked up expecting to see leaves, but was instead greeted by a ceiling which looked a lot like the inside of a tree when it’s cut clean in half. Sure, he had been at Keckla’s grey quarters for most of his life, but he had never truly been in a home before. He was filled with a sense of belonging and happiness by just being there, and he would never be able to fully explain why. No-pony ever could.

“Haha, ohhh Spike.” Sighed Twilight as she caringly walked over to him. “So what’s your name kid?” His name? What game was this pony playing...
“Mika, mamm.” Mika wasn’t actually his name, he had no idea what his true name was. But it was a name that Keckla had given her and he had nothing better to use. Mika watched as she tenderly lifted Spike using her magic. She chuckled at his comment.
“Mamm? Where do you think you are, the Wonderbolt Academy? Call me Twilight.” She said as she began to trot towards the spiral set of stairs. Mika hadn’t noticed them before; they led upwards and trailed off behind the wall and the rows of books. She glanced back; “Come on.” Mika started after her and soon caught up.
“And where are you from Mika?” Mika was letting his guard down a bit much at this point, and as he realised this the steel barriers re-affirmed themselves on his eyes and his voice became more formal again;
“That’s none of your business, mamm” Her reply was immediate;

“Ohh, sorry, I was just making conversation.” She sounded genuine. But then so did Keckla when she talked to Simian. They had reached the end of the staircase to a corridor which led off to 3 doorways; one to the left, one to the right, and one dead centre at the end. They were all red and windowless doors. Twilight, who was still carrying Spike, gently pushed open the door with her left forehoof. Mika then noticed the stars above her right leg.
“What are those?” he asked. Twilight looked at him and followed his eyes to her cutie mark. She looked up in shock.
“You mean this?” she asked disbelievingly. The boy nodded. She was endlessly fascinated by this boy. He was parentless, strong, had an erratic personality and he had no idea what a cutie mark was. This was thanks to Saddale again, no ponies truly ever find their cutie mark should they live there, as no-one’s true purpose in life is to cause pain and suffering while laughing all the way. Even if it were, there’s nothing remotely cute about someone like that.

“This,” she began, hesitating in surprise, “is my cutie mark. It represents my skill at all things magic.” She turned and put Spike into his crib, but not before brushing his teeth and setting his bed for him, showing off her magical skill at the same time. Mika didn’t allow his face the awe he was feeling inside. Spike sucked on one of his claws as he lay cutely in his crib. Twilight turned to Mika.

“Now to find you a bed. Come.” She went to the room’s exit, and Mika followed, wishing he was somewhere he was used to, yet never wanting leave here. Twilight was not too shabby at caring for infants, as she had constantly supported Spike throughout her life. On the other hand, Spike had supported her as well, it had been a 2-way relationship. With Mika it was going to be a very different case, Twilight could tell. They were by the two doors in the corridor that stood opposite to one another. Twilight opened the door on their right. It was a guest bedroom, and it was very basic. A single bed lay at the end of the room, a wardrobe on the right of it and a bare shelf on the left. The duvet on the bed was a blank grey, the floor boards it rested on were characterless wooden planks. “This is your room.” She stared at the boy’s face with the greatest of intensity, searching for that one flicker of emotion. She found none; the boy’s face remained stone-like. He didn’t even seem to notice the few other features of the room and just calmly entered the bed.

“Good night.” He stated, staring at the wall. Twilight turned dimed the candles in the room with her magic. “Sweet dreams.” She said upon closing the door. Mika had never heard the saying before, but he put it to the back of his mind, not willing to be tricked by the pony he barely knew. He yawned, and reflected on the day that had instantly changed his life forever. He sighed and closed his eyes, wondering if there was any point in waking up tomorrow.
To escape his nightmares was a reason he would consider only after that night.

Synther approached what would be his home for the foreseeable future. It was a small, but nice place. He didn’t really care about space too much; he just wanted a place to slump his head every night. And this was the perfect place to do so. The ceiling was arched over him, and from where he slept he could hear the river that flowed near Ponyville, but again, this didn’t bother him. He had grown accustomed to nature quicker than he would’ve thought. He looked to the sky. It wasn’t starry or mystical, it was just empty. Synther frowned and sighed. He decided against dinner, he wasn’t hungry and he was too tired to cook anything. Instead he just lay back and closed his eyes, quickly becoming enveloped into slumber, which in turn led to sleep.

The Dream

Funnily enough, all 4 ponies had the same dream that night.
They awoke in a place with only darkness beneath them, surrounded by fire. It roared and raged around them while something appeared in the distance. They couldn’t make out just what was approaching them, but it was getting closer. As it did, the ponies heard singing, screaming, and all sorts of orders being barked, and as the mysterious object got closer and closer, the commotion and noise got louder and louder. The object was shaped like a face, but was too hideous to be one. There was blood on it, possibly an eye on the left side, and a broken nose with seemingly only one nostril on the right. The ponies inexplicably started to get more frightened of what was coming. They all some point tried to scream, but found they couldn’t. They were all turned around and forced to face the ground just before the thing collided with them as if some unseen force was controlling them, and when the thing finally hit, they felt pain in every part of their body as their surroundings went blood red. They all screamed, but didn’t hear their own voices. The scream that came out of their mouths was for a pain far worse than the pain and fear they were currently exposed too. It was more of a moan. An awful cry of agony and heartache and depression, and-

They all woke up at around 3 am with a jump, mortified with horror from the dream they just had. Keckla and Synther eventually just went back to sleep, but as Mika woke, he heard Twilight’s deep breathing above his own. He left the bed in the guest room, and walked shakily to the door. It creaked open, making Twilight realize falsely that she woke Mika up. Mika opened the door to Twilight’s room, and shared a look with her that told them both what had happened. Twilight made a “come here” gesture with her head and Mika did so. He crawled into the bed as she tucked him in. They lay there, each giving the other comfort and assurance that what had just happened was only a dream.
For the few hours left in the night, the ponies slept dreamlessly

The Fury's Edge

Keckla awoke and, despite her nightmares, felt like the greatest pony alive. She looked in the mirror of the public bathroom in the pub and her face seemed to shine among the dirty looking cubicles behind her. She took a deep breath, left the bathroom and approached the tired, grumpy Mr Purgley with a cheery attitude that she hadn’t even known she was capable of. Mr Purgly looked at the mare, her energetic body poised for action, her eyes glinting with the thrill of life Her cheesy smile excited and genuine. He was not ready for her at this time in the morning.

“Right love, put that horn to good use today, all right?”
“Yes, Sir.” She chirped.
“Call me Purgley, everyone does.”
“Yes, Mr Purgley.”
“No, just Purgley, love. Anyway, opening time.“

Mr Purgley trotted over to the door, and clenched a card with his teeth that Keckla could see said: “open” in bright green text. He flipped it, revealing a side that said: “Closed” in bright red text.

“We don’t get too many customers in the mornings, but we make some breakfast dishes anyway, just in case.” He explained. Just then, a mare poked her head through the kitchen doorway. Her orange head had a golden glow to it, and her sea blue eyes seemed to flow around their sockets. This was Agatha, the cook at the Ponyville pub and Inn. She spoke: “Purgley, we’re running short of eggs. I was just wondering if-“ It was then that she first caught sight of Keckla “Oh. So this is your new waitress, huh.” She emerged through the door, revealing a large puffy apple-red mane and tail, along with a frying pan cutie mark. Mr Purgley glanced back and forth between the two ponies, wondering wether or not to get involved. Agatha went on:

“The one who took my daughter’s job-” Purgley immediately cut in:
“Agatha, your daughter was rude and disrespectful to me. If she was like that with the customers, we’d closed within the week!”
“Oh, and I suppose that this mare’s much better? I’ve worked for you for ten long years, Purgley. I know my daughter’s got a heart of gold.” Purgley and Keckla both fought the temptation to scoff. Agatha continued: ”How do we know this isn’t some total kiss-up, some horrible, vindictive, manipulative”
“No.” Keckla interrupted before she realized it. She was looking at the ground. Her voice was low and, for some reason, vengeful.
“Excuse me?”
“Keckla-“ Mr Purgley put his hoof on Keckla’s back and she turned to him, leaving the trail of thoughts she had unconsciously been travelling down. Her eyes sparkled with tears. “To your room. Now.” He said. The young mare sadly trotted to the stairs.
“And you,” he turned to Agatha, “Go to the market and get some eggs. I’ll pay you the cost when you get back.” Agatha grumbled as she left the pub, but Purgley couldn’t blame her. He turned to the stairs and ascended them, not knowing why he wanted to console a pony whom he barely knew.

The inn room that Keckla lived in was basic, but satisfactory. It had a single, old bed in the corner, a single, old wardrobe on the left, and a single drawer beside the bed. It too, was old. The floorboards and walls were grey, as was the door.

Keckla was sobbing in her room, her face in her bed. She had undoubtedly lost her job, considering the tone Mr Purgley had used when he spoke to her. What was she to do now? Live on the streets? Go back to Saddale? No. Never. She’d rather die. Mr Purgley stood in the doorway and looked down on her. He sighed, and knelt down beside her.
“Now why the heck are you crying, eh?” Keckla stopped sobbing, listening intently to her boss. “Sobbing isn’t majorly advised in work hours, love.” Keckla gave a sad chuckle and a loud sniff.
“So are you going to fire me?”
“Course not. “ Keckla turned to Purgley, who was smiling back at her. Keckla once again surprised Mr Purgley by wrapping her hooves around him. He patted her back anxiously, and said
“On one condition” Keckla withdrew from the hug, and looked at Purgley, worried
“No more soppy hugs.” Keckla chuckled again, and looked away. Purgley got up. “I’ll give ya a couple of minutes to pull yourself together again, ‘K?” With that, he left the room, happy in the confidence that the girl would be alright.

The Question Game

Mika woke first that morning, thinking how warm and comfortable this place was. Then he actually remembered where he was. He was embraced by Twilight, who, for some reason, had had the same dream as him last night. He almost certainly couldn’t trust this pony, he knew that, but a strange part of him wanted to, it wanted to cling to her so badly...
Twilight awoke, the boy’s mane in her face. She knew he was awake, and he knew that she was. She got up, and sighed. She trotted over to Spike’s basket and gently shook the small creature.

“Spike, wakey wakey.” Mika found it hard not to scoff at Twilight’s use of the word “wakey”. It was the single stupidest thing he’d ever heard. The Dragon stirred and groaned, and woke with a jolt, before he looked up a Twilight and yawned.

“Breakfast for 2 please, Spike.”

Then it hit him. That dragon was Twilight’s slave. She had put an anti ageing spell of some sort on it, and forced it to her bidding. Spike groaned. Moron, he was going to suffer for that. But Twilight let the remark pass. The dragon yawned on his way out of the room, still Twilight did nothing. Mika was very confused by this odd pony. Once spike had left, he asked:

“Spike’s your slave, why do you let him get away with yawns and groans like that?”

“My what!?” Twilight shot back at the boy. Mika realized he’d said something wrong.

“I’m sorry, I-“

“Spike is not my slave, what in the wide wide world of Equestria gave you that idea?” Mika looked down at the pillow. Twilight continued “What- I mean – how do you even come to that conclusion in the first place, It’s ridiculous! What kind of a pony would I be if I-“

“I was a slave.” Mika stopped the rambling Twilight, who now looked at the boy, seeing behind the barriers revealing a tormented young foal who had lost everything while he was young and turned his thoughts to blood.

“READY” Spike’s voice rang out between the two, breaking Twilight’s stare. She trotted towards the doorway, thinking.

“Come down if you’re hungry.” She said without turning. Mika stared after Twilight and hesitated before making his way to the door.

Breakfast was cereal. Mika grabbed the spoon by curling his forehoof. Twilight didn’t look up from her bowl when she talked.
“We’re going to play a game.” Mika didn’t argue “ I call it, the question game.”

“Oh, boy, I love the question game! Twilight and Mika both turned to the baby dragon. He looked down, blushing. Mika turned back to Twilight, who herself turned back to her cereal bowl.

“I’m going to ask you a question,” she continued, “And you’re going to reply with one, got it?” Mika nodded.

“Good.” said Twilight. She suddenly looked up at Mika and asked:

“Where do you come from?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“Why shouldn’t I want to know?” Mika sighed.

“Some things are better left unsaid.” he said darkly.

“Wrong!” Twilight teased. Mika shot her a confused look. “That wasn’t a question now, was it?” Mika’s look of confusion changed to annoyance, as Twilight innocently smiled back.

“Want to play again?” she chirped.

“Not really.” He said, returning attention to his bowl. Twilight sighed. She was going to get the answers she wanted from him, but obviously not this morning.

“Look Mika, I’m pre-occupied for the morning. In afternoon we could maybe go out and do something? I could show you around Ponyville if you like?” The boy remained silent. Twilight tutted, and made for the library door.

“Until then you can help Spike with his chores or read a book. Or perhaps you could just sit around and do nothing, moping about your mysterious past. If you want to leave then fine, but don’t expect another roof over your head anytime soon.” She glanced back at the boy, expecting a reaction. There was none. Dang, he was good at this.

“Your choice.” She said, shutting the door behind her.

Spike, who had been watching the conversation intensely, sat dumbfounded looking at the boy. Mika glanced his way, and gave him a cold stare he found he couldn’t keep for more than a second. He picked up the bowls, and made his way to the kitchen. Maybe the boy would read a book so he could concentrate on his chores.
He was, at this point, the only other intelligent life form in the library (officially anyway, but Spike was pretty certain that Twilight’s pet owl inspiringly named Owlowicious understood more then she let on) and Spike didn’t want to be caught up in an awkward conversation with him.

Mika stared at the dragon that was contently washing the bowls and spoons. He got up trotted over to him. Spike tensed, sensing trouble was coming.

“Don’t you ever get tired of doing all those chores?” he asked.

“Nope!” He replied. “It’s worth just to see Twilight happy.”

“Ha, she thanks you for these little things?”

“Of course. What do you think I am, a slave?” A silence answered him. He turned towards the young foal, and stared right into those emotionless barriers he had for eyeballs.

“Well I’m not. No-pony in Ponyville is. Twilight takes care of me and I take care of her back. It’s been that way since I first hatched.” He explained as the boy stared hard back. “Now go read or a book or something, will you? I’ve got bowls to scrub.” With that he turned back to the sink, dismissing the boy. Mika silently left the room and Spike let out a huge sigh of relief.

Mika looked around the library, and decided to take one of those things off the shelf. Spike and Twilight had called them books. Mika bit one and took it out. On the title page there were weird shapes at the top and bottom. He opened the book to find more weird shapes, except they were all tiny. Some were bunched together and some were spaced out as if they were in some sort of random order. He saw several shapes repeat themselves, some more than others. He closed the book, shaking his head. He put back on the shelf and tried another, getting the same results.

He then decided to go look in another part of the library. He trotted over to a more colourful area, and took out one of the books there. The books were definitely thinner than those he’d been dealing with before, the shapes on the front, though still recognisable, were drawn differently and were far bigger. There was also a picture of 3 houses, one made of wood, one made of sticks and one made of bricks and a large furry creature who looked up to the moonlit sky with his lips pursed.

Bizarre didn’t even come close.

He opened it up and saw picture of 3 smiling pigs along with some more strange shapes. He wondered why he kept seeing the same ones and what they meant. He turned the page and saw the three pigs each standing before one of the houses he had seen on the cover. There were more symbols, but he had decided to ignore them by now.

On the next page he saw a dark picture of a nasty looking wolf. He turned the page to see the wolf walking up the straw house. On the next the wolf was knocking on the door, while the pig cowered in fear. Then, the wolf was blowing at the straw house, which led to it collapsing on the next page while the wolf chased after the pig who was running away down the path.
The pig ran to this stick house and the same thing happened, so both pigs were now running from the wolf. The 2 went to the stone house and, after the wolf had knocked on the door, he once again blew at the house. But this time it stayed firm, leaving the wolf out of breath, panting. Mika could just see it.

But the book then showed the wolf with a cunning glint in his eye, the same he had seen many times before in Saddale. He worriedly turned the page to find the wolf scaling the brick house. On the next he was climbing into the chimney. He was going to get the pigs!

Then Mika gave a sigh of relief as he saw the wolf burning alive in hot cauldron of soup while the pigs laughed around the fireplace. He put the book down and found himself... smiling. He’d done worse, he supposed. He pulled out another book, this time seeing a young filly with a red cloak surrounded by trees and two mysterious red eyes staring at her intently. He opened the book, intrigued...

Author's Note

I will NEVER understand how some people write 5000-10,000+ chapters all the time.

The Stand-up

It had been a relatively quiet morning in the pub. Agatha had kept to herself after the argument, much to Keckla’s surprise. What she didn’t know was that Purgley had a few stern words with her after she got back from the market. Keckla didn’t question the cook’s behaviour however, she had a job to do and a home to keep.

Meanwhile, in the corner of the pub, Twilight sat gloomily circling her empty mug and her hoof. She was going to meet up with her brother, but the dummy had done a no-show. It didn’t help that Shining Armour was captain of the royal guard either, that way he always seemed to have convenient excuses to avoid meeting her sister.

Keckla noticed the sad mare sitting on her own, feeling sorry for her. She trotted over to her boss and asked:

“Hey, Mr Purgley, what do you think is up with her? She was happy enough when she came in...”

Mr Purgley glanced at the depressed mare in the corner girl. He sighed.

“She’s been let down by someone she regards highly who said they were going to be here. She’s fiddling with that cup as an excuse to keep waiting for whoever it is even though she knows they probably won’t turn up.”

Keckla looked back, her mouth wide open.

“How do you know that?” she asked. Mr Purgley chuckled.

“When you’ve worked in a public building as long as I have, you learn to know ponies.” Keckla turned back to the mare, and began to trot over to her.

“Stood up?” she asked, sitting down opposite her.

“Yeah. My brother.” Twilight grimly replied.

“Oh.” Keckla froze, realizing she hadn’t planned this far. She stared at the mare, who was still twirling her hoof and the cup in a mesmerising fashion.

“How do you do that?” she asked suddenly, making Twilight look up for the first time.

“What, this?” Twilight had been spinning the cup and her hoof around sub-consciously until now, her mind elsewhere. However, now that the waitress mentioned it, she realized she had been doing it for at least an hour. She glanced at the clock. It had been just over 3 hours since she left the library. She turned back to the waitress, and then back to the cup.

“I dunno, I just...” Her horn and the cup lit, and the cup began spinning on its edge in circles. Twilight the put her hoof into the mix and it was just as it was before.

“Can I try?” Keckla chirped, making Twilight giggle.

“Of course!” she passed the cup to Keckla who began to spin the cup with her own horn, before carefully adding her hoof as well. Twilight watched, the boredom of the last few hours unnoticeable on her face.

“Does your brother do this a lot?” Keckla asked, now used to the motion

“No not... well... not most of the time, but more recently he hasn’t shown up. In his letters he says things keep coming up. He has a very important job in Canterlot, see. Did you have a brother growing up?”

Keckla thought of Mika.

“Sort of.... but we weren’t related. We didn’t talk much either. But I always treated him well. Now that I’ve left my old town I doubt I’ll ever see him again. We weren’t that close though, so no worries.” Twilight nodded and began to talk about how her brother affected her foalhood.

Meanwhile Mr Purgley had noticed Keckla slacking off and talking to the customer she’d asked about earlier. He’d probably have a word with her later about it. No-one was coming in right now, so he might as well let her make new friends. The two mares laughed at something the customer had said. The old pony shook his head and went back to cleaning empty pint glasses.

“You know, you’re still twirling your cup.” Keckla looked down. She was indeed still twirling her cup in the peculiar fashion that had drawn her to this pony in the first place.

“Actually, I better get back to work before my boss notices me slacking off. Bye – um, what’s your name?”

“Haha, It’s Twilight. Twilight Sparkle.”

“I’m Keckla Newfound. Pleased to meet you.”

“Thanks for cheering me up Keckla. I’ll be sure to come again. See ya!” With that, Twilight got up and left while Keckla went back to work.

Mr Purgley had only heard the last part of the conversation, but that was all he needed to hear. Somehow, the young mare had convinced a customer who had just spent 3 boring hours waiting for someone to come back again. That took... something. Purgley wasn’t sure what, but either way, perhaps Keckla’s “slacking” could have a profitable outcome...

The Raven

It had been a long and testing journey. The young bird had never made one that long before. This would be her first mating season. She had crossed the Erif desert and finally reached the Everfree forest. But where to stop? After coming this far, she had wanted her breeding place to be perfect.

She landed on a possible place to stop. There was water all around this large tree. Indeed, the great oak in horseshoe pond would’ve been perfect to raise her children. Sadly, Blade Rippon was there that morning, and he needed to practice his aim with his throwing knife. It smashed into the tree just beside the raven, who instinctively darted off to find a safer place. Blade smiled. His aim was still true.

The raven continued despite her tired wings until she came across another place to stop. This one was near Fluttershy’s cottage. The raven looked around for signs of trouble. The only thing she saw was Synther walking up the path, a wide smile on his face. She stretched her tired wings. This place would do, but her work was not done. For now she would have to collect twigs and cut grass to make a nest and then, only then, would she rest.

Synther was sure it was staring at him. He stopped and stared at the creature as she got to work, bringing dead leaves and grass back up to her future home. He told himself that it was nothing, that he should just knock on the mare’s door already, but his paranoia kept him there. Staring. Wondering why he was there.

Fluttershy noticed the Pegasus outside and joined him, opening the door and trotting over to him without drawing his attention. They both stared silently for a couple more minutes, The raven's tired efforts entrancing them.

“Amazing creatures, aren’t they?” Said Fluttershy, startling Synther in the process.

“Fluttershy! I didn’t know you were there!” Fluttershy, who was still staring at the raven continued:

“This one is a girl. She’s nearly finished building her nest. In a moment she’ll start calling for a partner. Many more will gather here, and soon we’ll have lot cute baby ravens stumbling about. That is if we don’t scare her off.”

The Raven looked around. Not too bad for her first nest. She knew she needed to call for a mate, but she was very tired. She decided to call once before taking a well deserved nap.

Down below, the two watched as the raven cawed for a partner before she lay down to rest.

“She's migrating here for the summer. She normally resides in the desert, but it gets too hot during the summer months.”

Synther turned to Fluttershy, who was still gazing at the now resting creature.

“How in all of Equestria do you know so much about ravens?” Fluttershy turned to Synther and replied:

“Oh, I know a lot about all of the woodland critters. Ever since I fell from Cloudsdale a few years back, I’ve been befriending them and learning everything there is to know about them!”

“Wow, that’s incredible!” Synther said, knowing to act impressed. Fluttershy accordingly blushed.

“Oh...well... I... It’s nothing really. Do you want to come in?” Synther nodded followed the mare into her humble cottage as the raven they had been observing twisted and turned in a restless nightmare.

The First Lesson

Twilight, though glad to have been cheered up by her new friend, was still slightly annoyed that her brother had failed to visit her again. Still, she supposed she had more important matters to deal with now, such as the boy. The terrible, terrible boy.

It shouldn’t be that hard. He is, after all, a young colt. They aren’t that complicated. Maybe he’d talk if she offered him ice-cream, or selected assortment of other tasty treats. Even better, perhaps he opened up to spike after she’d gone. One way or another, she’d make the book talk. She entered her home, a confident grin on her face.

The boy was in the corner, quietly surrounding himself in a fantasy world.

Twilight looked at the boy, reminiscent of a simpler time when life was just her, Spike and her books. She walked over to the colt.

“Whatcha reading?” Mika looked up at the mare, dimly surprised.

“Why do you want to know?” Twilight reeled back in surprise, then scolded herself for doing so. She should’ve realized by now the nice approach was not going to work.

“Why are you so defensive?”

“I-“ Mika hesitated, before turning back to the book. “What’s wrong with wanting privacy?”

Twilight took a step back, glaring at Mika.

“Nothing. Well played.” She turned to the kitchen and called for Spike. Mika kept his eye on her until she’d left the room. He refocused on his book. The girl probably knew how to put together all these strange symbols he’d been encountering in the books. He’d have to make a deal with her somehow if he wanted to find out what they all meant...

“Well played yourself.” he whispered dimly.

Twilight walked into the kitchen, a stern look on her face. Spike stood to attention as fast as he could.

“He tell you anything?” Spike shook his head.

“He’s just been reading in there for the past few hours.” Twilight sighed, sitting down so her mane flopped down the side of her face. What on Equestria was she going to do now?

“You shouldn’t have taken him Twilight.” Twilight looked up at her companion with a mixed face of shock and offense. “He could’ve runaway from his home, or may have been brought here accidentally somehow. His parents-”

“Are dead, Spike.”

“And who told you that? Twilight’s face widened before slowly dropping. Spike was right. She had to report the boy to the authorities and they’d take care of him.

“I’m sorry Spike. I just wanted to help him. He’s just so... so-“

“So what?” Twilight and Spike turned their heads. To their surprise Mika was standing in the doorway, hoof on a book.

“... Troubled.” Twilight finished. Mika’s face remained a stone. He slid the book forward.

“Inside this book there are a variety of strange symbols, I was wondering what they all mean.” Twilight raised an eyebrow.

“Symbols?”

“Yes, Symbols. See for yourself.” He opened the book, revealing the words on the pages. “They’re all over every single page.” Twilight and Spike exchanged looks. The boy did not know how to read.

“Well?” The boy asked, sternly looking at the two. He sighed. “I’ll wait in the other room while you two discuss what to do with me shall I?” He trotted off, taking the book. Twilight immediately started after him. Without turning, she said to Spike:

“We’re keeping him.” Spike sighed. He knew at this point there was only one thing left to do.

“Okay.” Spike eyed the nearest quill and parchment, not daring to move until she had left the room.

Sunlight beamed through the windows and into the library in short slits. Twilight stood in the doorway, looking at the boy. Half his face saw the sunlight, while the other stayed deep within shadows. Both eyes stared coldly back at her.

“That was quick.” He said, voice formal as ever. She walked over to him and sat down. Parchment, quills and ink pots floated over to the two all at once, each item surround by the purple glow of magic that showed it was being controlled by Twilight. She spoke sternly:

“The symbols you are on about are letters. These letters make up the words we speak every day.” Mika opened his mouth to speak, but Twilight put a hoof over his mouth. “There are twenty-six letters in all. In a certain order they make up something known as the alphabet.”

Twilight couldn't believe she was going on about this. For a moment she wondered if Spike was right, maybe the boy’s parents weren't dead, maybe he could read and was playing her for a fool. But then she remembered who this boy was. The boy who’s stare was killer and deadly. The colt who could take out a full grown stallion when enraged. The creature whose eyes stood tall and proud defending the pony within.

Spike was wrong, and Twilight would prove it.

“I’ve seen more than twenty-six symbols.” Said Mika, snapping Twilight back to reality.

“Each letter has two forms; a capital and a lower case.” The quill rose, surrounded by magic, and began writing on the parchment. “First there’s A...”

From the kitchen door, Spike looked sadly at his friend. He hated having to betray her trust, but she’d understand eventually that it was for her own good. He took care of Twilight and Twilight took care of him. That’s how it had always been. The boy didn’t belong here. Spike walked back into the kitchen and quietly sent his letter.
“Forgive me Twilight” Whispered the baby dragon as he turned back to his chores.

The Mayor of Saddale

The mayor’s office was very bare. Grey walls, a single file cabinet in the corner , a single soil-filled plant pot that lay away from the window, starved of sunlight, a chair at a table and a cuckoo clock placed higher that Dirtwielder, the old land pony who sat in the chair could reach.

He sat glumly in his office as the day reached noon. The cuckoo clock on the wall chimed, as if breaking him from a trance. He gazed at the mad wooden bird who was thrusted in and out of the door. Dirtwielder chuckled as relevant thoughts unveiled themselves slowly in his mind... However as the cuckoo stopped thrusting the old pony snapped back into reality, gazing at the mound of paper work that lied before him. Loud voices came from down the beyond the door. Dirtwielder softly sighed, knowing exactly who it was.

As if the day wasn’t bad enough, Simian stormed into Dirtwielder’s office, Cheeks red with rage. The old wrinkly grey pony nudged his glasses up and stared into the young lad’s eyes, remembering the... passion of his youth.

“She’s gone! The Tosser’s gone up and left!” Good old passion.

“Now now, dear boy.” He said, “Who are you talking about?

“Keckla and her slave boy. They’ve vanished!” Simian’s body seemed to move forward on his own, his hoof smashing and breaking the lonely flower pot. He stood still and looked at the mound of soil on the floor, then at his own, bleeding hoof. He smiled.

“Well what do you want me to do about it?” He said, eager to end the conversation. Simian turned and gave him an icy glare. Only this pony could get away with talking to him like that. He had power. You don’t mess with ponies in power until you have more power than them.

“I want Blade.” Simian said, cooly

“The assassin? I’m afraid he’s on a job. A long one. He said he’ll need two months.” As he finished the sentence he suddenly remembered that Simian’s temper was as big as his brain...

“2 MONTHS!” He roared, heavily sighing afterwards. Blade Rippon was the best assassin who had ever lived. He could kill someone and frame Celestia for it if you paid him enough. But he had his ways. He would sometimes disappear or take an abnormally long time on a job. Still, a 100% success rate was hard to criticize, even for someone like Simian.

“I’ll send him to you as soon as he gets back. I can’t do anything more than that.”

“That’s because you’re weak.” Simian said, before marching angrily out of the office doors and past a nervous male Pegasus with a saddlebag full of letters. A mail pony. Funny, Dirtwielder thought. They only came on Mondays and Thursdays, today was a tuesday. It had to be something important. He scuttled nervously into the office. Dirtweilder’s old face remained the same.

“Sir” His voice was young and shaky. He spoke every word with a broken voice.

“I-I bring an important message from P-Princess Celestia.” He said, before grabbing one of the letters from his bag with his teeth and chucking it Dirtwielder’s way. Fearing the worst, Dirtwielder hastily ripped it open with his teeth. The letter read:

Dear Dirtwielder

There is an upcoming coronation of one of my student in 9 weeks today. You need to be ready for your towns welcoming Ceremony. As you know, she will ride through the town on a chariot where she will meet and greet the people. If anything happens... well, you fully understand the consequences for your town and yourself.

From Celestia.

He sighed, and looked up to the now empty office. He hated this job.

The Announcement

“Not... by the hairs of my... uh... chinny chin chin?” Mika read, looking to Twilight to see if he was right.

“Exactly! Well done!” She beamed

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever read. Why didn’t he just say “Not by the hairs of my chin.” The chinny bit makes him sound stupid.” Mika replied, disappointed that he’d actually liked this story. Twilight playfully giggled at the boy’s valid point. Mika shot her a look of confusion, before shaking his head and conceding he’d never understand her.

Keckla cheerfully waited the young stallion who had just came in. He had ordered a beer. He looked tense, anxiously tapping the table with his hoof. Keckla kept her stare on the colt and asked

“What do you think’s up with him?” He glanced at the stallion and turned to Keckla.

“Are you going to ask me this about everyone who comes in this bar?” He complained mockingly.

“Maybe.” Smiled Keckla cheekily. He sighed, hiding his smile.

“Well, he’s obviously anxious about something coming up later today, probably a date with someone. If it were more important he’d be making more of an effort to calm himself. He must admire her a lot and think that she’s above him, and I’d wager that she feels the same way about him.” He summarised. “Welp, time for you to go tend his wounds.” He added sarcastically, letting Keckla levitate the beer

Keckla took no notice and began to trot towards the young stallion...

Synther walked from the cottage fully satisfied, Fluttershy had made quite the breakfast for the two of them. He reminisced on how he had enjoyed listening to Fluttershy about how she had found her cutie mark and how she had helped in defeating Nightmare moon, Discord and Sombra. For an anti-social pony, she lived quite an exciting life. He looked forward to their next meeting, where he would undoubtedly learn more about her.

At that moment, the town bell rung.

Twilight perked up immediately, looking at the door as if it was making the distant ringing sound she heard. She turned back to Mika. He looked coldly back.

“It’s the mayor calling for a town meeting. Do you want to come with me?” She asked

“Do I have a choice?” He replied bluntly

“Why wouldn’t you?” She asked as she walked to the door, once again testing the young colt. He hesitated.

“Should I?” Was what he eventually came out with. Spike hustled across the room and jumped on to Twilight’s back. Mika marvelled at the sight.

“Why shouldn’t you.” Mika sighed, remaining still. He looked at the parchment that Twilight had written on for what seemed like forever. He turned slowly towards Twilight, a look of stern doubt on his youthful face, got up and walked towards her.

“Well played.” He said.

Everyone in the pub turned towards the exit and the window around it as the bell rung. Slowly, the few customers that were there got up and made their way to the door. Keckla turned towards Purgley, who simply nodded back as he left his place behind the bar and towards the door. She followed soon after.

Synther strode towards the town centre, quietly taking in his surroundings. A huge crowd of ponies had gathered in front of a wooden stage. Synther strode to the back of the crowd, remembering to act as calmly as possible. He sensed a pony had walked up beside him, but his vision was fixed on the mayor of Ponyville as she trotted up to the front-centre of the stage.

“Citizens of Ponyville! I bring you exciting news!” Synther relaxed at this. “In two months time Ponyville shall be hosting the “Autumn Rise Ball”!” The crowd of ponies began to chatter to themselves eagerly, the purple pony beside him simply gasped in amazement. He turned to look at her, and immediately noticed the baby dragon on its back.

“Preparations must of course be made, the first of which is the building itself! The Ponyville Builders society will be offered...” But Synther didn’t hear anymore from the old pony, as the people’s excited chattering drowned out the sound of her voice. He turned to the pony next to him.

“So, A ball? Pretty exciting, huh?”

“Huh?... Oh, Yeah! Can’t wait.” She said, distracted. “Sorry, I was just focused on my... uhh... distant relative here.” She added, revealing a young colt.

Mika looked at Synther. Synther looked at Mika. Mika undoubtedly won; Synther turned away almost immediately.

“Hello.” He said, coolly. Twilight jumped back in the middle of them after a tense moment of silence.

“Sorry about him! He’s not from round here and he’s finding it difficult to fit in!” She chirped anxiously. “Well, time to go! Come on Mika.” The young dragon whispered something in the pony’s ear, and she looked sternly back. Partners in crime.

“See you around.” Was all Synther had to say as the strange trio made their escape.

Keckla and Purgley were walking back to the bar. Keckla turned to Purgley and once again asked him about the ways of the world:

“Mr Purgley, what’s a ball?”

“Ha, you mean you don’t know what a ball is? Where did you grow up?!” He asked jokingly, the question unsettling Keckla more than it should’ve.

“Heh heh, er... Manehatten.”

She had heard the town name only in a few conversations with other ponies. Mr Purgley seemed to think about this for a short while, afterwards he nodded:

“Yes, I suppose that makes sense. The ball is basically a formal party. It’s a big social event. Lots a famous names. Funny thing about it is, you ponies call Autumn “Fall” so you call it the “Fall rise ball!”” Keckla giggled at her boss’s joke.

“I’ll admit, Autumn is a better word.”

“Ha, If you think that’s good, over here we also spell “Colours” with a “U”. Hahaha! Anyway...” They had reached the door of the pub. Purgley opened the door.

“In you come, love.” Keckla cheerily smiled back.

“Thank you Mr Purgley.” She said as she resumed her work.

The Lone Pegasus

The wind drifted through the sycamore trees surrounding Horseshoe Pond. The small body of water lay there silently and fish merrily swam round its horseshoe shape. In the middle of the land there was a great oak tree who’s branches hung over the water, standing tall and strong, filled with young squirrels looking for love and small birds tending to their young. Blanketed by the shade of the tree, a lone Pegasus slept quietly beside his saddlebag as the sun dawned and his surrounds flourished to life. Around the pond were roses in full bloom, and here or there a bee would excitedly buzz around his nectar goldmine that he found. The whole angelic scene was one often only found in fairy-tales, and therefore was treasured and protected by all who knew of it.

The sleeping Pegasus was male, and able bodied. Delicately positioned upon his light green face was a warm smile, one that told you he appreciated his own life. He had comfortable wings and a short but radiant blue tail and mane. A bird landed on a nearby nest and began to feed its young, who tweeted their high pitched voices with glee. The Pegasus warmly opened his eyes to this, revealing a stunning pair of blue gems which twinkled at the sky despite black pupils in the centre of them. He tenderly got on to his hooves and took a deep breath of the fresh morning air before stretching his legs and wings. He nodded at the surroundings in approval and began to hum while putting on his saddlebag. The Pegasus made his way out of the centre of the pond and looked down the hill to his destination, which was none other than Ponyville. He knew he could’ve flown there, but why miss the chance for an excellent walk through the countryside? For that was the type of pony he was. He mentally prepared himself for the short journey forward, remembering why he was there. He was once a sailor who had sailed with his brothers but left his boat and travelled to Ponyville for a new life. His name was Synther Strongbark, and he eagerly looked at his new home awaiting the treasures he’d find there.

As he left Horseshoe Pond, a sea bound predator shot out at an unsuspecting fish, while a joyful bee blissfully flew into a Venus flytrap that was waiting among the plants. In the clear of day, the thorns on the roses almost twinkled with delight as the predator finished his meal and the flytrap snapped shut.

Author's Note

Yes, that's horseshoe pond from my other story.
I'm unoriginal, sue me.