The Iron Palace

G’day young fillies and gentlecolts! You fellas sittin’ there are probably wonderin’ who’s narratin’ this grand lil’ tale o’ mine and what it’s all about.

Welp, the name’s Aurora Ferrick and I have youse know that I’m... not exactly the most typical pony in Equestria. Now, I’m sure you’ve heard just about everypony goin’ on about how they’re the “cream of the crop” in Canterlot or where ever they come from and I’m happy for the fact that they feel so damn special about themselves. But I’m sure none o’ them ponies have this ripper of a Cutie Mark! Check it out! O-oh right... You probably can’t “check it out”, huh? Sorry ‘bout that. Anyway, it’s a summation symbol, y’know, for calculus and all o’ that good stuff! Funny story how that popped up too!

Y’see, I accidently opened a dimensional rift while I was tryin’ to make an electromagnet for a science project we had to do for school. Bein’ a young filly an’ all, I had no idea what that the hay it was at the time, nor did I know how it happened. To this very day I’m still confused how I did that... But at that moment, I figured that whatever that hole was, that appeared from thin air and stole my favourite pencil, it was a lot more excitin’ than a stupid magnet, that’s for sure! So then I decided to try recreating that moment by backtracking what I did to make that hole appear.

Sounded pretty easy in my head, but I was absolutely stumped! I didn’t even know what that hole was in the first place, but I knew it was downright awesome! Although, after much, much, MUCH more studying, and I mean, I finished and handed in that magnet I was working on at the beginning of all this, got an A+ and started making another stupid magnet to recreate this whole incident. I almost gave up on it to be honest, I was getting nowhere.

But then I found my pencil.

It was actually at my next door neighbour’s house. I found it when she invited my family over for a weekend get-together. The pencil was in ‘er bathroom... embedded in the ceiling... and she didn’t even notice it for the past 3 months it went missing. I mean, I think she still didn’t know it was there in the first place. Then I got inspired again! I knew that by finding my pencil, that hole wasn’t some gluttonous pit o’ doom or somethin’; it was a portal – a gate or door of some kind that took ya somewhere else in an instant! Then I thought about magnets and how they work, and then it all clicked!

I slaved away at making this work! Another 2 months it took me, but sweet Celestia, it was worth every minute. What I invented were teleportation devices that took you from one place to another in a flash! I got to admit, my little creation weren’t that little; they were about the size of beds. But regardless, I earned my Cutie Mark! That day was so damn awesome...

Wow, I got pretty side-tracked there... Sorry ‘bout that. You don’t even know what this story’s about! Heck, you don’t even know what I look like! For starters, I’m an Earth Pony, female, with a charcoal-like mane with silver streaks through it... and it’s all over the place. Has a tendency to flick to the left though, which I’m okay with. Movin’ on, my fur’s a pale teal colour like my mother’s and I also have this strange condition with my eyes that’s called heterochromia. It’s basically where one eye’s a completely different colour to the other. Mum apparently called me Aurora because of their colours; blue and green. Not particularly sure as to whether an aurora really is that colour, since I haven’t read up on anythin’ about natural phenomenon due to personal reasons – which just so happens to be the reason for the story ‘ere which I’m finally gonna get to.

It all started back when my parents first met. Back then, my mother lived in New Foaleans; which is where I am now, and she was raised in the dodgy part of it. Her dream back then was to run her very own hotel. Reason being, she enjoyed accommodating and caring for other ponies, no matter what their problems were. She even had the Cutie Mark to prove it. She first got it when she took an orphan filly in to care for. The poor filly had lost ‘er home to a freak accident, which claimed the lives of both of her parents and was forced to live on the streets. Back then, ol’ bird was livin’ alone and struggled to make ends meet financially, but still gave that unicorn orphan everything she had.

My fath – Danny, however, is a lot different compared to my lovely mother and he’s the main reason why I’m stuck in this mess. Anyway, he was a professional wrestler from Horsetralia, which just about explains my accent for those wonderin’. He was a massive meat-head by the way. Had an anvil for a Cutie Mark and was coined as “The Iron Stallion” by the media and his fans, most likely because of the surname... He travelled to New Foaleans for a match against some other brain dead moron and got his arse kicked; hard. He suffered from spinal injuries after that fight and had to resign from his wrestling career. Better that than being a paraplegic, I guess.

After he got out from the local hospital... Danny, collapsed in the middle of the street from the pain in his back. My mother just so happened to be there, helped him up and nursed him back at her home. Skipping through all o’ the soppy crap, one thing had led to another and they fell in love. From the money Danny earned during his career, he was able to grant my mother her wish – her own hotel.

She named it “The Iron Palace” after her new surname, and began her new life along with her newborn which she named Aurora. That would be me. While I was growing up, my mother became victim to a rare strand of virus that the doctors had no idea what it was. She lived life as normal as she could and eventually passed away in her sleep. Mum’s death shook us – it changed us; especially Danny. The incident had rendered him into a terrible depression, and began attempting to drink the pain away with red wine and rum. As time went on without her, The Iron Palace began to fall apart, and so did he. With his injury and his alcoholism, things quite frankly... turned to shit, and brought all of his bottled frustration out on the closest living thing to unleash it; which was me. You think jammin’ your hoof in a door hurts? Try gettin’ bucked into a wall by an overgrown athlete...

Eventually, that lousy bastard became desperate. In his reoccurring drunken ramblings to himself, he’d always say that he’ll save my mother’s dream and pleaded Celestia with tears rolling from his weathered face for everything to be how it used to be. Through a last resort and a fateful opportunity, sadly enough, his prayers were answered. He struck a deal with Hoof Orleans’ devil – Ricky DeGatto. Back then, I had no idea who he really was, but no matter what angle I looked at his businesscolt guise, he stank of somethin’ sinister, like a dark alleyway or a haunted house. Ricky had promised to keep The Iron Palace afloat, pay the overdue bills and repair the damages for a percentage of the hotel’s profits after he kept his end of the bargain. Danny agreed to this, unaware of how large of a percentage he was askin’ for.

Things were actually going smoothly again once DeGatto fixed the place; customers started flowin’ in, positive word of mouth was spreadin’ like wildfire, and heck, Danny even stopped drinking! Then DeGatto came back after a “nice break”... with his “family”. At first, Danny was able to pay off the fortnightly installments of the outrageous debt, barely. Even on the busiest of weeks, he still struggled with the payments. But as time went on, he had no other option to decline them. This pissed off DeGatto to a much higher level than bat-shit-insane-rampaging-Ursa-Major-on-anabolic-steroids. He angrily commanded his goons to completely trash the place, breakin’ just about everything in sight and threatening Danny to pay him back in the midst of the chaos. All I could do at that time was to cower in my bedroom crying my eyes out, scared that they were gonna come break me. All I could do was barricade my bedroom door and pray.

The next day after the most dreadful sleep, I woke up to see nothing but what used to be The Iron Palace. Debris coated the hardwood floor and holes disgraced what were pure white walls. As I walked amongst the carnage, a ragged piece of paper and a black notebook sat side-by-side on the reception counter.

The counter was the only thing that seemed clean and untouched. As I approached the counter, I picked up an old photo that was on the notebook. It was a picture of my mother cradling me from when I was just a newborn. Why that was there worried me... I placed the photograph back on the counter and turned towards the paper that could very well explain it. Scared and curious, I flipped the sheet of paper around to see a note with drip stains and rushed handwriting across the page. The note read as this:

"By the time you read this, I will be gone.

I never once told you how proud I am to have a daughter like you. I know that in the past, my cruelty never reflected that pride either. I've caused you so much pain, and I’m writing this note to tell you that I’m only going to cause you more. I’ll never be able to see myself as the father you wanted me to be because I was never there. I’ll never accept your love towards me because I never deserved it. When Eliza passed away, I became a coward. I became the monster of your life and believed that I was the one that was suffering. It took me too long to realise that you were the one that was hurting. And I treated you as an enemy – an extra burden to my problems.

My only wish is for you to hate me.

To despise my very existence.

To curse at my name.

To take revenge on me if you ever see me again.

And to forget me after you read this letter.

As long as you do this, I’ll at least know you’re alive.

I know that the days from now are going to be hard for you, but you need to stay strong. Stay the cheery, eccentric and intelligent Aurora that we know and love, no matter how difficult it may be. I couldn’t do this. Your mother was what gave me strength. Your mother was what gave me a purpose. Your mother was what gave me you. And I threw that away. I blindly used her death as an excuse to justify my cowardice, and by the time I realised this, it was already too late. I had already jeopardised the home we shared our memories, the good and the bad ones. This is why I left The Iron Palace in your hoofs. It was never my wish to keep this hotel. I only wished for the happiness of my family.

I believe in you. You have the strength and kindness that your mother once had. I believe you’ll find your true love and be a mother to a beautiful family. You’ll have your own research facility like you’ve always dreamed about, creating the scientific marvels before ponykind and be written within the pages of history, revered as one of the many pioneers that shaped Equestria. I know your mother is looking down on you proud as she always was.

From this day forth, I no longer have the right to be your father.

Sincerely yours,

Danny Ferrick’"

And that boys and girls, is why I call my father by his first name.