“Think, think, think, think, think!” the young Earth pony said to himself.
He was in quite a bit of trouble now. His adversaries were in pursuit of him and he had only a short distance between them. He stopped, only for a moment, to catch his breath and was off running again. His travel was made harder and harder due to the increasing amount of trees. His adversaries were gaining on him. He was almost out of time.
He ran faster and faster, trying to escape. He took a quick glance backwards. Behind him were the two others. The Pegasus pony and Unicorn pony we getting even closer. But before he knew it his time was up. He reached a part in the forest too thick with trees to pass. He turned around to face his chasers. The Pegasus pony leaped at him and tackled him to the ground. They were tumbling until it ended with the Earth pony being pinned to the ground.
“I gotcha’ Orin,” the Pegasus pony said proudly to the Earth pony he had just caught.
“Get off of me,” Orin said as he began to try and push the Pegasus off of him.
“Not until you say it.”
“No!” he shouted as he still struggled to break free.
“You have to say it,” the Unicorn began, “Those are the rules.”
“Never! I’ll never say it!” Orin said as he struggled even harder but still couldn’t get away.
“You have to say it; Pegasus are better than Earth ponies,” the Pegasus told him again, “Once you do I’ll let you go.”
“Pegasus are better than Earth ponies,” he mumbled.
“You’ve gotta say it so we can hear,” the Unicorn spoke.
“Pegasus…Pegasus…Pegasus are better than Earth ponies!” it almost killed him to say those words but he did, “Now get off of me Sky!”
The Pegasus Sky stepped off of Orin and struck a proud pose. Orin stood up, still unhappy about what he had to say, and looked at Sky. Orin the looked over at the Unicorn, Bois, who had an expression of pure sympathy for Orin. Orin looked at Sky again to see that he was still boasting through body language.
“I think that’s enough Sky,” Bois said.
“Oh c’mon Bois. I’m just having some fun. Besides I proved that I was far superior in every way,” Sky bragged.
“You only beat me in one way Sky, and believe me I won’t lose again,” Orin said confidently.
“You really think you can beat me,” Sky challenged Orin’s claim.
“Yes, yes I do. In fact I bet I could beat you at anything any time.”
“Orin,” Bois cut in, “Pick your battles.”
“Look Bois, Sky and I have been friends and rivals for a while and I know I can beat him at anything.”
“You said you could go an hour without me being able to catch you and yet, somehow, you failed to stay away,” Sky mocked after overhearing them.
“You just got lucky,” Orin said angrily, “Besides, you had Bois helping you. )I( was on my own so you had an advantage.”
“Yeah well I still would have caught you even if Bois wasn’t helping me.”
“Sure you would have Sky.”
Their bickering went on for at least an hour but Bois was finally able to end it, even though the two others still argued quietly on their way home.
They had finally reached their town and luckily it was before sunset. It was a small town with only a few dirt roads, maybe ten or so houses and a police house. The town’s people had no reason for a fire department because the Pegasus always did a good job making sure no disasters happened weather wise, and even if they did make a mistake the Unicorns could always use their magic to fix the problem.
The three of them stood at the intersection that leaded to their homes. But Orin just couldn’t end the day like this. He couldn’t let it end with his defeat.
“Sky, I challenge you to a rematch.”
“Why should I face you again? I would just win another time.”
Orin didn’t want his only chance to slip away, “What if we make it interesting.”
“Then I might be interested,” Sky said.
“Alright it will be just like today except,” he paused for a moment, “I have to stay away for two hours and Bois can’t help you. And if I win you have to say Earth ponies are better than Pegasus.”
“I’m fine with that since I can’t lose to you. Now what do I get when I win?”
“If you win I’ll give you any cupcakes I get for the rest of my life.”
“Deal!” Sky jumped at the chance to get free cupcakes since they were so expensive, “We’ll meet near the edge of town at high noon,” Sky finished.
“Fine! And then we can prove once and for all that I’m better than you.”
“Fine!”
Orin and Sky both parted ways and went home, leaving Bois alone at the intersection.
“You guys are too much,” Bois sighed to himself, and then went home as well.
***
All the next morning Orin was overflowing with obvious excitement and anticipation.
Orin stood at the edge of town; the sun was almost at its peak.
“So you actually showed up eh,” Sky said as he approached from behind.
“Of course I showed up,” Orin snapped a little angrily by Sky’s remark, “I’m just surprised you came,” he countered.
“You guys need to stop bickering and just get ready,” Bois said as he arrived. He acted as the deciding factor between his two friends. Without him his friends would surely continue to argue forever and never do anything else.
“Oh alright,” Sky said.
Orin and Sky got to their starting points. Orin was about fifteen hooves ahead of Sky and he was ready.
Bois began the countdown.
“On your mark.”
Orin and Sky bent down, ready to take off.
“Get set.”
“GO!”
Orin was off running as fast as he could. But strangely, Sky wasn’t chasing after him. He just sat down.
“You’re not going to try and catch him, are you,” Bois said to Sky.
“Nope,” Sky said as he watched his friend run into the forest.
***
Orin was running as fast as he could, breathing heavily. He didn’t want to stop because that ruined him last time. So he kept going. But eventually he had to catch his breath.
He looked back but didn’t see Sky anywhere. He immediately thought the best that Sky was too slow. Orin decided to slow down some. He looked at his surroundings and quickly grasped that he was lost. He began to go back the way he came but was blinded by a bright light.
***
Orin had just opened his eyes but his vision was still blurry. He blinked a few times and finally was able to see, a little. There was a thick fog surrounding him on all sides.
Three large figures began to approach Orin and then they came into view. There were three ponies: a Unicorn, Pegasus and Earth pony.
“W-Who are you!” Orin shouted nervously, “A-And where am I!”
The Pegasus was the first to speak, “We are the elders and you are in the ancient land.”
“You’re here to take your test,” the Unicorn then said.
“W-What test?” Orin asked.
“The test to see if you get your cutie mark,” the Earth pony began to explain, “Well, actually it’s more of a test to see )what( cutie mark you’re going to get, since nopony can actually fail.”
“Why can’t I fail?” Orin asked curiously.
“The Wise One picks young ponies when the time is right for the test,” the Unicorn answered.
“Now let’s begin,” the Earth pony said. He reached out a hoof and place it on Orin’s forehead.
Orin’s vision went blank.
***
After what seemed like only a few moments Orin regained his vision. He looked in front of him to see the elders whispering about something. Then Orin remember why he was here. He quickly began turning around in circles to see what his cutie mark was. But, he noticed something strange. He )didn’t( have a cutie mark.
He stopped and looked over at the elders, “Why don’t I have my cutie mark?” Orin asked.
The Earth pony whispered something into the Pegasus’s ear and then the Pegasus flew off into the fog. After a few moments and an awkward silence he returned with an open book. He hoofed over the book to the Earth pony who quickly read the pages.
“Are you sure this is right,” he asked the Pegasus.
“Of course I’m sure. The Book says it right there; we have to curse the boy. All of those he cares about will die,” the Pegasus said but then quickly put a hoof to his mouth and looked at Orin. He looked back at the other two.
“Let me take a look,” the Unicorn said as he lifted The Book towards him with magic. He quickly read the page and then closed The Book, “We have to.”
“But why-“
“We mustn’t question the Wise One’s decision,” the Pegasus interrupted the Earth pony, “The Wise One must have some reason for this.”
“If we must then…very well.”
The Unicorn’s horn began to glow with a white aura that grew brighter and brighter rendering Orin incapable of seeing.
***
Orin was standing, wondering if that had actually happened. If he had actually been tested. If he had not actually gotten his cutie mark on the test you couldn’t fail. If he had actually been cursed. If all those he cared about would die.
He ran.
He ran as fast as he could.
He ran as fast as he could towards home.
He had to know.
***
He arrived at the edge of town and he got his answer. The entire town was burned to the ground, completely turned to ash. He looked around for any signs of survival. He went to where each building used to be.
Nothing.
There was nothing. Not one sign of life, not one sign of hope.
Nothing.
No Sky, no Bois, no friends and no family.
Nothing.
Orin stood in the center of town, looking at everything. All of the destruction. The ash. The embers. Everything.
Nothing.
He ran.
He didn’t know where he was going.
He just ran.
He ran away. Far away.
***
Orin had been running. He didn’t know how far or how long; he just knew he was running.
He did make occasional stops to drink or eat but he stayed far away from towns. He didn’t want anything bad to happen to anyone else.
Orin stood in a barren wasteland. The earth beneath was cracked and dry. There were plants far off in the distance but, besides those, there were no signs of life. Orin walked towards the trees in the distance. As he got closer, he noticed a figure entering what was revealed to be an entire forest.
He got closer and closer and noticed some features of the creature. It had thin, hoofed legs that seemed almost too small to support the upper body. It had brown fur, but only on the top. Underneath the fur was white. It had a very small tail. It looked like a pony, and Orin would have thought it was a pony, a strange one at that, except if had one distinguishing feature on top of its head. Antlers.
Now at the time Orin had no clue what antlers were so he had to know what they were.
“Hi!” Orin said as he was bouncing along side the creature.
It let out a sigh, “What are you doing in a place like this?”
Orin could tell it was a “he” by his voice, “What are those things on top of your head?” he asked curiously.
“Antlers.”
Orin was still bouncing by him but they had entered the forest, “What are antlers?”
“There bones that come out of my head.”
Orin inhaled quickly, “Bones coming out of your head! Ouch. That must hurt.”
“It doesn’t hurt; it’s completely natural.”
“You’re a strange looking pony.”
They finally stopped at a place that could easily be recognized as a camp site, “I’m not a pony.”
“Then what are you?”
The creature looked at Orin who was still bouncing, “I’m a deer,” he began gathering wood and placing it in the middle of the campsite, Orin bouncing along with him.
“What’s a deer?”
“Well,” he found himself a little stumped by this question, “It’s like a pony…but different,” he then went on to do things further away from the campsite like getting water.
“So were like cousins,” Orin said excitedly, “But…I don’t even know our name,” Orin had a little frown, “I’m not a very good cousin.”
“The name’s Buck,” he answered.
“Buck,” Orin thought for a moment, “Buck, Buck, Buck, Buck, Buck, Buck, Buck. I like that name.”
“I guess it’s okay,” Buck said as he looked at the still bouncing Orin.
***
Orin and Buck sat around the fire Buck had made. It was dark out and anything more than a few feet from the fires couldn’t be seen. Buck reached into the bag he had next to him and pulled out something wrapped in cloth. It appeared to be bread covered in red dust. Orin watched as Buck ate one and then looked over at Orin.
“You hungry kid?” Buck asked.
“Well…” Orin’s stomach rumbled and then he nodded. Buck handed one of the…things to Orin.
“Oh but be careful. They’re a little… spicy.”
Orin looked at it then took a big bite. He instantly felt an overwhelming burning sensation on his tongue and comical flames shot out of his mouth, “Aah, thas ha. A ah, a ah,” Orin said with some difficulty.
“Believe me kid, the last thing you want is water. Just wait a bit and the burning will die down.”
Buck was right. The burning did die down but he was a bit off with how long it would take. And like any young pony, Orin took another bite. But, strangely, it didn’t burn this time. In fact it was absolutely delicious, to the point that Orin ate two more afterwards.
They had both gotten ready to sleep for the night.
“Good night Buck,” Orin said with a yawn.
“Goodnight kid.”
And they both fell asleep.
***
Buck felt himself beginning to wake up.
“Buck,” Orin whispered.
“What is it kid,” Buck asked groggily.
“I heard a scary noise.”
“It was probably just an owl. Go back to sleep,” but then Buck heard the noise too. A loud, high pitched howl. He knew what the source of the howl was. Timber wolves. He quickly got onto his hooves and turned to Orin, “Now no matter what happens kid, don’t move ‘til dawn. Got it,” he said quickly.
“But why-“
“There’s no time to explain,” Buck said getting more and more nervous, “Just don’t move ‘til dawn.”
Orin nodded.
Quickly Buck turned around and kicked Orin into a nearby bush. The kick was forceful, but, at the same time it was gentle. Orin was able to peek through the many branches that surrounded him as Buck ran off. Then, three massive, wooden, wolf like creatures ran past the bush Orin was in towards Buck.
Orin did as he was told and didn’t move until dawn. He walked the path that Buck had gone last night. It was obvious which way he went because there were many broken branches.
Orin ended at the edge of the forest. There was Buck. Just laying at the edge of the forest. Only, he wasn’t lying by choice. Orin stepped closer to see that Buck was dead.
Tears instantly began to build up in his eyes but he tried to fight them off. He was hit by a surge of thoughts.
I should have know this was going to happen. Why didn’t I do something to help? This is all my fault.
Then Orin noticed a small piece of paper under Buck’s left hoof. Orin grabbed the paper carefully and unfolded it. He read over it.
Hey kid, I’m sorry. Sorry I couldn’t be there for you longer. Honestly, you’re the best company I’ve had in a long time. Oh and I figured that since you liked the pepper breadsticks so much that I’d give you the recipe. We wouldn’t want something this good not around anymore.
Orin began to cry. He read the first ingredient.
Twelve cups of fire peppers.
That’s why they were so hot, Orin thought.
A small laugh broke its way through the tears.