It Must be Fate

The day shift ended and Shady Point dragged himself back home. He was limping slightly from his injuries, but he powered on in spite of the pain with that walk one gets if they really want to get somewhere, but also have to look like they’ve been stabbed in the gut at the same time. The sun was setting by the time Shady reached his home. The reception room rested on the bottom floor of the apartment building, the lights within just starting to appear in the fading light of day.

Shady Point stared at it for a while, and then up at his balcony which jutted out two floors up. With a look of unease, he skipped the thought of signing in and simply unfurled his wings, leaping into the air and flapping for the few brief moments before he reached his balcony. He winced at the pain in his legs as he landed. One can only wonder why he didn’t just fly to get back home in the first place.

The pegasus slid open the balcony door and ventured into the small kitchen area of his home. Even for just supporting one pony, it was a mess; the few plates and utensils he had were all scattered across the surfaces, while old leftovers caked the insides of the oven and sink. A clear patch had been carved out of the latter to allow the water to reach the plug hole. The walls and ceiling were a very murky shade of yellow, and they were even darker in places where damp had managed to find its way in - mainly around the balcony entrance.

Shady Point made his way past piles of grime and kitchenware and into the short hallway that separated his apartment from the corridors. Being Canterlot his accommodations were of a fair quality, or at least they were originally, that was something he wouldn’t contest, and for its size it was cheap and had all the room a single pony could need.

He moved into his bedroom; the colours were dark and rather drab, with its dark-red carpets and dark-grey walls. A desk lay to one side, covered in all sorts of papers and scrolls, and to the other side was a wooden door leading to a tiny cubicle-sized bathroom. Taking up most of the room - aside from the papers sprawled all over the place - was Shady Point’s double bed, a luxury left behind by the flat’s previous tenant.

He let out a small groan of pain as he climbed onto it, and then a long sigh as he lay flat out on the sheets. “What a bucking horrible day,” he grumbled to himself. It was rare for him to say such a thing. Not because he wasn’t one to complain - Shady Point was definitely one to complain - but because he had grown used to the bad treatment of his fellow guard members.

Today had been an especially bad day, and seeing the bedside chest of drawers, devoid of a certain floofy pink card, only made things marginally worse. Shady glowered at the empty space where it had been sitting for three days beforehand, and then down at the many scrunched up sheets littering the floor around the drawers.

Sparkfree’s words repeated themselves in his head and the place she had kicked him burned a little bit. It was around about this time that Shady thought it best to start breaking something.

He hopped down from his bed, dark thoughts and feelings filling his mind and his limbs starting to shake with anger. Shady looked around for a target. The mirror? Far too important. The wall? One side of it, the side behind his bed’s headrest partially covered by a Wonderbolts poster, already had giant cracks running through it. It didn’t need any more help falling apart, especially considering the fact that it might not just be the next room over on the other side of it.

Starting to feel desperate, Shady went into the kitchen, scraping the door frame for a moment as he went past. He scowled; last time he had lost his temper in here, he had broken every piece of ceramic dishware he had, including those that his parents gave him upon moving out. The memory brought up a sting of guilt in the pegasus’ mind, and he quickly moved through and back to the balcony. He raised a hoof, ready to bust the glass panes into shards…

And noticed that they were already broken. Did I seriously not replace these…? he thought to himself in sudden confusion. With his teeth starting to grind together, he picked out some of the shards that were still stuck to the frame, before slamming his hoof on the floor. “GOD’S SAKE!!” he yelled. “Why do I-” He let out a growl. Why do I have to be so particular about this shit!? Just SMASH SOMETHING!

With no other options, he spread his wings and leapt into the air. He spotted a tree just across the street and dived into the leaves, proceeding to tear twigs and branches in twain in a fit of unrestrained anger. Images of his so-called “friends” filled his mind, but none more so than Flat Drop.

“Hey you, what in Sleipnir’s name are you doing?” came a voice from below. “Get out of my tree, you hooligan!”

Shady Point, still in the throes of fury, stuck his head out of the side of it and shouted, “Buck off!”

The mare at the base of the tree was taken aback by the reply - Shady lived in a good area, one that wasn’t used to seeing trouble such as his. She stared wide-eyed at his scowl and cried, “How dare you! W-what in the world makes you think-”

“I don’t bucking care, ok!?” Shady interrupted. “Piss off!” He snapped another small branch.

The mare retreated from the tattered tree and aimed for the back door of her house. “Get out, or I’ll call the Royal Guard!” she called back. She was partially hidden behind the door with one hoof held against it, ready to pull it shut should Shady Point make the slightest aggressive move.

“I AM the bucking Royal Guard!!” Shady’s strained voice shouted in reply.

The mare slammed the door.

“BUCK YOU!”

Twenty minutes passed between the mare shutting herself in her home and Shady Point returning to his bed. By this point it was almost totally black outside, with only a dark-blue glow remaining in the sky. Night had fallen.

Shady lay draped across the sheets, once again staring at the empty space where his card had been that morning.

“I. Don’t. Want. Your. Love.”

The words of the day repeated themselves in his head. “Why did she have to say that?” he asked himself. Shady knew that there was more feeling behind the words than Sparkfree had shown him, even more than what had warranted her backing them up with a powerful kick to the chest. They spoke of all the previous times she had been sought after - the desperate, ignorant suitors turning her sour towards the concept of love.

“But surely you want our love? You’re a Changeling.”

Shady bit his tongue; he was one of them.

He turned himself away from the missing card and shut his eyes.