A Traditional Struggle

I walked off the train, my boots causing a thick puff of dust to kick off the train platform. I sauntered over, my vision a bit dark from the thick tinted glasses. "Arrow, where did you get these?" I asked, walking over to her and following her as she walked off the edge of the platform, bags and packs hanging off her.

She spun around smiling wide, her teeth shining as light bounced off her, the unusual effect causing me to do a double take. "Most of us are afraid of the sun, granted I'm not a fan, but you need these if you're not sleeping through the daylight hours." She took off down the street. "Now come, I have somepony we can visit before we find a place."

I grumbled angrily and carried on after her, my own bags and hers slung all over my body. "You didn't answer my question." I hurried after her, my boots slamming against the concrete walk that lined the cart filled street. Canterlot already felt too busy, pony pulled carts and scooters ripping down the street while ponies piled onto the sidewalks and surged like blood through fresh meat.

It felt odd, seeing so many ponies running around, watching them go about their days with such vigor, yet most likely being completely completely free of expectation and worry. It felt fake, living in such a wonderful city, buildings towering up with the castle spires overlooking the main town. These ponies couldn't be as busy as they appeared, surly no living being could keep up with the pace these ponies were showing off.

"Oh--my--god!" A trio of ponies and a satyr ran over, giggling like mad as they approached me. A mare with a bright pink and white mane bolted over, forcing me to step back and out of the stream of ponies, Arrow stopping and watching as the ponies surrounded me. The cotton candy mare started giggling and blushing as she pranced before me. "I--love--Ironside The Infamous** !"

I stared at the mare as her friends gathered around me, the satyr wringing her hands together and blushing bright. "What...I don't speak Equestrian." I asked, taking a step back and pressing against a magazine box. My wings flared out as I bumped up against it. "What fu--"

"Oh my god!" A mare shrieked, trotting in place. "He- he's got the wings too!"

The quartet shrieked in unison, giggling and cheering as I folded my wings away and set my bags down. "Can I help you?"

The mares continued to giggle. "Oh my god, his voice, aahahaa!"

Arrow walked over to me, leaning towards my ear. "They think you're dressed up like a character from a show. Ironside the Infamous. It's about us...thestrals and the Duchy."

I scratched my head, thinking back to the other towns we'd built since I was born. "But...I- the other towns are just as modern as here!"

Arrow rolled her eyes. "Have you been to Highpeak or Solitara? It's like the highborne times up there!"

I frowned hard. "Well lucky you, you get to travel everywhere while I just sit and whack things with swords and run track! Sorry I'm not you!"

Arrow started snickering. "Good of you to know your flaws."

"Oh my god, I- I--" A mare with a bright blue streak in her mane pulled a camera out. "Can I get a picture!?"

Arrow continued to snicker. "They want your pictu--"

She was cut off as the quad of vaginas got around behind me, the satyr resting her chin on my head, the mares hanging off my arms and the unicorn of the group taking her place in front of me and taking a picture of us. "Oh, wait..." The unicorn looked back at me, levitating my glasses off and tossing them towards Arrow. "Just a few more."

I felt like I was going blind, constant flashes causing my vision to blur and sparkle. I felt mares hanging off me, my cheek pressed up against ponies and my gloved hands being pulled every which way, eventually settling in an overhead hug on a tiny yellow mare. One of the mares spotted my sword, still hanging from my belt. "Oh wow, can you just, can we--"

Arrow waved at me, "Strike a pose, look imposing!"

I rubbed my eyes, the sun still burning like mad. "I can't see shit, how am I--"

"Just do it, let them have some fun!" Arrow shot back, walking over and taking the camera from the unicorn's magic. "I should take some pictures too...maybe some more private as well."

I felt a bit hotter as she pointed the camera at me, the girls huddled around her. "What!? I- you can't do that!"

Arrow lowered the camera, "Oh? And if I offered to take pictures of myself?"

I locked up, caught by my own double standard. "...Look, can we just--"

"Sexism is a two way street, as is groping, remember that." She brought the camera back up. "Now look imposing."

I shook my head, straightening out and standing tall, hand on the hilt of my sword as I tried to look proper. I felt like a proud soldier, thinking back to the count and wish I could have joined his guard. "...Arrow, I just realized, I never asked you about the count."

Arrow took a picture. "What about him?"

I drew my sword, holding it out high and causing the girls to gasp as it shined in the sun. "Does it bother you that he's human? I always thought it was kind of odd...he's the only human royal of Equestria...it's just...kinda weird."

Arrow shook her head as she took another picture. "He's not the only one...and are you serious?" Arrow handed the unicorn back her camera. "Look at your hands! You're a noble, you're half human! I mean, does it bother you what we are!?"

I slid my sword back, spotting a passing guard pony staring me down. I made sure the hilt snapped loudly into place and picked my bags up. "Satyrs you mean...and...yes, a little bit! I mean look at yo- look at us." I corrected, snickering slightly. "If I look at you anymore--"

"Hey, so...take this-" The cotton candy mare pushed a note into my hand. "-my name is Sugar--"

The mare was cut off as Arrow stormed between us. "Excuse me...he's taken." She spoke in perfect Equestrian, her accent adding a harsh bite to her words.

The mare scoffed, "Well maybe he'll--"

"Bitch are you fucking serious right now!?" Arrow threw her arms out, "Want to fight me!? Come on!"

I shook my hand and grabbed Arrow's bags. "See, you are a bully."

Arrow pushed past the mare, following me as I walked down the street. "That's not bullying! She's hitting on you, right in front of me!" Arrow tried to pull her bags away, "I mean what would you do if somepony started hitting on me!?"

I grumbled angrily. "Someone would lose their hea- hey!" A passing stallion barreled past.

"Fuck you asshole!" The vulgar stallion turned around. "You wanna start shit, let's go! I'm really not--"

I threw my bags down, placing my hand on my sword. "Arrow, translate!"

Arrow just shook her head, covering her eyes with her hand. "Coal...just follow--"

"I already hate this place!" I shouted, turning around as the stallion backed off. "Everyone is so busy, it smells like asphalt, there's a castle in the background but these fucking ponies act like it's Manehattan or Boston!" I grabbed my bags in a huff and carried on down the crowded road. "I just- I don't like it- ...what's that smell?" I asked, catching the scent of blood in the wind. "Arrow...I smell good things."

Arrow looked around, "Smells like beef, is there- oh look." She set her bag down and pointed down the street. "Deli. You ever been to--"

"What fuck is a deli?" I asked, cocking my head.

Arrow rolled her eyes. "It's like a butcher shop--"

"What!?" I shouted, pulling my way through the crowd, "Among the herbivores!? No, I don't believe you!" I forced my way through the crowd, slamming face first into a meat filled window. "...By the elder gods, and Jesus' cock...." I pressed my nose against the window, staring in awe as equestria's various creatures wandered around inside. "Arrow!? Arrow!?" I found her walking towards me, "Arrow! How do I live here!? How do I make this a thing!?"

Arrow joined me at the window. "Coal, it's just a deli--"

"Fuck you!" I shouted, pointing at the window and facing her, "This is amazing! Stop making it sound like it's not!"

Arrow took a step back. "Coal, calm dow--"

"No! It smells like delicious in there, but I can't fit these stupid bags through the doors!"

Arrow leaned back, almost getting pegged by a passing pony. "I don't even know if they take Transylmanian copper...."

I stared at her, an expression of sheer horror growing on my face. "No...I- I need this Arrow!"

Arrow stuffed her hands into her pockets. "Well I don't have bits, and I'm going to guess you don't either. Now, maybe after we get settled in, we can--"

"Arrow don't make me leave!" I shouted, falling to my knees. "Please, please don't make me go!"

Arrow leaned back on her hooves. "What is staying here going to do?"

I looked back at the deli, my hands meeting my prickly face. "I don't know...I just...I don't want to leave without this place in my stomach."

A rougher voice cut in, "A stallion who thinks with his groin and stomach, and a thestral mare in a tee shirt, how did I know I'd find you two here?" A strange looking mare wandered up to us, one that spoke perfect Thestrali and bore a horn. "What, why are you looking at me like that?"

I stood up, dusting myself off and making sure no one had stolen my bags. "Uh, do I know you?"

Arrow pushed me side, forcing her bags into my arms and toppling me. "Hello Marcy, how are you?"

The apparent unicorn, Marcy, stepped over to Arrow, slinging a hoof around her waist and hugging her. "It's good to see you again."

Arrow nodded to the strange mare. "Truly, I wish I'd know you were going to come find me!"

Marcy smiled, showing off a pair of fangs, "I just heard they were sending another load of you over, another year, another grand adventure, am I right?"

"Hey!" I shot upright, pointing at the mare. "What are you!? You have fangs, but, horn, but I--"

The two locked onto me, staring at me like a pair of lions. Arrow walked up to me, "Coal, Marcy is a unicorn...yes?"

"I can see that."

"Her father was a thestral, her mother was a unicorn. That makes sense yes?"

"Yes, okay...but--"

"So she is half thestral...that's--"

I stuck my finger up, adopting an accepting tone. "That's why--"

Arrow and I spoke in unison, her voice taking the lead. "That's why she has a horn, but still looks like us."

"Yes." Arrow clarified, patting me on the head, "See you figured it out. Good boy."

I threw her hand off my head. "Don't patronize me!"

Marcy stepped up to me, "So angry...tell me, is this sexual frustration or are you just that angsty?"

I locked up. "I- that's not okay to ask! Why--"

"So both, I see." The mare laughed, slowly looking towards the deli. "At any rate, it's not really safe to carry your lives in a few bags. You two go ahead, I'll see about picking up something to eat for your first night."

I snapped my head down to the strange combo mare. "...You're going inside?"

The mare joined me at the window. "The mutton looks good today, maybe some eel." She turned to me with a smile. "Ever had spiced goat?"

I stared at the mare, slowly ducking down and carefully putting my arms around her. "...I...love you," I clutched the mare tight, lowering my head before I could cry. "And I...I don't...I can't...I'm sorry."

Marcy tried to take a step back, forcing me to pull her even tighter. "It's alright.... Arrow, what's wrong with him!?"

"He's a glutton and a pervert, he's short, he's sexist, an idiot, smells like iron shavings and is a terrible poet." Arrow snickered after her aggressive tirade, "Oh, you mean why is he doing that."

"That's not funny!" I shouted, shooting upright and charging over to her. "Should I start pointing out each and every one of your flaws then!? Like how you're a bully!?"

Arrow hummed loudly, my rear getting a bit hot at her dismissive behavior. "No, I think I'm fine as is. Now come, you can be mad at me in private. I don't really want to beat you down in public."

I grumbled angrily and grabbed my bags, giving a quick wave to the mare buying me food. "Thank you, anything meat is good!"

Marcy smiled, a bit frazzled from my sudden hug. "I'm sure. The look of you screams, I eat meat."

I mused on her words, something about her inflection felt odd. "Did she just...did she just call me gay!?" I ran after Arrow, watching her tail sway as she moved down the streets into a much more crowded area. "Everyone is so rude here!" I shouted to myself and the crowd, bowling past them and stumbling along with my bags.

"Oh calm down." Arrow stopped before a large building with a glass front. "Fighting will get you sent to a lockup for a day, so just keep cool."

"I'm fine!" I shouted over the bustle of the passing crowds. "I'm always fine!"

Arrow laughed and lead me into the much quieter building. "You almost got into a fight already. And you probably would have gotten your ass kicked too!"

I rubbed my ears as the sound of the outside was canceled out by the glass door of the building snapping shut. "Says the mare who has never beat me."

Arrow grew red, "Are you kidding me!?" She walked over to a pair of glass doors waiting on the other side of the room. "I've won every--"

"Define, won. Because...each time we've fought I've had a great show and usually got your panties off. I'd call that a win in my book."

Arrow slapped me, leaving a sting on my cheek as she pulled our bags into a completely glass elevator. "You're a pig!"

I grumbled angrily and joined her in the elevator. "I'm just saying--" She took a swing at me, bopping my nose, "Ow, why!?"

"You need to learn some respect!" Arrow shouted, pushing me up against the wall of the elevator, momentarily causing my heart to jump as I looked down at the ground.

"Holy shit!" I yelped, my gut sinking into my colon as I looked down at the far off lobby we were just in. "What even is this!?"

Arrow pushed off, turning to the other end of the box. "Marcy is a friend of my father, she's the one we always stay with, and she...she's a complex person." Arrow put her hand against the glass, watching the glowing machines pull us skyward. "She works for Celestia, but, it's all a new idea."

I scratched my head. "What does that even mean!? Stop being cryptic, if anyone should be cryptic it should be me! Dressed like a lunatic from the darktimes!"

The glass box went dark as we slid into place, a door opening before us. "Coal, she's very important, her house is very nice, so please be respectfu--"

"Oh my god!" I shouted, rushing inside the scifi dream room. "What the heck!?"

Arrow shook her head, lugging our bags out. "This isn't even the apartment."

I stared at a strange panel on the wall, no substance to the object, merely a light projected on the wall. "This is nuts! How is this in the same city as the Castle!?"

Arrow joined me at the panel. "Better question, why is a caveman trying to figure out a haptic pad." She pressed a few buttons, causing a large set of numbers to appear at waist height. "Seriously, Coal, don't touch anything, just don't."

I stared in awe at the magical display. "This is, balls!"

Arrow pressed a few notes, a large horseshoe going across the screen. "Magic met technology, Marcy is basically the baby of that marriage."

I took a step back as the featureless wall went dark. "Wait...what did you just--" A small slit appeared in the wall, opening up into a door and revealing an amazing technomancy marvel of an apartment. Equestrian styles fusing with technology and magic, all to a comforting lull of jazz.

I just stood there, gawking like a fool as Arrow pulled our bags inside. "Coal, are you--"

"Did I have a stroke?" I asked, looking towards her, "This isn't real, is it?"

Arrow frowned softly. "You never really asked why I never got along with ponies in Transylmania...you get it now?"

I shook my head, still dazed by the blinking lights before me. "N- no.... I mean, I used to get mad when ponies brought their phones to school, this is just.... It feels fake!"

Arrow looked back into the modern dream. "It's a bit of a step from Transylmania, isn't it?"

I rubbed my arms as I looked into the frightening mass of lights. "Oh god...I feel so out of place."

"You're wearing a metal chest piece, you are out of place." Arrow walked over to me, standing hoof to hoof with me. "Coal, you alright?"

I took a deep breath, turning to Arrow's bright wine colored eyes. "This is, science gone mental, and I'm standing here in armor."

Arrow took my hands in hers, showing an uncommon kindness. "I know what it's like. Going from living in stone huts to stepping into a glass box and flying into the air. It's okay to be nervous."

I rubbed her hands, "I- I'm okay. The Count said we were supposed to go find our place in Equestria, right?"

Arrow smiled wide, "Right...and maybe it's not here, but we have to start somewhere."

I nodded, wrapping my arms around her back and resting them on the nape of her back. "Arrow, my place is with you. You know that."

Arrow jumped upright against me. "Coal, that's so--"

I sunk my hands into the back of her pants, "And in your pants." I added, grabbing her panties and yanking them upward. She let out a rough squeak, grabbing my ass and causing me to push my hips forward to try and escape. "Arrow what the hell!?" I shouted, jumping back and flailing until I was free of her grip.

Arrow let out a frazzled scream, "Are you kidding me?! I'm trying to be nice and help you and you give me a wedgie!?"

"You grabbed my ass!" I shouted, my heart fluttering from the sudden contact on my rear. "How could you!?"

Arrow's expression went completely flat. "So...it's a big deal when I grab your ass? But not when you touch my panties?"

"I- it's not okay to--" Arrow stepped back, the door closing and the all going flat again. "Arrow...Arrow open the door, Arrow let me in!" I slammed against the wall, sliding down it and resting against the ground. "Arrow!? I'm sorry! ...Arrow...I love you.... Shit, that usually works...she's actually mad."

I slumped down, sitting on my flanks and pulling my tail around. "...I guess I deserve this." Just as I resigned myself to my suffering I felt the wall leave my back. I fell flat on the floor, Arrow's plot hovering over my head. "Arrow wait!" Before I could put my hands up she dropped her plot right on my nose, slamming down with all her weight and causing me to scream in pain.

"This what you wanted!?" She shouted, starting to laugh. "Too much!?"

"You broke my nose!"

"It's a good lesson for you." Arrow's laughing slowly petered out. "...Why is it that I always end up sitting on your face. Maybe I'm part of the--"

"I'm bleeding! Oh god I think you really did break my nose!"

"Ha...that's--"

"Get help!" I shouted, trying to push free and stop the blood dripping from my nose. "Oh god Arrow, you bashed my face!"

Arrow shifted around, "Well, stop touching my ass--"

"Get off me!" I screamed, rolling to the side and pinching my nose shut. "Get a rag!"

Arrow let out a long sigh. "Fine...you perv."