If you're like anypony else, you know Manehatten can be a thrilling place with tons of things to do- see- smell- hear- and even taste. But Manehatten could also be a living hell. How do I know that? Experience, obviously. I don't ever remember having parents. I only have one older brother, Wolfeyes. And I've lived with him my entire life. Inside an abandoned hotel on the west side of Manehatten. Wolfeyes is the only pony I'll ever trust for the rest of my life, even though we barely even talk, despite the fact I've spent nearly every minute of my days with him.
And right now, I'm walking back to my hotel. I'm carrying Pipe with me. Pipe, well, Pipe's my rusty pipe. It's my weapon- a broken, rusty pipe. And why not call it Rusty? Well, that's my name. Rusty. I think my colors inspired my parents to give it to me. I have an orangish-brown coat with a dark brown, long, scraggly tangled mane. But I also have bright green eyes, which largely contradict my boring, sad, mane and coat colors. And my cutie mark is Pipe. I earned it when I was twelve.
You see, we have gangs here in the Abandoned Westside of Manehatten. (Although Wolfeyes and I call it AWM.) There's four gangs I currently know of. There's the Sky Gang, Sewer Gang, Shadow Gang, and Dark Magic (DM) Gang.
I was walking back to my hotel, when three of the DM Gang members began surrounding me. I panicked, and quickly grabbed the nearest weapon; a rusty pipe. Being an Earth Pony, I would have to fight magic with physical strength. It's kind of obvious the DM gang members are restricted to unicorns; they steal books from anywhere they can, and use the dark magic spells within them to kill. Their god, leader, and motivation? King Sombra. I don't know much about him, I just know he was banished because he was false-leading an empire.
Back to the story, I was zapped by the three unicorns, and the largest one, which I assumed was one of the leaders, cast a spell. Out of his horn, shot a shadow-like figure, which screeched terribly, and had bright red eyes, no pupil. It looked like a dark alicorn.
The alicorn spirit began trotting up to me, and I swung Pipe uselessly at it. It just gave another terrible, angry, screech. I began to panic, and I ran under the thing and swung Pipe at the spellcaster. The spellcaster was cut on the side of his neck and began to bleed. I had no time to stop and look. Before the other two unicorns could even react, I shoved Pipe in both of their necks, and they dropped dead.
The spellcaster was dying when I stopped for a breath, but the alicorn spirit was still very much alive. I just watched horrified as the spellcaster died, but the horrifying spell lived on. I grabbed Pipe and charged, not knowing what to do anymore, and knowing that this was crazy.
I jabbed it in the spirit's throat, and the alicorn gave one last screech before it poofed.
That was four years ago. I'm sixteen now.
I just can't believe how I'm not in a gang. I'd already be excluded from the DM and Sky gangs. And I doubt the Shadow and Sewer gangs would ever accept me. Besides, Wolfeyes would never join either.
I'm not even back halfway to my hotel. Then, a very smelly earth pony colt, covered in so much old muck you can't even see his original colors jumps out at me. He has a sharp piece of wood in his mouth.
"Ya got too close to Sewer Gang territory, darlin'." he says, and approaches me.
"Get the buck away from me, bastard." I growled back.
The mucky Sewer Gang colt growled, and charged at me, and used his wood piece to begin scratching it on my eye, right now, making cuts on my eyelid.
I take Pipe , quickly place it under his chin, and shove it upwards as hard as I could while he attempts to cut my eye. I keep pushing and pushing, squeezing my eyelid as I feel blood dripping down it, knowing soon he'd get the chance to stab my eye for real. I push and push and push, until I hear a slashing, cutting noise. I knew it all too well.
The Sewer Gang colt is completely impaled by pipe. From under his chin and through his tongue. His mouth is beginning to bleed, blood begging to surround and hide his tongue. Then it begins dripping out of his mouth, and splattering to the ground.
Quickly, I take out Pipe, which disturbingly slid out easily due to the large amount of blood.
I watch as the colt begins to die. I don't care. He wanted to kill me, I killed him. It just works like that here in AWM. Those damn Sewer gang ponies are the most egotistic, most confident ponies next to the Sky Gang ponies. The two gangs are such a pain in the flank.
The Sky Gang is made up of pegasi and pegasi only. They live on top or near the top of the old abandoned buildings in AWM. They're like hawks. They fly around everyday, looking for prey on the ground. If one spots you, he or she will attack you, and strip you of your weapons, food, anything. And they'll kill you off to finish the job. If you have a bow or gun on you, you better damn use it. If you're lucky, you could shoot one of those bastards down. They think they're so amazing because of their sneak attacks, and how their gang has the least amount of deaths in fights. But they're not invincible, and if they were grounded, killing one of them would be far too easy. The sky is like their mother bird. They're the chicks. If they can't get to the sky, they can't survive. One of the three other gangs would finish them off. Or one of the Loners. I'm one of them. Technically, you aren't in any gang, but live among the gangs. You don't see too many of us around.
Finally, I make my way back to the hotel. I quietly trot up a couple flights of stairs, and into a hidden corner, where a collapsed staircase hides the corner. In the corner, there's a door. And in the door, is a hotel room. It's no five star room, not even worth a tenth of a star. But it's better than depending on an old trash can, or a cardboard box, that's for sure. I've seen quite a couple of loners live by trash cans and cardboard boxes. But Wolfeyes and I managed to get us a nice hotel room. Well, not nice, but...y'know.
"What's for dinner?" I ask as I close the old door behind me.
Wolfeyes doesn't reply, but gives a bemused look at Pipe.
"What?" I asked.
"What gang? Or was it a loner?" he responded.
I finally caught his meaning, "Sewer." I replied, blandly.
"Sewer?" he cocked his head, "Okay...we don't live by 'Sewers. Where were ya headin'?" he asked.
"Why are ya talkin' all the Celestia dammed sudden?! After all of these years of being so quiet?!" I hissed.
His voice grew low, "You were at the good side of the city, weren't ya?"
Yup. He was right. Sometimes I travel to the good side of the city to watch the ponies walk, laugh, and the buildings shine brightly...everything....thrives. It gives me reassurance that their is more to Manehatten than just the old abandoned west side.
"Yeah...so what?" I asked.
"Rusty, goin' to the the good side of the city ain't gonna change where we are now. I know you want to be there instead of here in AWM. But we just can't change it." he said.
"I hate mom and dad...I hate them so much..." I grumbled, "I don't get why they had to make us. To put us in this situation."
"Hey, don't act like you don't get urges." Wolfeyes chuckled.
"Oh, shut up, Wolfeyes! I saw ya eyein' that Sky Gang mare while she was killin' a 'Sewer!" I laughed.
"I guess that's true." Wolfeyes sighed, "Can't stop thinkin' 'bout her."
"That was nearly a year ago, Wolfeyes. She might be dead." I replied.
"Whatever." he said, "Dinner is two half-eaten salad sandwiches by the way."
During our dinner, I couldn't stop thinking about Wolfeyes and I's conversation.
Sex. Urges. That's probably the only Celestia dammed reason our parents made us. How'd they end up on the streets in the first place? I'd probably never know.
But I've been in plenty of "urging" situations. Especially when I was a little filly. Am I a virgin? Sadly, no. I was raped when I was five or six. Soon enough, sex became my guilty pleasure. When I was about ten, I began enjoying it. So whenever I was foalnapped, it wasn't technically rape; I didn't want to fight against it.
Then when I was twelve, I agreed to have sex with a colt only about one year older than me. I think he was a Loner, like me. In exchange, he'd give me food. I never told Wolfeyes where I got all of that food. We actually continued to have sex until a year later, where I came to his home (which was a cardboard box) to find him dead. At first I thought he was sleeping, but his body was cold, and I couldn't feel a heartbeat. He wasn't breathing either. I finally left, and I haven't had sex since.
That was about three years ago now. Long time.
Six gun shots banged and echoed in between our hotel and another abandoned building.
"Must be a gang fight." Wolfeyes said as he finished his sandwich and walked over to the half-shattered window.
He pulled back the ripped up, old, curtain and peeked outside.
"Would ya look at that." he smirked, "DM and 'Shadow fightin'. Two similar gangs, one big rivalry. Who do you think will win, Rusty?"
I thought about it.
I already thought about DM earlier this night; dark, unicorn-only Sombra-worshipping gang. But the Shadow Gang, on the other hoof, was also dark. But it was made up of all races. They didn't come out until after dark, and they killed and stole from ponies who dared to set hoof outside when Luna's moon rose. They sounded a ton scarier than the DM gang, but since DM nearly killed me with an alicorn spirit with red eyes, I think DM will win.
"DM." I replied.
"Obviously, you haven't met Shadows." Wolfeyes replied back.
"You've been face to face with a Shadow?" I asked.
"No, but if I ever will be, I won't come back, that's for sure." Wolfeyes shuttered.
The fight continued on, ponies falling to the ground and bleeding out. There seemed to be about twenty ponies at the fight, probably nearly even split between sides.
The fight continued for about another five minutes, and then everything went still. There were no howl or cheers in victory, but just silence. I watched as the winning side quickly slipped back into the darkness of the night, as if they were never there.
The Shadows won. Any other gang would cheer and howl in victory.
"'Shadow won. Told ya. Those ponies are creepy." Wolfeyes told me.
Then we heard a terrifying, painful, scream.
The screams were coming from the darkness, and neither Wolfeyes or I could tell what's going on.
A pony from the shadows managed to find their way back into the moonlight, and stumbled over a DM corpse.
Then, quickly, another pony launched itself at the stumbling pony.
The two ponies fought in the moonlight, until the launcher pony planted a knife into the stumble pony. The stumble pony gave one last cry.
I saw the launcher pony slowly spread wings.
I shuttered.
Sky Gang.
After the fight between DM and Shadow Gangs, the Sky Gang must have seized the opportunity to kill the battle worn Shadow Gang.
Both Wolfeyes and I jumped as we saw about seven pegasi launch themselves from the roof of our hotel.
Our hotel was only four stories high, and our room was on the third. So you could see the ponies launch themselves outside the window and hear the powerful swoosh of their wings.
More ponies found their way back into the moonlight, and the screams were terrifying. Pegasi dived from tops of buildings, pinning down the Shadows and finishing them off. The screams were so loud, so horrible. In all of my life, I've never heard a Shadow scream. But now I wish I hadn't. They didn't even sound like pony screams. It was...something else.
"The fuzz are sure to hear those screams!" Wolfeyes half-yelled, covering his ears, "It goes all the way to the other side of the city!"
I didn't doubt him. I could barely hear him above the noise. Soon guns fired, and the noise was even louder, and it was unbearable. I pressed my ears to my head and shoved my hooves over them.
After what seemed like hours, which was probably only a few minutes, fuzz sirens went off. I looked out the window. The had screaming stopped, and Sky Gang ponies took for the sky. There was roughly five cop carriages, and most of the officers were pegasi, who immediately chased after the Skys.
There was then large, echoing hoovesteps in our hotel.
I looked at Wolfeyes, concerned. But I guess it was more like looking in a mirror, because he matched my expression.
There was a banging at the hotel entrance.
"This is the police! Open up immediately! Or we will force our way in!"
I glanced at Wolfeyes, and then slowly opened our door, just enough to peek out of it.
There, in front of me, was a Shadow. A panicked one, at that. He didn't see me, but I saw him. Or her. I don't know. Obviously, the Shadow was looking for a place to hide, and managed to pick our hotel. He quickly found a room across mine and quietly shut the door.
I'd never think I'd get that close to a Shadow.
Then suddenly there was a large bang, and many hoovesteps.
Shit, the fuzz got in! I thought.
I quickly, but quietly, closed the door.
"Rusty, what's goin' on?" Wolfeyes whispered.
"There was a Shadow...he was lookin' for a hidin' place...he found a room across of ours...the cops saw him get in our hotel, and now they're going to search our hotel." I said, now hearing it out of my own mouth, it sounded terrifying.
This just made Wolfeyes seem more panicked.
"What if they find us?" he asked.
"I-I don't know..." I replied.
We heard the swinging of the old, rusted, door hinges as the doors were opened, the fuzz checking each room.
I scanned the floor for Pipe and once I spotted it, I clenched it tightly in my mouth, eyes narrowing.
Then we heard the loud hoovesteps come up to our floor, and more swinging of opening doors. They haven't found us or the Shadow yet.
Then I heard, "Hey, there's a door over here!"
It was right outside of our door.
My narrowed eyes grew wide, and I nervously shook.
We couldn't hide. There would be nowhere to go.
Then suddenly, the door burst open.
Immediately, the fuzz reacted. "This is the police! Drop the weapon!" and they began to run towards Wolfeyes and I to seize us.
I panicked, and looked at the window. I couldn't fight, they were specially trained and they carried guns. I wasn't thinking at the moment. All I new was to run.
I ripped off the curtain, and broke the rest of the shattered window, and I jumped out.
The fall would've killed me if I had been a unicorn or a pegasus. But my earth pony body saved me, despite the fact I'm skinny. But that didn't mean it didn't hurt. I felt a crack in my left foreleg, and I let out a howl of pain. I still clenched Pipe in my mouth, trying to run with only three legs.
I then heard Wolfeyes scream from the window. The fuzz must have gotten him. But there was nothing I could do to help him now, especially with only three working legs. I ran, ran, and ran. I had no idea where I was heading. But then I heard,
"She's there!"
I panicked as I saw the fuzz behind me. How far have I gotten, if they've caught up to me this easily? Bucking broken leg.
I knew that they'd catch up to me if I didn't do something quickly. I looked right; nope, nothing there. I looked left; there was a dark area in between two buildings.
If anypony had common sense, they wouldn't go there. There was a chance of Shadows or DMs waiting for me, but some of their gang members just got in a fight, I'm sure they had bigger problems than just some Loner invading their territory.
I galloped into the dark area, and my eyes couldn't adjust to the darkness. Then I saw the lanterns of the fuzz light up as they began to slowly trot into the area.
The light barely reached me, but instead showed me an escape route; a window well. It had an old rusty bar on it, preventing ponies from falling into it from walking. But it looked like it was about to fall off, and the glass in the window well was shattered.
The cops turned their head to the side, hearing the scattering of an animal in the trash can. I quickly removed the bar, quietly as possible. then I put it back on top, to make it look like nothing ever happened, as if nopony ever touched it.
But now I was in the basement of some random building, in pure darkness. And there was a chance the fuzz would look down here for me.
But what if there were gangs down here? From what I know about Shadows, this would seem like the perfect base for them.
Then I heard a laugh.
My heart seemed to stop.
My body froze.
A zap of magic hit the ceiling, illuminating the area around the magic user. There, was four DM members, and they seemed to be doing some type of ritual.
I couldn't breathe. What if they saw me? I was nowhere near the light, but if I made any noise, they would know somepony is there. And now that apart of the room was illuminated, the fuzz would be able to see a dim light out of the window well, and I was far too close to the window well.
I could barely see the ground below me, but it was scattered with all kinds of junk. I swear...if I stepped on glass...
Not to mention, I had a lame leg. That just made it all the more challenging.
I slowly get away from the window well, but I knew the fuzz would be here all too soon.
That's when I stepped on glass.
