A 'Villainous' Friend

Chapter One

Insects are chirping and humming outside as frogs croak along with them. The winds blow through the trees violently as they wave and their branches twist with their leaves being torn away. A little wooden shack lies peacefully tucked away beneath the woods, its wood creaks as the wind that isn’t blocked by the trees presses against it. Inside a single candle rests atop an old rickety wooden table that was fashioned together by the hooves of a single stallion. The light partially reveals his dull gray coat, and his messy light brown mane that hangs over one of his eyes.

The wind that sneaks in through the cracks causes the little flame on the wick of the candle to dance, and the orange glow pulses over the stallion’s tired yet focused face. His hooves are carefully piecing together the metal links to form a chain, and fastening metal hooks into the round smooth stones he’s shaped over the course of time. Six of the clear orbs of stone wait to join the work of jewelry. With the feeling of determination rising in his heart and mind, he mumbles aloud to himself what he’s been keeping locked away in his thoughts for so long.

“This is tedious, but, it is almost finished. With this I will be able to capture the very essence of those Elements of Harmony. When I do, and oh, I will; those pesky mares that I’ve heard all about will be nothing more than powerless pets.”

The stallion finishes fastening the final jewel to the chain link necklace and holds it up the orange glow of the candle to get the entire view of his creation.

“These six jewels will serve as vessels to contain the vigor of their Elements. . .”

He wraps the necklace around his neck and links the two ends together. Blowing out the light of the candle the shadows flourish in his room, and he reaches over to grab his long dark cloak. He tosses it over his shoulder and ties the collar together, and after throwing the dark hood over his head he whispers aloud a few final words.

“And it will all be under my control.”

With a slam of his weak old wooden door the stallion sets out for the little town where he knows where the mares reside, Ponyville.

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He treks through the thick woods as the trees grasp onto the dark cloth of his cloak slowing him down and making it more tattered than it already is. After the long and tiresome walk he exhaustedly climbs up a hill as the tall surprisingly edgy blades of grass stab at his legs. Moths and butterflies are disturbed and fly out from their hiding spots beneath the grass, and as soon as he reaches the top, he is given a great view of the destination he has been searching for: the small village of Ponyville. From here he can see all the bright and cheerful townsponies trotting about and joining each other in conversation.

“Well, here we are. Now the only question remaining is, just where would I find one of these mares? Surely there must be some place one could begin looking.”

The stallion lowers his hood and holds his hoof below his horn and above his vibrant green eyes to shade them from the intense sunlight. He had never known how bright the sunlight was until now, as he has rarely left the shadows of the woods and the roof of his home. His eyes follow the joyful ponies as he notices they all seem to be gathering around one certain location. A building that’s roof is reminiscent of a ginger pastry lined and dotted with frosting. From the roof extend a tower that appears to be a cupcake with candles sticking up from the roof of its pink frosted top. He notices the two white poles on both sides of the entrance are striped with red to look like peppermint sweets.

“Hmm, it appears most of them are gathering at this one particular building. From the looks of it I’m supposing it’s some sort of sweetshop. I’m almost positive I’ll find some information there.”

The stallion gallops through the field of grass and flowers causing more insects and even a few wild hares to hop about and scatter. Afraid of being seen by the other ponies he stops and hugs the wall of the nearest cottage. He realizes that he hasn’t been around society in such a long time, and is unsure if he will be able to fit in with everypony else. He pulls in a deep breath and leaves the side of the cottage towards the shop. He finds other townsponies walking towards him on the dirt path, and he assures himself that he will do everything in his power to blend in and act natural. One of them is right in the center of his path, the pony stops directly in front of him, and he freezes nervously. He can feel the tension building up inside him, but in his head he continues to repeat to himself, ‘just keep calm’.

“That’s a funny coat you’re wearing Mister!” The little filly says pointing at his cloak.

The stallion is speechless, he can feel sweat riding down the back of his neck. He can’t remember the last time he’s felt such anxiety. His entire body and the muscles in his cheeks have stiffened, and his eyes refuse to blink from this nerve-wracking sight. He realizes he cannot just leave the conversation without an answer, others might grow suspicious of him. He needs to come up with something to say, anything at this point could lift this heavy weight off of his shoulders that keeps him nailed to the ground.

“. . . N-No umm . . . it isn’t?” He mutters.

“Oh! Well, okay! Goodbye Mister!”

The filly then smiles and hops past him continuing on her merry way. He breathes in as if the entire time he stood frozen like a statue he hadn’t taken in a single breath of air. He is in complete disbelief that he was able to complete the difficult task set before him. With a deep feeling of relief he proceeds onward to the shop with his head held high and shoulders cocked back.

“Good morning!” A lively stallion greets.

“Not really, thank you.” He says still strutting his way to the shop.

The other stallion halts confused by his response, but just continues on his way after just shrugging it off.

“Hello! Wonderful weather we’re having don’t you think?” Asks a bright mare about to pass him by.

“Yes! The climate is quite bearable.”

The mare slows down because of his odd response, but just like the previous stallion she merely leaves it be and continues on her way. Still holding himself up proudly he pushes open the pink double doors leading into the shop, and he is then hit by another harpoon of tension. The entire dining room is filled with other ponies conversing and laughing. Most of them are sitting at booths enjoying assorted candies and cakes along with some beverage. Others are lined up waiting for their turn at the main counter to place their order. The entire room is stuffed with the sweet smell of freshly baked pastries, but not even that can loosen up the joints of his legs to proceed further into the shop. The line in front of the counter begins to shorten until the rather tall yellow-coated stallion in a white baker’s uniform notices him standing right in the middle of the doorway.

“Welcome to Sugarcube Corner sir!” He shouts to him. “May I take your order?”

The stallion is then snapped from his stress-filled trance and understands that in order to proceed he must fight his fears and move further into the shop. He isn’t used to being around so many ponies, but he cannot let something as silly as this get in his way. He must toss away his fears, and proudly just as he did before to the counter. He shuts his eyes, takes his routine deep breath, holds it in, and forces himself to continue on. He feels as though he’s taking gigantic leaps of pride towards the counter as he prepares his words. The stallion behind the counter watches awkwardly as he uncomfortably, and slowly, shuffles towards his counter. He glances side to side as the seconds pass, and he still hasn’t made it to his counter which isn’t even that far from the front door. The stallion takes an agonizingly long time to finally reach the counter, and releases the air he locked in his lungs desperately trying to recover.

“Well then, what would you like today sir?”

The stallion’s eyes flash open as this question hits him like an arrow in the stomach. He has not the slightest idea on how to respond, instead he holds a long painful stare at the stallion who begins to grow uncomfortable. He soon comes up with an idea, and he blurts it out of his mouth the second it pops into his head.

“Nourishment.”

“Rrright, but uhh, just what exactly would you like?”

It’s a never-ending cycle of torment for the stallion, he can almost feel a heart-attack about to rupture inside his chest. His eyes bounce around the room crazily, but he focuses his attention near the top of the ceiling in the hopes of finding a menu of some sort. It soon hits him that there isn’t a single thing up above that can help carry him out of this situation. He feels lost and isolated, unsure of what to do he keeps his eyes fearfully fixed up above the stallion’s head almost in the hopes that something will come to him soon. The baker behind the counter raises his hoof up in the stallion’s line of sight, and points his hoof downward. The stallion’s eyes then jolt down, and he notices the glass casing that houses an assortment of cakes and jars of candies.

The cycle of torment continues as he is thrust into yet another situation. His heart his pounding furiously as he stares at all the different items behind the glass. He is unsure of what he should choose. The vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting, the chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting, the chocolate chip cookies and the peanut butter cookies, the pineapple upside down cake, the red velvet cake with white frosting. He cannot even comprehend just how many different cakes are being brought before his eyes. He is clueless, his blood is beginning to boil from the heat, and his legs are starting to tremble.

“. . . Might I recommend a slice of confetti cake topped with—?”

“Yes! . . . That . . . yes.” The stallion nearly shouts.

“Alright then!” He says relieved. “That’ll be five bits sir.”

The stallion then throws his hoof into the pocket of his cloak as soon as he hears the baker’s demand. If there was anything he knew to bring with him on this journey, it was bits. Over the years he’s been able to scavenge all the bits he could find that were either forgotten or discarded. He is relieved to find he has more than enough to pay, and finally slow down this train of agony. He sets the bits on the counter, and the baker puts them in the register till.

“Thank you! I’ll have that delivered to you shortly, go ahead and take a seat.” Says the baker.

The stallion’s heart can now rest for the time being. As he walks away from the counter he realizes that a line had actually formed behind him. He stares at them for merely a second until they all turn their heads towards him. Fearfully he whips back around to hide himself from their stares. He hurries over the nearest empty table that catches his eyes and sits himself down. Safe now in his own little space and own mind he begins to let his thoughts go free, and unintentionally, some of the words leave his lips.

“This is just madness. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to keep this up-oh what am I saying?! I’ve come too far to give up because of something so little. I can’t let this get to me. I just have to keep my composure.”

He tries to ignore all the faces and voices in the room to maybe try and overcome this feeling of claustrophobia, but his attempts are in vain as they seem to only cause more stress. He must focus on the task at hand and search out these six mares, but just how is he going find out their exact location? He has not the slightest clue on what they might look like, or what their names are. From what he’s heard he knows that one of them is named . . . Twilight. He can’t quite remember the second part of her name, but he can’t just walk up to a random stranger and ask them where the Elements of Harmony are, that would surely cause suspicion.

“Twilight . . . where would I even begin to look? She could be anywhere in this town.”

“Oohh! You’re looking for Twilight?!” A cheery voice says near his ear.

The stallion nearly jumps out of his seat to find that a brightly pink mare with a poufy mane and white apron has been standing right beside for what seems like the entire time he’s been thinking to himself. She stares at him with her big blue eyes and joyous smile as he trembles at the end of his seat.

“Just why do you need Twilight anyway? Are you a friend of hers?”

“Um, w-well I—”

“Buddies? Compadrés? Comrades?”

“Uh I . . . I—”

“Boy, does a cat got your tongue? Wait! I know exactly why you’re here. . .”

“Y-You do?”

` “That’s right! You think you’re sneaky and sly don’t you? Well I’ll have you know that I’ve got you all figured out!”

The stallion begins to cringe at her words, he can feel his defenses being smashed into pieces as her stare intensifies. He cowers in his seat just about to guard himself with his hooves from the sheer volume of her voice.

“You’re new in town and you’re trying to make some new friends?!”

“. . . W-What?”

“Yeah! I’ve never seen you around town before, and trust me I think I know just about everypony, but I’ve never seen you around. Twilight’s pretty much famous around these parts so it doesn’t surprise me that you’d want to meet her. I’ve got it! I could take you to meet her at her library! She’s got a ton of books that nopony really checks out. . . Anyway how does that sound?!”

“Um uh-great! Yes, that sounds um . . . ideal.”

“Oookay then! Say, you’re new in town and I haven’t even introduced myself yet. My name is Pinkie Pie! But my friends just call me Pinkie for short. What about you?”

“. . . M-Me?”

“Yeah what’s your name silly?!”

The stallion starts to dig around in his thoughts for he seems to be having trouble remembering even his own name while under such stress.

“D-D-Deviro . . . my name is Deviro.”

“Oooh! That’s a kooky name . . . I love it! It’s very dark and mysterious.”

He feels this mare really can read him like a book. Just the mention of those two words to describe his name pulls fear into him. He’s trying to understand if she really does know what his actual intentions are.

“Alrighty then! Here’s your cake by the way. I’ll meet up with you later!”

Pinkie sets his confetti cake down on the table along with a plate and fork before hopping away into the kitchen. All he can think about is how perfect this seems to be turning out. In a mere couple of seconds he now has what he needs to set his plan into motion. He feels this Pinkie Pie could be a valuable asset in finding the Elements he so desires. It’s best he try to keep her on his side, and everything should go smoothly.