Tears Of A Beggar

It had been four months now. Four months of living as a beggar,

living with Picker and Slender in the alley. It wasn't such a

horrible lifestyle as he'd previously thought. Viv would often

find himself searching through larger dumpsters, as Picker was

older, and he wasn't good at climbing. Viv was taught to collect

the three basic necessities of scavenging. The first was food,

anything that looked relatively fresh, usually apples. The second

being clothes, pillows, beds, or blankets. It was always cold in

the alley, so anything could be used for heat. The last essential

was metal. Tin cans, bedframes, anything that could be turned in

for a few bits. Of course, Viv would search for other things,

toys, books, really anything that could entertain him. A few

weeks ago, the Canterlot library threw out about two dozen books.

Viv immediately took them back to the alley, making a total of

three trips back and forth. He'd read about one book a day, their

topics ranging from modern science and discovery to historical

tales of Equestria. He took the information in quite easily for

his age, of course, neither Slender, nor Picker had the slightest

clue what he read. Today, Viv was laying on top of an old

mattress he'd pulled from another alley with Slender. Oddly

enough, he hadn't seen Picker in a day or two. He said he'd be

gone for a while, but Viv didn't suspect that would turn into

days. Slender was toying with an old toaster he'd found, trying

to scavenge whatever he could rip from the device.  "Hey Slender,

do you know where Pick went?" Slender didn't look up from his

work. But with a slow responce his eyes narrowed, "Naw, he said

somthin about goin to an old friends house, about a check up,

here he left you a note if ya got curious." Slender pulled a

letter from underneath a pile of old clothes and tossed it to

Viv. lifting the letter with a hoof, he sat down and began

reading, "Viv if yur reeding this im goin to the docturs. ill be

back soom. luve, Picker" Reading the sentence over, Viv could

barely read his horrible handwritting. Picker was extremely

intelligent, wise, and always had something positive to say. Had

he always been homeless? Had he never learned to read or write?

Viv now  regretted never bothering to ask. That wasn't the point

though, Doctor? Viv remembered only being brought to the hospital

once when he was still a young colt. He'd remembered feeling

horribly sick, even though it was years ago. He still remembered

hating it. It was so, bright. It had wreaked of floor polisher, a

smell that had singed his nostrils. Something in Viv's head told

him this was wrong. Hospitals and Doctors were for sick ponys who

needed help, was Picker sick? "Hey Slender, did you notice how

Pick walked? And he coughed alot too," Slender looked up from his

toaster, he looked nervous "Viv, Pickers old, he's always been

stray, so he was always living in muck. He hurt his back awhile

ago, and never got much better." Viv sat upright, was his back

that bad? Before he could answer himself Slender spoke again, "I

think he's got an infection too, Viv, he ain't right, maybe you

should go check up on him," Before he could continue, Viv bolted

up and left for the ally's entrance. "I'll be back later Slender,

i'll come back with Picker!" Slender had ran beside him now,

pacing along, "You better be careful now! I don't want you

finding any trouble on the trip, so watch your back." Viv left

the ally alone, he would find Picker, no matter how long his

travel would take him.