New Republic Empire

I watched a youthful couple buying some fruit from a food vendor. I stared hungrily at the gold-colored bits flashing in the pale sunlight, but I felt hungrier at the sight of the colourful fruit. I hadn’t managed to find food yet today. I could barely remember what fresh fruit tasted like.

The couple looked like they were part of the wealthier side of society. Looked highly on by the rest of the wealthy, looked down on with jealousy by the rest.

I was feeling quite jealous.

I eyed the other homeless ponies around the street. There were three. And all of them had their eyes fixed on the couple as the couple made their way down the sidewalk, carrying the fruit with their unicorn magic.

Unicorns.

They always seemed to be so sophisticated. In fact, most of the wealthy are unicorns. I don’t know how that happened.

I am a Pegasus. Yeah, I can fly and unicorns can’t. But having wings isn’t so great when you can’t fly. Living in a cramped orphanage for my entire foalhood sure didn’t let me develop those skills.

Movement suddenly caught my eye. I snapped my head toward it and saw one of those homeless ponies making his way towards the couple. I stared in shock.

Then I noticed a small head peak out from the alleyway where the pony had been waiting.

It looked like a unicorn filly. It was watching the older pony make his way towards the couple.

The pony tackled the stallion first, making the fruits drop out of the air. The mare shrieked and tried to pry the stranger off with her magic. When that didn’t work, she started kicking him.

I saw the homeless pony flick his tail. It must have been a signal of some sort, because the unicorn filly dashed out of her hiding place and scooped the fruit up with her magic. Then, she ran back into the alleyway.

The mare noticed and began to chase after the thief. The homeless pony grabbed her tail and held her back. Soon, a heated fight began.

My heart pounded as I watched through the corner of my eye. Other ponies strolling down the streets noticed the fight, and ran over to help out. I saw none of the homeless ponies moving, however. One actually got up and walked away.

I noticed that I was standing up. It was unfair! That stallion only wanted to get some food for himself and that filly. That couple could easily just buy more. Why didn’t anypony see the reasoning?

I took a step towards the fight. I need to help that stallion.

Suddenly, a loud, cracking sound made me trip. For some reason, I was terrified. I didn’t know what to do.

I saw armored stallions racing down the path. They were each levitating a...gun next to their faces.

N-no! Guns!

They were going to kill that homeless pony!

The other ponies saw the police arrive and they quickly backed off, revealing a very beaten up stallion. Everypony else was unscathed.

“What happened here?” one of the police demanded.

The couple was standing there, staring at the limp homeless pony with anger. “He’s a thief,” the male one said.

The police officer pointed his gun at the homeless pony. The pony stared at the nozzle, not reacting. Then, the gun was fired.

I squeezed my eyes shut, but I wasn’t quick enough. The image of the pony’s head falling, limp, flashed behind my eyelids.

I opened my eyes again, and the crowd of ponies were all looking quite shaken as well. Even the couple.

That police officer just killed the homeless guy without a thought. He didn’t even check for evidence or anything! That pony he just shot didn’t even have the fruit with him!

The police officer blew a whistle, and several police officers streamed in and hovered around the dead body. They wrapped the body in cloth and ran away with it.

I closed my eyes, trying to calm my nerves. Then I remembered the unicorn filly.

I felt tempted to go into that alleyway to see where it led. Maybe I could find that filly. She probably didn’t know that her friend was just mercilessly killed.

Who will take care of her?

Not me.

I waited for the crowd to disperse before getting up and peering into the crack between the buildings. It led to the other side side of the buildings.

I squeezed in. My shoulders brushed the walls as I made my way forward.

I popped out the other side, only to meet another semi-bustling street like the one I was just at. I sighed and went back into the alleyway, where I took a nap.

I woke up when I heard a clop next to my ear. I jerked up, alarmed, and my head nearly smashed into the stomach of another pony.

“Jeepers!” The pony exclaimed. It was a female, and she looked ready to run off. The tight space between the walls didn’t allow it though, and she just turned and looked apologetically at me.

“Sorry for interrupting your nap,” she said. She had a faint western accent.

“Uh, it’s alright.” I was curious to why she would be crossing through this alley.

“Why are you here?” I asked.

She looked a little nervous. A metal cart from the street reflected some sunlight onto her face, and I saw that she had freckles and green eyes. She was wearing an intelligent brown dress with frills at the neck.

“I’m in a hurry to get somewhere,” she said. “This is the fastest route I can find. You happened to be in here...napping.”

I sat up and adjusted my sleeveless, threadbare, button-up jacket. “Well uh, nice meeting you.”

She nodded tightly, but gave me a friendly smile. “Yeah. Bye.” With that, she walked out and disappeared from sight.

I leaned back against the cool wall, feeling the rough bricks scratching my neck. I hadn’t talked to a higher class pony in ages. And this one seemed particularly nice. She looked a little familiar, for some reason.

Suddenly, I heard rushed hoofsteps behind me. I whirled around and saw that unicorn filly. She didn’t have any fruit with her anymore.

“Hi,” I said uncertainly. Her eyes widened, as if she recognized me.

“You,” she said with demanding voice. “What happened to that stallion?”

“He’s dead,” I forced out.

I watched her face go from dominant to horror, and then to the frailness of an eighty-year-old pony. I watched her turn away. “O-okay.”

She walked back the way she came from, her steps quaking, and then she ran off just before she turned the corner.

I’m going to kill those police officers one day.

I was still feeling hungry, and got up, ready to find a bite or two. I took a step forward, and my hoof stepped on some crinkly surface. I looked down, and saw a rumpled piece of paper.

I turned it over and was surprised to find several notes written down on it. I hadn’t read anything other than propaganda in a long time. I brought it close to my face, trying to make out the messy writing in the dark.

I heard some barking, and I recognized them as the sounds of dogs. Encouraging shouts were heard over the barking, so I figured it was some police and their trained dogs. They must be searching for someone.

Not wanting to be viewed at suspiciously for being in this dark alleyway, I rushed out and back into the sunlight. The sky was already inking out. I had nowhere to put the paper, so I opened my wing, and carefully held the note under my wing.

“They’re getting excited,” I heard somepony shout behind me. I saw the dogs sniffing at the other side of the alleyway. I moved away. Police looked at all homeless ponies as criminals.

I heard the barking become more frenzied, and much louder. I looked behind my back, and my heart dropped when I saw the dogs trying to lunge at me, only to be restrained by leashes by the police. The police eyed me viciously.

What? I haven’t done anything wrong! Those dogs have made a mistake.

“Hey son,” one of them called at me. “Get over here.”

I was terrified. Were they going to shoot me next?

“If you want to run, we’ll just let these guys loose.” The officer nodded at the dogs, who were desperately trying to maul me to pieces.

I didn’t know what to do, or what was happening. I tried to reassure myself.

I’m innocent. The officers will find out I’m innocent and this will all be over.

But I knew the officers had no interest in checking for evidence, especially in the case of dealing with ponies like me.

I decided to oblige to their orders and walked towards them. When I was a meter away from them, I found that I couldn’t move my legs anymore. I looked down and saw them covered with the magical aura of unicorn magic.

The other officer ripped off my jacket with his magic. Then he shook it harshly, making sure I wasn’t hiding anything.

A thought crossed my mind.

That note...could that be why those dogs chose me?

No way. I found that note literally two seconds before those dogs appeared. Besides, it was just some paper.

“Wings open,” the officer instructed. I inched them open, and I felt the paper slip out.

“OH HO,” both officers said triumphantly. “What’s this?”

There was a moment of silence as the officer examined the note. I didn’t even know what was written there.

“Hey, Hold,” the officer said, chuckling. He was talking to the other officer. “This guy is the one.”

“Wow,” Hold said. “That was easier than I expected!”

The dogs had settled down a bit, and were whining. Hold went over to them and rubbed their heads, all the while keeping me in place with his magic.

“Good job, guys,” he said, and he rewarded both of them with some...meat.

I didn’t know what was happening. This was all that note’s fault!

“E-excuse me,” I stammered.

The officers’ gazes snapped to me. “What is it, son?” the unnamed one asked sharply.

“I don’t know what’s going on. If you think I committed some sort of crime, I didn’t! And I have nothing to do with that note. I just happened to find it on the ground.”

The officers exchanged exasperated looks.

“How can you prove that?” Hold asked, looking like he was holding back a laugh.

I tried to think of an answer. But I was too slow. I felt something cold and hard slither around my midsection and tighten. My wings were now immobile.

Cuffs were locked over my forehooves. I could only slide a hoof forward by about two inches. A blindfold was placed over my head, and darkness was all I could see for the next few grueling hours.