Sign Of The Times

   "Get back here, little colt!" The cry burst through the night air.

   "Leave me alone!" A small, white Earth Pony jumped over a pile of dead brush in his attempt to escape his pursuer. His chest heaved as his legs continued to burn. He'd been running for five minutes, and didn't know how much longer he could go on. He soon found out, however, when the gray Unicorn chasing him gained enough focus to fire a magic blast from his horn.

   The colt tripped and hit his nose on the ground. Before he could even process what was happening, the Unicorn had him up against a tree, his hoof pushing on his chest and pressing him into the bark. The Unicorn's gray fur was long and shaggy, and immediately stained the colt's chest with more sweat. The colt desperately struggled against his captor, but to no avail. He looked up from his concentration on his failed task and looked into the glaring eyes of the Unicorn.

   "Wh-what do you want from me?" He cried. "Let me go!" In response to this, the gray Unicorn leaned forward. The colt could smell his breath. All was silent, save for the panting of the two ponies and the kicking of the colt's back legs. "I want your bits."

   "B-but I don't have any!" The colt whimpered. "I ran out days ago."

   "Then you're useless to me." The Unicorn began charging a harming spell.

   The colt eeped and tried to find out how to get out of his current situation. The aura around the Unicorn's horn slowly grew and grew. The colt pushed upward on the hoof holding him against the tree with all his might, but only managed to slide the hoof up his neck before the spell was fired. The colt stopped as the aura convulsed, squeezed his eyes shut, and-

   -the spell hit his captor on the very tip of the hoof.

   The spell sent said captor flying backwards as the colt dropped to the floor. He gasped in amazement as he realized he was free, then immediately remembered that the Unicorn was still there and recovering when he heard a groan from that direction. Almost on instinct, he galloped in the opposite direction before the pursuer could recollect himself. He was already on the other side of a grove when he heard the shout.

"GET BACK HERE, LITTLE COLT!"

   The colt slowed to an eventual stop when he was at least half a mile away from where he was nearly beaten up, covered in dirt, leaves and sweat. He sat hunched over, panting louder than a dog sitting next to a fire on a summer day. His throat, legs and chest all burned; his throat for water, his legs for rest, and his chest for air. He collapsed onto his side and tried to slow his breathing as his tongue lolled. It took a full eight minutes for him to get back up, and when he did, his legs felt unsteady. His first thought was I need to find water, food, and shelter. Fast.

   Forcing himself onwards, he trekked through the night plains, gazing up at the stars. His favorite thing about the sky was always the stars. They twinkled with a shine that not even a castle could match. He didn't understand why other ponies were so indifferent about the night. It was a beautiful thing, really. The way the moon shone on crescent nights, the faint imprint of Nightmare Moon's face on the moon that was still barely there even after Luna was set free, the crisp air-

   The colt was interrupted from his nighttime daydream when his hoof splashed into a cold stream. At first, he gasped with shock at the chill, then with realization as he lifted his hoof. A stream! Without even thinking, he dunked his snout into the frigid water, not even bothering to worry about wild bacteria or parasites in his eagerness. He lapped mouthful after mouthful of water, until he felt his esophagus might freeze and his teeth would crack off.

   He looked up from the oasis and noticed something in the distance that sent him from happy to jovial. An apple orchard densely packed with trees and fruits hanging from the leaves looked onwards, beckoning him forward. The colt dashed forward without a second thought. He didn't even stop to consider the fact that it was probably owned until he reached the trees.

   He slowed to a halt when everything became apples and gazed around in wonder. The apples ranged from all sizes, from premature red apples to golden ones so large, they had fallen off of the trees. The colt snatched up one of those said Braeburns and took a huge bite, sucking on the juicy fruit like it was a lifeline. His teeth crunched apart the apple piece ravenously, and he took another piece out of the apple in his hoof before he had finished swallowing the first.

   He went on to eat six more apples, then lay down next to a tree bearing tart-looking green apples, his stomach full and his mind at rest. That was, of course, until he considered the thought of this being private property. The colt's blood grew cold as the idea entered his mind. What would he do if they found him? Would he be better off leaving?

   The colt simply sighed and thought, Well, this looks like the farther reaches of the orchard. I'll just sleep until the morning, then be on my way before they find me. Good timing, too, because his eyes were growing heavy. He let his eyelids fall and slowly sank into sleep. His ghostly white fur brushed against the bark of the tree he slept next to, giving his unconscious brain thought of the mugging earlier.

   Soon after, the colt began to twitch and whimper.

   It was a nice spring day. The sun was shining with Princess Celestia's usual brilliance, birds tweeted their wake-up calls to predator and prey alike, and a grumpy filly marched her way through the orchards, followed by another one.

   "Stupid Applejack!" The first one grumbled. "What is it with her and assumin' ah'm always the one damaging things?" The orange filly trailing her shrugged.

   "Well, you gotta be smart," she replied. "What do we do in all our spare time?"

   "Crusade?"

   "Exactly. And what do we leave a lot of behind when stuff hits the fan?"

   "...Wreckage?"

   "Exactly!" Scootaloo grinned. Applebloom rolled her eyes and walked on, while Scootaloo rubbed the back of her head awkwardly and asked Applebloom, "So...what do we gotta do?"

   "Nothing much, really. We just have to look and see if anything's out of the ordinary in the very back fields."

   "Cool!...Wait, that's it? Normally don't we get something really difficult? What makes that so hard?"

   "Because it takes an Applebuck Season o' days to get there!" Applebloom replied exasperatedly as she came upon another five orchards to cross before they truly reached the back of Sweet Apple Acres. With a small sigh, she plodded onwards. "Ah don't even know why you're bein' forced to help me out."

   "Maybe what we did just ticked off AJ that mu-" Scootaloo was interrupted by a faint sound. Her ears perked up. "Hear that?"

   "Yeah, Ah did." Applebloom crept forwards in the direction of the sound. "It came from over there."

   "Well, then, let's find the stupid intruder and kick their butt!" Scootaloo dashed off past Applebloom, the wind generated by her speed enough to mess up Applebloom's mane. Applebloom tried to call out after her irritably, but to no avail. The filly sighed before muttering, "Intruder? Whatever happened to 'What are you, a dictionary?'?"

   She grouchily trotted after Scootaloo, increasing her pace in response to overhearing the orange Pegasus tell something to "Stop right there, trespasser!" Followed by a different voice going, "AH! I didn't mean to trespass! Just let me get on my way!"

Oh no you don't. Applebloom smirked to herself and darted her way past all sorts of obstacles, from falling apples to tree trunks. She ran and ran until she burst into a small clearing. Inside the clearing was her friend Scootaloo standing challengingly over a small colt, the two of them staring into each other's eyes.

   Applebloom intervened. "Go get Applejack, Scootaloo," she ordered the older filly. "Ah'll keep him pinned." Scootaloo nodded and sprinted back towards the house, taking dust with her. Applebloom watched her leave for a second, then spun around and glared at the colt. "Alright, so what was you doin' in our apple orchards?" In response, the colt merely whimpered, which Applebloom didn't notice. She stalked closer, causing the colt to try and sink into the ground.

   "I said..." Applebloom paused for a more threatening demeanor. "...what were you doin' in our orchards?"

   "L-look," the colt stammered, shaking. "I-I just needed a place to sleep for the night, a-and the orchard looked like the safest place." He backed away. "Please, don't hurt me."

   "Applebloom?" Said pony spun around to see her older sister, Applejack, already standing in the clearing, with Scootaloo behind her. "What's goin' on here?"

   "This little colt was on our land!...Wait a minute, how'd ya get here so fast?"

   "Ah know this ol' farm better than the back of my hoof," Applejack replied with a grin. It took two seconds for her to grow serious again. "But what's this about trespassin' I hear?"

    Applebloom snapped her hoof out, pointing in the colt's direction. "He says he needed a place to sleep, but Ah don't believe him!"

   "I'm not lying!" The colt protested. "I-I was mugged last night, and-"

   "Liar." Applebloom glared. "What kind of low-life degenerate would rob a colt?" She would have gone on, but Applejack put a hoof in front of her mouth, cutting off the angry filly.

   "You don't wanna know what kind of ponies are out there, Applebloom," she told her sister. Lowering her hoof, she studied the young "trespasser".

   He couldn't have been older than half of Scootaloo's age. His frighteningly white coat was the complete opposite in value compared to his short mane and sleek tail, both of which were black as a starless, moonless night. He cowered in fear before her, whispering something that sounded like, "Oh please, Luna, watch over me." His flank, like Applebloom's and Scootaloo's, was plain, without the faintest trace of a cutie mark. Applejack couldn't see his eyes since they were shut tight and glued to the ground.

   The first question Applejack asked was a very common first question. "What's yer name, Sugarcube?" No response, just a cowering Earth Pony. Applejack repeated it, with a little aggression this time. "What be yer name, partner?"

   "Eep! Uh-I-uh...Spectral Contrast."

   "Spectral Contrast? That's a mighty odd name." Applejack smiled slightly. "Ah like it. First deviatin' name Ah've heard in a while. Movin' on, Applebloom's got a point. Just what were ya doin' here?"

   Spectral Contrast continued to cower, but he forced himself to talk. "I-I ran away from home a few months ago because I wanted a new place to live. I've been on the move ever since, and last night I got attacked by this gray Unicorn. He ended up pinning me against a tree, but he hit himself in the hoof with his own spell. I managed to get away, and I found this orchard here." He looked up at the three females standing over him, revealing his ruby-red eyes. "I decided to sleep here for the night, because I'd spent all my energy running. I figured if this place was owned, I would just wake up in the morning and be on my way." Contrast backed away. "Just let me go," he begged fearfully.

   Applejack merely advanced.

   "Woah, there, Sugarcube. We ain't gonna hurt ya. Besides, Ah can't let a colt like you head 'round this world without seein' if Ponyville is your 'place to live'. If, of course, you're tellin' the truth." Applejack tapped her back hoof against a tree and caught the apple that fell with it. She tossed the apple to Contrast, then turned and headed into the direction of the house. "Come on. Ah'll give ya a quick round-about introduction of the farm, if ya need to come back, and then Ah'll show ya 'round Ponyville."

   Spectral Contrast was stunned. This was the first time somepony had offered him help since he had said goodbye to his best friend. Could it be a trap? Had she not really forgiven him for sleeping on their property? And what of the two fillies? How would they react to-?

   "Come on, Applebloom!" Scootaloo called. She was following Applejack. "You too, um..."

   "Spectral Contrast," The aforementioned colt supplied.

   "Yeah, that." Scootaloo turned backwards and raced to make up for the distance she'd lost. Applebloom watched her and AJ go, then gave a little sigh.

   "Ah guess Ah'm gonna have to trust mah sister's judgement for now," she huffed. "Come on, Contrast."

   Applebloom didn't know what to think. She didn't want to be friendly towards Contrast, but aside from sleeping on the edge of Sweet Apple Acres, he had done nothing wrong, so there was no real reason to hate him. She decided that, until she found out more about him, she should act the way she acts with most colts: neutral. He seemed normal, and followed her at an equal pace. However, it took her until just now to finally see how shy he was. She could see it in the way he followed her, with the key word being followed.

   Spectral Contrast walked behind Applebloom the entire time. His head was bowed.