Where the Bad Ponies Go

~Bully Encounter~

I thought that everything was right with my life. The sun was setting in the horizon, my mother was busy in the kitchen, my father was out at work, and me?

Well, I sat right here in my bedroom, doing what every average pony would do, playing video games; if you were into that sort of thing. I wore my red and black headphones, as the noises and music from the games always bothered my mother, so she bought them for me, and let me tell you, they work perfectly fine. I got my snacks next to me, some water, and have some peace and quiet.

Yup. Mostly my life was perfect, well...almost perfect...there’s just one of those problems in the family you just can’t handle, and that is- "Jackie! You promised me you'd play with me after school!" yelled a loud, annoying girlish voice from outside my bedroom door, which happened to belong to my sister, Butter Cream...

I turned around in my chair, the red and black headphones stuck to my ears to see my younger sister burst through the door. She's a Unicorn that has a soft grey coat, with large blue eyes, a long light golden mane and tail, with brown and white highlights; and was holding her favorite pony doll, which oddly looked just like her.

I had to stare at her with a raised eyebrow, and pull the headphones down to wrap around my neck, and ask with annoyance on my face, "Yes, what do you want now, Miss I-want-everything?"

My sister wasn't one to be patient, so she answered my question quickly with a small pout at the nickname, "You promised me we'd go biking today, but here you are, still sitting on your flank playing video games! Don't make me tell mama on you!"

I only rolled my eyes in her direction. That was her way of getting me to do anything she wanted, since she knew I was too much of a softy, and only wanted what was best for her, even if she was annoying.

"Alright. I'll be down in a few seconds, just need to fix this problem with the monitor, and then I'll get ready," I assured her, as she held a small grumpy face, as if not believing me. I then added, "I promise," and that made her smile.

"Good." With nothing else left to say, she trotted out of the room to get her bike ready for action.

10 minutes later, I was downstairs, wearing my black and light blue helmet, which pretty much covered my strawberry red hair, while the rest flowed down to my shoulders, along with pads for my knees. I also wore my emerald amulet around my neck, where it made my white coat stand out, or so my mom says.

I looked up just in time to see my little sister trotting her way towards me with her pink bike rolling beside her; and like myself, she was also wearing a helmet, one that had pink butterflies painted on it, and wore protectors for her knees as well.

She gave me an excited smile, and asked, "Are you ready?"

I gave her a small shrug of my shoulders, and nodded, hoping we can get back home in time for dinner, "As ready as I'll ever be..."

She giggled excitedly, before climbing onto her bike, and waited until I was set; I had to keep my large white wings tucked in so that things didn’t go downhill for me, and once that was taken care of, we both rode off down the road towards town.

Not so much time later, we made it to town, only to see that the streets weren’t all that busy. Since it was the afternoon of course, everypony would be going home to find out what’s for dinner. During our ride, my sister however, went on and on about a party her and her marefriends were planning. I only heard half of what she was saying, as I kept my eye out for any suspicious acts, and also since hearing her talk too much all the time, made me feel a bit irritated.

"Did you hear what I just said??" she asked loudly, breaking me away from my thought bubble, as she does all the time, and stopped her bike with a loud screech, causing me to stop as well, and raise an annoyed eyebrow at her, before looking about once again, just to be sure nopony was there.

"I heard you sis, but you talk way too much. How's about keeping it closed sometimes?" I asked, raising both eyes, as I posted my serious face.

She was about to protest in anger, but was cut off by a familiar voice, which made my blood run cold, "Well, well, well, if it isn't Jackpot and his little brat-sister, Cream Puff."

I growled angrily, and turned to see a group of three teen-aged colts standing in our way. Two of them were twins, with a dark blue coat, and the same short white hair, with light red highlights, and green eyes, both of their cutie marks being tennis rackets; and the third, their leader, being slightly bigger than the two, had a light cream colored coat, with short brown hair, blue crystal eyes, and a football for his cutie mark. They were called, The Terribles.

"'What do you want, Gilden?' I asked, glaring at him, as he stood big and proud. What a jerk... I thought to myself, and waited to see what he was here for. He was one of those school jocks who didn't know when to quit bullying people around.

Gilden stared at me with a dark smirk, "Do you know that you're on my territory, Jackpot?" He got snickers from the twins, who made me roll my eyes in annoyance, Such wannabes...

I only raised an eyebrow towards Gilden, before correcting him, "This isn't your territory, Gilden. It belongs to everypony."

Gilden scoffed slightly, and got close to my face, his muzzle scrunching up mine, as he continued, "I don't see everypony's name on it...do you?” He let my muzzle go too quickly, making me rub it softly, before continuing to glare at him with hatred, while he finished his thoughts.

“Besides, I live just up the block, and everypony around there knows that this whole neighborhood is mine. So, if you don't want your flank kicked, I'd suggest you move along." He gave my sister and I both a wave of his hoof, as if dismissing us.

I wanted to give this pony a piece of my mind, but my sister nudged my elbow, and looked at me with worried eyes; she was scared of Gilden, “We should go, Jackie...''

Gilden snickered at this, and moved away from me and my sister, before saying, "You should listen to her, Jackpot...you don't want to be pounded into the ground now, do ya?"

I stared at the twins, who punched their hooves together, as if getting ready to give me a beating, and gave us an evil grin, which made me think it was best if we just rode back home.

"Let's go, Cream," I said, not wanting to deal with these three today. She nodded, and climbed back on her bike, and we both rode off, leaving the sounds of Gilden and his two buds laughing in amusement. I really hated him, and wanted to do something about it, but what?

~~

Dinner was the scent that wafted through the house, which my sis and I could smell once we got back home. My father was back home it seemed too, so that's where my sister ran off, so she can greet him.

I went upstairs to my room to write in my journal. It was the only thing I can do to keep my mind off of Gilden and his rambunctious ways. It also made it easier for me to write down my thoughts and feelings, instead of breaking anything that was priceless to me or my parents. We found that out when I started getting bullied in elementary school a long time ago, I never cherished those days.

"Jackie! Dinner is in five minutes!" I heard my mom yell upstairs, while I was just taking out my pencil to put down a few thoughts in my journal.

'Sure mom! Be right down!" I yelled back, hoping she heard me. I stared at the blank sheet of paper before me, and frowned deeply. Now, what is it that I want to put down? I thought to myself, and then nodded, Right...Gilden...

I scribbled down my thoughts about how much I disliked Gilden, and wished to pay him back for being so mean. Once I was done, my father came walking into the room. I looked up to give him a short smile.

He had the same long strawberry red hair and white coat, and was wearing his brown hat and tie, "Did you hear your mother call you down for dinner, son?" he asked, giving me a raised eyebrow, before looking about my room, which I had left tidy before leaving out this afternoon with my sis. This, I noticed, made him smile a bit more.

I nodded, and put my journal away quickly, before climbing off of the chair to face him properly, "Yes, I was just on my way."

He gave my hair a quick ruffle, and smiled tiredly towards me, "Good. Try to stay out of trouble, son, ya hear?" I only smiled, and hugged him quickly, before trotting downstairs towards the dining area.

Once there, I took my seat, and watched as Cream helped put the food out onto the plates. My mother walked in with a yellow apron on. The one she always wore when I was a young filly, and placed the refreshments on the table. She gave me a quick glance, as if wanting to tell me something, but left it alone, and went back into the kitchen to get dessert. Sometimes I wonder what my parents think of me. Am I a disappointment, or am I a son they are proud of? I didn't know, and probably was too afraid to ask, so I left that thought alone.