The Forgotten Land

My name is Cloudfur, and I am a white pegasus.

I live in the land of Aviso, and it is a horrible place, filled with horrible things. All the ponies in Aviso that come from a poor or middle class background work in factories, and if we do not, we are killed, and replaced.

Our government is unjust and ruthless. All ponies that are born rich or acquire large sums of money are enlisted in the Avisian army, and watch over everyone like hungry hawks. The air is filled with gray smoke, and the rain outside is so polluted that spending anytime in it will kill you. The water is green, and all the fish and whales and plants that lived in it are either dead or have become monstrosities.

I work in one of the factories in this horrible land, and I have been tortured for speaking my mind, or even speaking at all. Most ponies go silent, and do what they are told without hoping for anything better. But I am not most ponies. I am defiant, and this has gotten me both great respect or the appearance of insanity, depending on who you speak to. But even with all of that in mind, I still do my work. If I don't, they will trace my ancestral line and kill all who remain in it.

One day, we all fantasized, a rebellion would come. Princess Celestia's light would pierce the gray fog and reveal a land long forgotten. That day came sooner than I imagined.

I sat next to the conveyor belt I had stood next to since I was a colt. The parts and pieces of the various things we made passed several ponies, and then came to me, always missing the one crucial part that made them work, whether it be a spring, or a handle, or a switch, and I had to reach in and place it oh - so perfectly or the whole thing was ruined and I lost the company gold. That to them is enough to arrest me for insubordination.

Like always, I inserted the last part into the latest thing we were developing. It happened to be spears that were being shipped to some other country. I was the one pony being trusted to place the blade into the shaft, but only under the careful watch of five soldiers.

As the machine rumbled, black soot blasted out of it, like it often did. I appeared a dark gray in color because of this, and the guards call me "Sootfeathers" or "Sooty" to make fun of me. It just increases my urge to flex my wings and fly into one of them so hard that they implode from the impact. But, to protect myself and any family I might have, I bottle up my emotions and opinions, ready to burst.

As I inserted the blade into the last sword of the workday, a pony was pulled off of his machine and dragged across the floor. I listened in on the conversation being had between the worker and the guards.

"B- but, I didn't do anything!" He said.

"Yes, but a Ms. Yellowfeathers used her horn's magic to break a guard's neck. You are her second cousin. You must die."

'The bastards!' I thought. So it was real. They did go after all of the family members, and not just immediate family. It wasn't fair, he didn't kill anyone, he didn't deserve this fate. I looked around, and saw the other workers ignore it. No one would do anything. So, I did.

"Unhand him you curs!" I yelled. The entire room fell deathly silent.

The third guard, the only one not holding the innocent pony, stepped toward me. "Well, looks like two deaths tonight." He said, grinning.

I was done. Ten years of held - in thoughts all supported the next sentence:

"Make it three. You and the other assholes." I said aloud.

The guard attempted to say something, but my wing sliced his flank longways. I had leapt into the air and flew fast enough to cut him with my pointed wing tips.

Blood sprayed from his side and onto the floor. He landed in it, shivered and died.

The other two guards, an earth pony and a unicorn, stepped forward. The prisoner pony crawled away from them.

"RAAAGH!!!" I screamed and flew forward. I stuck my rear hooves out and sent the unicorn flying into an industrial saw. The wires shocked him to death.

The earth pony attempted to give up the fight, but I surged forward, hitting one of the many boxes of swords. The soot flew off of me as I impacted with the wood, causing the box to break and the swords to slide across the floor and hit the guard in the leg.

I walked towards the exit and said one last thing before leaving.

"Let him bleed."

I burst through the doors and into the cold and dark day. I looked from side to side, but saw no soldiers. It was safe to run.

And so I did. I didn't know where to go, or what to do, so I sprinted towards the orphanage. My hooves clacked against the ground as I got a running start, and flew up into the air.

I squinted my eyes and looked down at the rooftops. All those years I spent in there as a foal, I was bound to recognize the roof I had landed on so many times?

And then I saw it. The chipped paint, the crooked doors, the dying trees. The orphanage. I flew through the open window.

For a minute the foals looked at me. I thought it was the oddity of a factory worker bursting through the window, but then I listened. Downstairs, a stallion kept talking about a soot - covered pegasus. Then hooves could be heard hitting the stairs.

"Over here!" A foal whispered. He nudged me into an empty toy bin, then threw toys on me and closed the top. Looking through the slat under the top he whispered: "Shh, we'll hide you mister."

The door opened. Hooves struck the wood floor as a stallion searched the room, and asked the kids about a gray or white pegasus.

One male foal spoke up: "Why would a murderer hide in an orphanage that's so close to a army buldin'?" He said. "That's stupid."

"Yeah." A female said. "You're a butt."

The stallion looked at her. "If you weren't under the legal age, I would have slit your throat for that insolence." He stepped out of the room, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

I thanked the kids for their help, and hoped that they stayed safe. I flew for the remainder of the day, until I was far from the factory. Along the way, I saw advertisements saying to turn in: "A triple murdering insolent coward" along with a picture of me before I lost all the soot.

My wings throbbed from the strain of keeping me in the air for so long, and I was forced to land. I lay down in some bushes, and covered myself with leaves for warmth. Closing my eyes, I thought: "What a mess I've gotten myself into." Then promptly fell asleep.