Brave Charger woke up on a typical Tuesday morning; his head throbbed and ached again. That constant headache he always had was the first thing to greet him, just like every morning for his entire life. He gazed about the dark wall of the cave, their crevasses lined up to the roof of the dark cave. The cave was about 15 yards deep and the mouth was about a yard wide finally it was about twenty-five feet in height.
He sat up on the mattress that he was given. The mattress was old and about to be thrown away but he was able to grab it and get some use out of the torn up mattress. It was full of sweat stains and had a pit pressed into the old mattress. He had flipped it over to use the opposite side that was in a much more sturdy condition.
He sighed and tied the drawstrings on his cloak, then pulled the hood up over his head and stood up. The cloak he wore was a dark grey and drug in the ground. It was old and tattered. It was covered in large, long stitches; one of which was right down the middle of the hood. His head was almost fully covered by the sides, only the tip of his muzzle peaked out. He was fully covered everywhere else so he was hidden.
He exited the cave and walked to the small lake near by, he stared at the reflection that distorted when he accidently knocked a rock into the blue water. “This… This is what I’ve become…” he whispered. He then heard the voice. “No no no buddy…this what WE’VE become. Or more or less what I made you ha-ha…” it mocked. The “voice” was why he was in that cave, that musty, dark, dank “home”. He hated the truth why he was there.
The reason was his split personality. Dark Poison. An evil, cruel, dark pony that had a voice that made him sound like some crazed lunatic in a mental hospital. Dark Poison could “take over” occasionally and make others run away in fear or if he let his guard down. He would let his guard down if he was angered (Yes I do realize this is very much like Incredible Hulk so please understand I’m not meaning to rip it off, it’s just a good idea.)
“Shut up Dark…” he mumbled and walked from the lake, heading to a tree that was covered in large, plump, peaches. He looked up, listening to Dark insult him about how cowardly he was. He used the anger boiling in him to buck the tree; this time he stripped a piece of bark off. The chunk flew back until it shattered like a teacup on the bark of another.
He began eating on the peach, until he heard voices coming closer. They we’re all male voices. “Hide you twit!” Dark rasped. Brave zipped behind the trees and allowed the darkness to swallow him whole. He had become accustom to the darkness of the everfree forest and its many trees and odd sounds.
A group of stallions all began walking by, all talking and occasionally laughing. He counted the different types that marched by, but soon stopped at the lake. Two earth ponies, a Pegasus and a unicorn. The unicorn seemed to be the second strongest, the strongest was a large, red earth pony. His cutie mark was a green apple. He had a short blondish mane and a small tail. He wore a harness, probably a farmer of some sort.
“Ok y’all… we’d better figure out where we’re headin’ from here.” A skinny yellowish orange pony said. He wore a hat and a vest, both brown. “Right…” The unicorn replied. Brave lost interest in the crowd and only watched the four. He didn’t realize it but he was leaning on a tree, and slowly falling forward. Before he could stop himself he fell out of the shadows and landed face first on the dirt.
One of the stallions jumped away with a gasp. He lied still, hoping they’d leave. “Who are you?” one asked. Brave didn’t reply but stood up and glared at the strangers. The unicorn walked closer “I said…who are you?” he asked, this time louder. Brave bit his tongue but spoke. “I’m Brave Charger. I suggest you leave, hate to see anypony get hurt.” he warned. The group frowned and readied for battle. He backed up and slightly also prepared. “It was a warning” he thought, “n-not a threat”. He was afraid what would happen. A series of scenarios came to mind. One of which was he being arrested and locked in a cage for the rest of his life.
Before anyone could ask him anything else he ran past the two earth ponies and to his cave. He slid in and panted. “Why am I hiding? They’re not stupid…well maybe.” He continued. He then heard the voice again. “C’mon buddy. We’re friendly!” the Pegasus called. He was blue everything except his eyes were. His eyes were green. “Yea! What Soarin said! We ain’t gonna hurt ya!” the skinny earth pony called out. “I said go!” he yelled back, he backed up and shook his head. “I am Shinning Armor, Prince of Canterlot! I command you come out!” the unicorn yelled. Brave gasped and felt his fears coming true. He stepped to the mouth of the cave and took a hesitant deep breath.
The group four stared at him and then at each other. “So what do you want?” Brave asked coldly. “We want to know why you are up in this cave, all by your lonesome.” The one in the hat said with a smile. “Why? Hah! Because of my split personality, better run…. like everyone else who thinks I’m insane.” Brave snapped and looked down. He looked up when he didn’t hear them flee. They just stood there, staring. Their eyes felt like they burned a whole in him. “Well?!” he shouted, he began panting out of anger.
One approached him and tilted his head “Take a breather, okay?” the pony asked. “We can figure somethin’ out. But you have to let us help. Okay?” he continued. It was a Pegasus who spoke. Brave nodded and was ready for the way out of his torture.
