Chapters A little foal stood on a foggy, poor lit street , muttering to himself. He appeared to be waiting for somepony, as he kept making furtive glances behind him. He looked to be young, and malnourished. His bones stuck through his bright red coat, and he had a horribly bright orange vest on. His mane and tail were the color of blood, and styled in a shaggy short style, his mane semi-covered his coal black eyes. Strangely enough a cutie mark had not appeared on his hindquarters yet.
Suddenly,a loud, deep voice came from somewhere above the little foal. He looked straight up at gray box, hanging on a light post. From the box came this message: "Curfew is in two minutes. Curfew is at 8:00 pm every night. If you caught outside of your house after curfew, you will be severely punished. That is all." The voice cut out as swiftly as it had begun.
The little foal continued to look around, and his eyes settled on a poster affixed to a gray trashcan next to the lamppost. The poster was of a pitch black alicorn, with wings the same color as his body, and blood red pupils and galactic eyes, that resembled the night sky. The alicorn had a mane and tail that the color of which represented the darkness of the black holes, his mane was pulled up into a samurai knot, with wisps of bangs flowing on each side. He appeared to be well fed, and his cutie mark was also missing. The poster was of this monstrosity of a stallion staring at you, with extreme purpose. It was as if he could stare through your very soul. Suddenly the little foal, turned to his left. A sound of hooves on the pavement was approaching him. He did not appear to be worried, or in the very least frightened. He appeared to be calm.
Which given the circumstances was a bit odd. A stallion stepped out of the fog, he had a dark gray coat, with a red and white mane and tail, both of which were kept short and tidy. He had startling sea green eyes, and he also looked malnourished underneath bright orange vest that he too wore. His cutie mark was that of a old fashioned grandfather clock. He walked up to the little foal and embraced him. "Hello son. The time has come, just like the time came for your dear mother and sister", he took a breath, "There is not much time for words. I must say this before they appear," the sound of a car engine in the background cuts off the father once more. The father opened his mouth once more but it was already too late. A white van pulled up behind the two ponies. As the doors swung open, a single tear escaped from one of the father's sea green eyes. Two pitch black guards , both buff and menacing, with eerie glowing green eyes(all of the guards look the same) jumped out of the van. They grabbed the father without one single word.
Then they threw him in the van, looked at the little foal, and said in unison " Get inside, Nathan Locke," and with that they drove away into the night. The little foal stood cowering on the street in fear, and suddenly he remembered the day his mother and sister were taken away.
" It was a cold winter's day, his mother, sister, and himself were going to the market to try to find something to eat. His mother was a strikingly beautiful pony, with a light orange coat, a blond mane, and tail which were both pulled back into pony tails. She wore a beige cowboy hat on top of her mane, and her beautiful forest green eyes held some spark of happiness. His little sister was just as beautiful, with a purple gray coat, a gray mane and tail, the mane being cut into a bob, which hid just one of her beautiful green gray eyes. He was lagging a bit behind the two, because he ate less to make sure they could eat. He had been kicking rocks down the road, when suddenly a white van pulled up. Two guards jumped out and started catcalling the mother, the little sister tried standing up to them, but the lifted her like a rag doll, and threw her into the van. Then they hoisted the mother, with one guard grabbing her ass a little too long, and threw her into the van. Then the van drove away. Unbeknownst to them, the little foal watched this all."
Companions of the Night "2"
Nathan Locke had been doing fairly well on his own since his father's arrest. He went to school, went to the market after school to try to earn some bits, then went straight home before 8 pm. He didn't want to be caught outside after 8 pm, just in case the same fate that befell his family, happened upon him. One day, however, Nathan slipped up, ponies slip up from time to time. He had a hard day at school, and looked forward to it's end. When school finally ended, he ran to the market place to catch the lunch goers. They always pitied him because they could see his rib cage, and felt guilty about the fact that they ate more then he did. That particular day, Nathan made somewhere around 100 bits just from begging people for food or money. He happily left the market place around 7 pm, confident about the fact he could make it home before curfew. This day however was different.
Nathan sauntered down the street, at bliss with the fact that he would be able to eat at least for a week. Suddenly out of nowhere, the streetlight above Nathan flickered and then went out. Nathan stood completely still. Afraid to even breathe, he listened to the night. At first Nathan heard nothing, but then a sound of hooves on the pavement in front of him, caused him to tense. Suddenly, a hoof grabbed the satchel off of Nathan's rib cage. Nathan yelped out a protest but to no avail. The sound of hooves faded into the distance, and the street light clicked on, just fast enough so that Nathan could glimpse a orange vest in the distance.
Nathan took off running after the orange vest as fast as his little hooves would allow him. The chase seemed to go on for hours, as he went down one street, and then another, until he was in a part of town that he did not recognize. The orange vest appeared in front of Nathan, attached to a red colored stallion, with beige colored markings on his hooves, a yellow orange mane that was shoulder length , a tail the same color and full but also short, and startling green eyes. The stallion was very buff but still malnourished, and his cutie mark was that of a old fashioned record. Nathan let out a squeak.
The stallion leaned down and put Nathan's satchel on the ground. "Here you need this more than me. I only took it, so you would follow. We require new recruits, " the stallion stated in a gruff voice. He then motioned Nathan to follow him inside the broken down barn behind him. Nathan slowly followed the stallion inside.
Inside the broken down barn, which was surprisingly well lit with candles, Nathan was greeted with the site of two other ponies each wearing bright orange vests. The pony to Nathan's right was a orange colored stallion, with a brown curly mane and tail, and dark green eyes. He was tall but also malnourished, and his cutie mark was that of a paintbrush . The pony in the center of the room had a brown coat, dark brown mane cut into a messy mohawk, a short dark brown tail, and ice blue eyes. His cutie mark was that of a open book, and he also was malnourished.
The pony in the center of the room stepped forward, and said "My name is Fredrick Melton. But you can call me Fritz. The pony with the paintbrush cutie mark is named Leroy Fischer. We all call him Roy. And the pony who brought you here is named Kyle Whitaker. We call him Kyle, he has no nickname. The reason I had you brought here, is because I require your help. I know what happened to your parents, and sister. You must feel some kind of anger. That is where I come in. We, you, my friends, and I, are going to get back at the ones who did all this. Now will, you join us?" Nathan swallowed, and nodded once. "Good. You are now one of us," stated Fritz.
After Nathan met the rebels, he went straight home. It already being after Curfew, and him not wanting to be caught outside by the guards. He got home, and went to bed. The next morning he woke up, and got ready for school . Immediately after walking outside, he noticed a parcel on the door step. Being the curious foal he was, he went up and poked at it with his hoof. Upon closer inspection of the package, he noticed that there was no return address. Nathan picked up the box with his teeth, and carried it back inside. He tore at the tape, and opened the parcel. Inside were 10 bits, and a note.
The note read:
Meet me at the place where your father was taken. At midnight, tonight.
Nathan stared at the note in disbelief. "Midnight? But that's after curfew. I can't be out at that time. I have a family to be here," he suddenly cut off his sentence, remembering that his family was gone. He swallowed and walked out the door for school.
He skipped the market entirely that day, after school. There was no need to go, he had enough money for at least two weeks. Walking home from school, his head was in the clouds, and he kept biting his upper lip. Nathan was worried about what he would encounter, at midnight. He finally made it to his door, and decided to try to sleep before midnight. First though, he set one of the many old grandfather clocks to go off at midnight, and he then crawled into bed. At exactly midnight, the clock chimed and Nathan jumped out of bed. He grabbed his orange vest, and headed out the door. He knew the way to the street that he had waited for his father on that faithful night. After walking just a short distance, he arrived to the location. Waiting there was Fritz.
"I knew you'd come, even if it meant breaking curfew. You have balls kid, I could tell when I first met you. I told you to meet me here, for one reason. The two ponies that we are going to go after first, are the one's that attacked and took your father. THEY CAN NOT CONTINUE TO DO THIS, AND THINK THAT NO PONY WILL STAND UP TO THEM, Fritz shouted, his face red and full of anger.
Nathan took a breath and said, "I didn't know becoming a part of this meant that I would, would have to kill. I don't want to hurt another pony. They don't deserve that. No matter what somepony does, they do not deserve death."
Fritz looked at Nathan, nodded once, and said "I was wrong. You don't have balls. You're just a coward. You disgust me. After all these bucking guards took away, from you, you still won't stand up to them. We don't need you. We will find somepony else.
Nathan looked worried, started to say something, thought better of it, and instead swallowed a lump in his throat. He then turned to Fritz and said " No, I do want to get them back. Believe me when I say that I do. I'm just scared. I didn't know we would have to commit acts of violence. You have to understand, I am younger than anyone in the group."
Fritz sighed, "You're right. I'm sorry, for yelling. Sometimes little one, violence is the answer. How about this, you help us get into the guards base of operation, and we will do the rest."
Nathan nodded. And walked away into the night, back to his house. He silently pondered over things, on his walk home, and came up with the conclusion that he did have a family again. He smiled to himself. At least a little ray of sunlight was appearing in his life again. As he thought this, a flashback suddenly occurred.
"See little sis, you can do it,"Nathan remarked, as he watched Elisabeth fly her kite for the first time. It wasn't much of a kite, really. Just a sheet tied to a string with sticks bracing the sheet, but it was all they had. Elisabeth seemed to enjoy it, at least. She was skipping through the forlorn looking meadow, with it's dying grass, and lack of flowers, with a big grin on her face, and head titled up to watch the kite fly. "I'm doing it! I'm really doing it," exclaimed Elisabeth. "I know, look at you go," Nathan remarked. He sat on the grass and watched his exuberant little sister, have the time of her life. "One day, she'll realize that this world isn't all sunshine and giggles. That little smile will fade, and the happiness will leave her eyes. I want to try to make sure that day never comes," thought Nathan.
Author's Note
The next chapter will be published after the first episode of Season 5. The protagonist in that episode will be making an appearance in the story.
New posters kept popping up all around town. To say the least, it was confusing the rebels. The posters were of a mare. She had a purple gray coat, purple eyes, her mane was done in an up-do, with bangs on her forehead, her mane and tail were purple with light blue stripes. She had no cutie mark on her flank.
Nathan on his way to the marketplace, came upon on of these posters. "Hmm, it's strange that a woman would be on these posters. Women are not at all respected, no that anyone is really respected...except for maybe the Dictator. He's more feared than anything though. Unless you're a guard that is," Nathan muttered to himself. He continued on his way, and when the marketplace came into sight, he heard a strange commotion. Nathan faltered in his steps, and contemplated moving forward or not. "The old Nathan would have ran home, and boarded up the doors. But not this time, those people might need help from whatever the government might be deciding to do today," he thought. He ran forward to the marketplace.
"You can't do that! This is my business, not the government's or anyone else for that matter. YOU WILL NOT TAKE AWAY MY LIVELIHOOD," screamed a old stallion. The old stallion ran in front of his shop door, and tried to block the guard from getting in. Seeing this, the guard pushed the old stallion down to the ground rather roughly, stepped on him to gain access to the shop, and walked straight into the shop without a word.
Nathan ran up to the stallion, helped him to his feet, and asked "Are you okay, sir? Do you know what's going on?"
The old stallion, looked at Nathan, "My boy, it is the new mare in town. She claims to be
"I claim to be the mother of Lachlan Odom. My name is Starlight Glimmer," said a regal voice from behind Nathan. Nathan turned around and was greeted with the sight of the mare from the posters. "You will bow before me, when you are addressed or when I enter your reign of sight. Do you understand me", said the mare. Nathan could only nod. "I know your name is Nathan and that your family we have taken, and rightly so. You were obedient until just a month or so past. That is why I am here. My son has watched you interact with Fredrick Melton, we will END YOU IF WE FEEL IT IS RIGHT. You are going to get back in line, this is not a choice. Until you do so, everyone will suffer, no one is exempt. Even your family", she spit the words at him, between clenched teeth.
The only thing Nathan could remember after the fact, was that there was a sharp pain in his head. "I have to find the rebels and warn them. We have to get into the guards barracks as soon as possible," he thought.
Somewhere in a lavish room, Lachlan Odom and Starlight Glimmer laughed at the thought that a young foal could possibly infiltrate the guards barracks.
