The One Who Walk In The Light
CHAPTER ONE
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CANTERLOT
EQUESTRIA
DAWN
My mother thought I was dead
Obviously I wasn’t dead yet, but let her thought that way, it safer for her.Each month at least 2 times, I saw my wanted picture scattered throughout the center of Canterlot. A picture that looks completely out of place. Normally, major of the city don’t have this thing. It always fill with the smile of the foals under the bright blue sky, pony taking pictures in front of the palace, and a few of the Princesses’s “I want you” poster. Then all the propaganda against War. “War took away your happiness”, some of them said. “They want something they do not own. Do not let them invade our homeland! Support the Princesses!”But now everything has changed into the report of my crime. It lights up on the walls in numerous glowing halo (Why they did that I don’t know):
WANTED
PROFILE ID: 462178-3233 “DAWN”
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200.000 BITS
WANTED FOR ASSAULT, ARSON, THEFT,
PROPERTY DESTRUCTION AND INTERFERENCE
OF IMPLEMENTATION TASK.
WHO PROVIDE INFORMATION WILL BE REWARDED
They always posted different drawings on my warrant. Sometimes was a mare wearing glasses with thick coppery curled mane. Occasionally, they drew a mare with black eyes and mane. At times, my coat was black. White coat at one point. And sometimes they paint it olive or brown, yellow, crimson, or any other color that they can think of.In other words, the Royal Guards did not know how I look. It seems like they did not know anything about me to be exact, except that I was quite young and they would not find any results about me in their archives. That was why they hated me, why I wasn’t the most dangerous criminals of this country but was the most wanted pony. I made them look like ‘trash’ in the public eye.It just nightfall, but outside was already pitch black, I could see the reflection of the huge building in the puddle below. I sat on the creaking window ledge on the third floor, completely obscured. It used to be an apartment building, but it was abandoned long time ago. The broken windows and glasses strewn all over the floor and the paint patches was being peeled on the wall. In the room corner, there’s an old portrait of Princess Celestia lying face up on the floor. I wondered who used to lived here – nopony crazy enough to let the Princess portrait ‘rolling’ on the floor like that.As usual, I hid myself under the old cloak. My eyes fixed on a small one-story house across the street, caressing a pedant in my hoof.Chess leaned against the other window ledge and looked at me. Tonight, I was restless, and as always, she could feel it.Plagues have flooded into our area. In the light of Luna’s moon, Chess and I could see the Guard in the street was ransacking every house. Even though it was night time, their golden armor still looked shiny under the moonlight. They all also wearing mask. Time to time, they come out and mark a big crimson X on the door of the house. Then the house would be completely isolated - at least when there were pony still noted it.“Still haven’t seen them?” Chess whispered to me. Her face was completely obscured in the shadows.I tried to distract myself by sitting and practicing some of my new spell. “They didn’t have dinner yet, It been hours and I couldn’t see anyone sitting at the table.” I changed my posture and stretched my injured leg.“Maybe they’re not at home?”I threw at Chess an annoyed look. She was just trying to appease me, but I'm not in the mood for that. “The light was on. They’re here.”Chess approached me. “Can we leave the city for a few weeks?” She tried to keep her voice calm but still can’t hide the fear in it. “Diseases will leave soon, you can come back to visit family after. We have enough bit to buy the tickets.”I shook my head. “One night per week, remember? Just let me know the situation of my family one night per week, and I will be fine.”“Uh-huh, this week you only, I don’t know, visit them every day, yes? I think you addicted.”“Oh shut up, I just want to make sure everypony’s okay.”“What if you got sick?”“I… I can deal with it. And by the way, you don’t have to go with me, you know? You can just wait for me in Ponyville.”Chess shrugged. “Somepony have to keep an eye on you.” lesser than me 2 years old, even so, sometimes she sound like she was my foalsitter.We watched silently as the Guards get closer to my family’s house. When they stopped at a house, one of the guard bang loudly and the others would standing readily nearby. Within 10 seconds, if no one opened the door, they would bring it down. I didn’t see them while at work but I knew their sequence: They used a spell on every single pony in the house, and that spell would tell them who the sick one. The whole thing go by in ten minutes.I counted the number of houses between them and my used-to-be-house. It gonna take another hour before I knew what my family’s fate would be.Suddenly, there’s a deafening scream resounded at the end of the street. Eyes turned right toward the cream, instinctively, I grabbed the knife from my 2 sides. Chess breathe a deep breath.An infected. This mare must have been destroyed by the disease for months by now, because her coat was full of sores and blood. I wondered why the Guards could have missed this poor pony in the previous inspections. She walked staggered, disoriented, rushing forward and tripped hitting the ground. I glanced at the Guards. They have noticed her now. Immediately, one of them charging a spell and go out into the streets, eleven other just standing there – make sense when there only one Unicorn in their group, the others were just Earth Pony. There absolutely no movement between them except the Unicorn, a victim of the infection wasn’t a big threat to them. He pointed the horn on at the target. Suddenly, many beams of light surrounded the mare.And she collapsed, lying motionless on the cold ground of the street. The Guard just leisurely walked back to his group.I wish I could learn the spell the Guard just used. A cool magic but really hard to find the book contained the spell. Like any other spell the Guard used, my dad told me that they took it from the Colonial’s archives. However, The Republic of The Sun would never admit it, apparently. I and Chess could easily take five of those book… Many year, we have mastered our sneaky skill. Yet the real problem wasn’t about the skill, it’s about those book. They have been casted a powerful tracking spell so if we have it, we can easily be tracked down without a sweat. But if they didn’t, well I don’t need to say more. So I still used some old spell when I studied under Princess Celestia. (Yes, I was the Princess’s protégé until I was kicked out because of the stupid Test)“They’ve found another house.” Chess said. She squinted her eyes in order to see better.I looked down and see them coming out of another house. One mare marked a giant crimson X on the door. I knew this house. This family used to have a filly with the same age at mine. I and my sibling played with her when we were young.Chess was trying to distract me by nodded toward the saddlepack. “What did you bring for them?”I smiled and reached out to open the saddlepack. “Something we had saved this week. It would be a gift to congratulate everyone passed the quarantine.” I rummaged through an interesting pile of little things in the backpack and pulled out a protective goggles. I checked to make sure that the glass is not cracked. “This is for Jetstream. An early-birthday gift.” This weekend my brother will turn 19 years old. He worked up to 14 hours/ per day at the Rainbow Factory in Cloudsdale and always returned with wiping-eyes. I stole this protective goggles in a military cargo.I put it down and checked the remaining pile. It mostly salads and hay fries that I stole (again) in the cafeteria of an airship. I wish I could stay in that room with everyone when I gave these to them. But Jetstream is the only one who knew that I was still alive, and he has promised not to tell mom and Eliza.Two more months, Eliza will turn ten years old, it also means that two more months she have to do the Test. I have failed that examination when I was ten. That is why I was worry about Eliza, because although she smarter than me and my brother but the way she think and do was exactly like me. When I completed the Test, I had so much confidence in my answers that I didn’t even care how they scored. But then they took me into a train with the other foals. They wrote something on my exam and sent me straight to the labor area. I couldn’t bring anything except my pendant which I always worn on my neck. And I did not even get to say goodbye.A couple of different things could happen after you took the Test.You achieved a perfect score 1500 points. No one has ever reached this point – Yeah it… well, with the exception of a few years ago with a filly, it really made a big fuss in the Republic. Who knows what would happen to the foal with such a high score? A lot of bits and power maybe?You scored from 1450 to 1499. Please congratulate yourself because you would immediately receive free admission to 10 years in Celestia’s school for gifted foal. The Parliament would hire you to work and you would earn a lot of bits. Then the joy and happiness. That was what according to the Republic, at least.You get good scores from 1250 to 1449. You would continue to secondary school and then be assigned to a certain colleges. That wasn’t so bad.You barely hit the minimum score of about 1000 to 1249. They would ban you from secondary school. And you would have to work for the rest of your life, like my brother Jetstream. Also you could probably die by accidents.You failed.Most of these cases were foals in poor families. If you were a part of this unlucky group, they would send Guards to your house. Your parents would be forced to sign a paper given full custody of you to them. They said that you had been sent to labor camps by the government of the Republic and your family would not be allowed to see you again. Some families even celebrated as they were given 1000 bits as a comforting gift. Lessen one mouth to feed and have more money? Such a caring and considerate government!Except one thing, all of them was a lie. A poor kid with bad genetic code is a burden to the country. If you were lucky, they would let you died before sent you to the lab to check what was wrong with you. (I still don’t know why the Princesses could have approved this?)Five more homes to go. Chess seemed to see the strain in my eyes and put a hoof on my forehead. “Another headache?”“No, it’s okay. I’m fine.” I peered at my house window, then suddenly saw a familiar face. Eliza trotted by, peeked out the window to look at the Guards approaching and casted some spell towards them. Then she leaned back and disappeared from sight. Her curly mane shine a bright platinum color under the flickering light. Knowing her personality, I guess the spell was to measure the distance or something like that.“She looks thinner.” I muttered.“She’s still alive and still can moving around, I see that lucky enough.” Chess said.Minutes later, I saw Jetstream and my mom through the window, chatting with each other. Jetstream and I were kinda similar, except he was a stallion and look more muscular. His mane grew over his shoulder. His light gold coat now covered in dust. I could see mom yelled at him about something, probably because letting Eliza looked out of the window. So at least three of them were healthy and can walk around. And even with one pony infected, there is still enough time for them to recover.I could not stop imagining what would happen if the Guard marked that X on our door.My family will be put in to silent shock in the room for a long time after the Guards left. Mom would try to be tough as always, to then sit alone all night, quietly wiping the flowed tears. The next morning, they would start getting fewer food and just waited until cured, or died.My mind drifted to the meager amount of bits that Chess and I saved, 2500 bits, enough to feed us for a few months… but not enough for my family to buy the medicines.Minutes passed by slowly. I stopped practicing spells to play chess with Chess to kill some time (I don’t even bother *sigh*… she just so good at this game). A few times I looked at the window, but did not see anyone passed by again. Maybe they were waiting at the door, ready to open when they heard the bang of Guards.And finally the moment has come. I sat on the window ledge and leaned forward too much that Chess have to hold tight my hoof so I do not fall down. The Guard bang. My mother opened the door immediately and invited them in, then the door was closed. I stretched my ears to listen for the talks, hoofsteps or any sound at all coming from my house. The sooner this over the sooner I could secretly sent my gifts to Jetstream.Silence lasted. Chess whispered “If you don’t see anything it must be good news, right?”“Nice joking.”I'm silently counting the seconds in my mind. One minute passed, then 2 minutes, 4 minutes and finally 10 minutes.Fifteen and then twenty minutes passed.I looked at Chess, she just shrugged “Maybe the spell go wrong?” she said.Thirty minutes have passed. I do not dare to leave my sight. I was afraid something would happen so fast that I could not see if I blinked. I tapping rhythmically on the hilt of the knifeForty minutes. Fifty minutes. And one hour.“Something have gone wrong” I whispered.Chess pursed her lips “You can’t know yet”“No, I know. It wasn’t supposed to be this long”Chess opened her mouth to reply, but before she could say, the Guards stepped out of my house, one by one, expressionless. When all the soldiers went outside, the last one closed the door and searched something in her bag. I was stunned. I knew what's going to happen.The mare sprayed on the door of our house one bright red diagonal. Then she sprayed the 2nd one that form a letter XI cursed and turned away prepare to leave, but suddenly the mare do something that completely unexpected, to which I have never seen before.She added a third line to my house door, straight down from the top, with all three of them formed a new word, a divided X.
