Chapter 1: Home is Where the Heart Is
Chapter 1: Home is Where the Heart Is
“Gold? Gold! Hurry up now, boyo. Ya don’t want ta be late fer the boat ride now wouldja?” The grey coated pony wriggled his upper lip and moved his black mustache back and forth.
“I’m commin! Don’t rush me!” A small yellow Colt bounded out of his room with a suitcase on his back. He had a big grin on his face and his eyes were full of excitement. “I can’t believe we’re gettin out of Scoltland!”
The grey pony chuckled. “Now, dontcha be too happy now boyo. Scoltland is our homeland, and I don’t plan on fergettin’ it.” Black Gold wasn’t listening. All his mind could comprehend right now was that he was leaving this Celestia-forsaken country and going off to live in Cloudsdale! He didn’t know what the country that they were going to be living in soon, but it was better than Scoltland.
“Alright, let’s getta move on now boyo...” Gold beamed with happiness as he trotted with the grey pony.
“Hey Pa?” The grey pony looked down at his now calm son. “What’s Cloudsdale like?” Gold’s father let out a soft chuckle.
“Well boyo, it’s nuthin like Scoltland. It’s full of pegasi that all work at a weather factory.” Gold looked forward, trying to get a mental image of the floating city. He got a wonderful image of rainbows at every turn and a shining city in the clouds. A large smile grew on his face and his peppy trot came back to him. He closed his eyes and rocked back and forth, excited about his new life. “But, I’ll warn ya right now, It’s full of bad eggs. I don’t wantcha goin’ out and about without me or your mother, is that understood boyo?” Gold nodded vigorously. “Good lad! But, the real thing is Black Gold, we’re not goin’ to live in Cloudsdale..” Gold looked up to his father, his face now bearing a look of sadness and confusion. “We’re going to Undercloud boyo. The grounded city underneath all of Cloudsdale. Not ta’ worry though! It’s not bad at all! Just a few wee weirdos here and there but nothing bad!” Gold looked to the ground and nodded lightly, trying to get that happy mood back into his system as they walked to the docks.
Gold’s whole family was on the boat ready to leave the poverty stricken country. Gold had to squeeze in between his aunts and uncles to get in, but found a clearing where he found his cousins playing. He untied the suitcase he had on his back and it fell onto the boat’s floor with a hefty thud. Gold smiled and trotted over to the others, going to play with them. But, as he got close, one of his cousins stopped him. “Hold up now shorty!” It was Seamus, his older cousin from Whinnyland.
“Ah, common Seamus! Don’t do this...” His ears drooped. Seamus always picked on him for being smaller than the rest of the kids in the family. He was five years old and as small as a two year old.
“And what are you gonna do about it shrimp?” He smirked and walked around Gold. “Nothin’! That’s what you’re going to do!” Gold curled into a ball as his other cousins laughed at him.
Gold’s father saw this and trotted over to Seamus, smacking him in the back of the head. “Shut yer mouth Seamus! Leave him alone!” Seamus rubbed the back of his head and told Gold he was sorry, but he didn’t mean it. Black Gold’s father got him up off the ground. “You alright boyo? He hurt you any?” Gold shook his head and looked down, still upset about being small. He was led by his father to the side of the boat and stood next to him. “It’s alright boyo, he’s not going ‘ta give you anymore problems..” That didn’t settle Gold’s mind at all.
Days passed as the boat continued on its path. Gold got ridiculed more by Seamus which made his happy mood turn sour almost instantly. He moped around the boat the next few days before finally they hit land. Gold sauntered over to his father and mother who were waiting for him. He should be happy, he should be thankful, but he wasn’t.
The next few days consisted of flying to Cloudsdale with the family. They didn’t decide on flying all the way from Scoltland because it was a ways away and there was nothing but ocean between the two countries, so they couldn’t stop and rest for a bit if they were tired.
About halfway to Cloudsdale, the family stopped for something over the wide desert of Appleloosa. It was Gold’s father who had pointed it out first and flew down to the sand to investigate. Gold followed his father and landed on the ground next to him. In front of them was a ball of fur that didn’t look like a pony’s coat. Gold reached out a hoof to touch it but his father smacked it away. “Don’t touch!” The ball started to wiggle and move as two eyes opened and looked up at the two.
Gold jumped back and hid behind his father. The rest of the family circled around them and Gold’s father looked behind him at the cowering Black Gold. “It’s just a child, boyo! A buffalo child at that!” He turned back to the ball of fur. “Ey, little one. You lost?”
The buffalo baby blinked and cocked its head to the side. It got a chuckle out of Gold’s father. “Gonna have to take this little one with us!” The buffalo looked utterly confused as Black Gold’s father picked up the baby buffalo with his wing and moved him to his back. His back legs trembled from the exertion. “Ohh, haggis! You’re a heavy little guy!”
The little buffalo just laid on his back, not making a noise. Gold looked at the buffalo and he looked back. Gold turned his head a bit and the buffalo followed his movements. It was a really cute sight.
“Common, let’s go to the town.” The family of pegasi took off towards the city of Cloudsdale with the buffalo in tow.
Months passed after the family got settled into their house in the city beneath Cloudsdale, Undercloud. Undercloud was a small city that was on the ground instead of one a cloud like Cloudsdale. The town was meant for ponies who didn’t have much money but were able to get a nice place and actually make a living in this world.
They sent Seamus and Black Gold to school so they could get some sort of an education. The family didn’t have money back in Scoltland for education, so they home schooled their kids to the best of their abilities. Once Gold started going to school, he never made any friends, everyone just made fun of him. The teacher was the only one who was nice to him, Mr. Scribbling Quill.
When it came around time for Black Gold to get out of his first year of schooling, he started going outside less and less. He stopped eating with the other children and resorted to eating inside when Mr. Quill graded papers. During recess, he just stayed inside and did some work that he had to get done or just stared blankly at the ceiling, letting his mind take him on adventures of his own. Mr. Quill knew what the problem was, but never talked to him about it when he got the chance too. He thought of Black Gold as a sensitive little colt who couldn’t really handle talking about his feelings.
That changed when he saw Seamus walk passed Gold’s desk and pushed him out of it, making him fall onto the ground with a hefty thud. Snickers and laughs came from the other students who were going outside to play. “I’ll never make any friends...” He quietly whispered to himself as he got comfortable in his chair again.
“Don’t get down on your luck now Black Gold! I’m sure you’ll make all sorts of friends!” Gold sighed and leaned back in his chair.
“The only real friend I have is my little brother...” He was referring to Stormhoof, the buffalo they found when they were on their way to Cloudsdale. In the months of him staying with the family, he got bigger and was making progress with speech. The family agreed that he shouldn’t go to school yet because of how young he looked. They didn’t know how old, but looking at him, he was Gold’s size but incapable of speech when they found him. So, they thought four years younger.
“Well, I bet your little brother thinks you’re the best big brother in the world.” Mr. Quills patted Gold on the head and went back behind his desk. He started to grade the papers from the day and looked up at Gold who just sat there at his desk. “Aren’t you going to go outside and play with the others?” Gold meekly shook his head. “It’s Seamus again, isn’t it?” A weak nod came from the yellow colt.
Mr. Quills sighed and trotted to the front door of the schoolhouse. He looked around at all the young fillies and colts playing in the playground when his eyes hit Seamus. He was making fun of a colt who had dropped their daisy sandwich on the ground and kicking dirt on it. “Seamus!” He called. The green colt turned towards his teacher and sighed, flipping the long orange mane out of his eyes.
As he approached the door, Mr. Quill started going off. “I have the right mind to get your parents here and have a talk with them about your behaviour, young colt. I swear to Celestia if you not shape up, I will have to kick you out of this school! You are disruptive in my class, you never do the work assigned, and you pick on all the kids.” Seamus glared at the teacher and spat down at his hooves.
“I don’t even want to be in this buckin’ place anyway!” Gold shrunk when he heard Seamus speak. “I’m goin’ home. Catch ya’ round’ teach...” With that, Seamus beat his wings and took flight, heading back home. Mr. Quill was steaming with anger at Seamus’s impudence, but managed to keep it in check.
“Of all the no good...” He calmed and regained his composure. “Well, that’s that then.” Mr. Quill trotted to his desk and started to grade papers again. That was the last time Gold ever saw Seamus again for the next three years.
Those three years consisted of nothing much but Black Gold going to school and Stormhoof starting school. It was a very slow time in their lives, but after those three years, an unexpected guest shows up to say hello.
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It was three years after Seamus left, and Stormhoof was out walking in the Undercloud slums. It was recess in school under Cloudsdale, and Storm liked to go out to stay away from the other ponies. All of the others picked on him for being so big, and for not looking like a normal pony.
Why do they make fun of me...?
I mean, big bro doesn’t.
Then why should they? I’m just like any other pony.
A green-coated pegasus with an orange mane landed in front of Storm. “Ooch, laddie! What are ya thinkin, jumpin’ in frontah me like that?”
Two yellow eyes bored into Storm. “Wha? You never seen ah earth pony before, me laddo?”
The pegasus took a few more steps toward Storm. “You aren’t an earth pony.”
Storm cocked his head to the side, and the pegasus he was talking to got close enough to size up. “Oh right? Tis a shame tah tell yew that ah ahm a pony. Bheen raised bah a family of ehm. Why wouldn’t ah be one?” Stormhoof was as large as the pony before him, perhaps a bit larger.
“It’s because you were picked up as a good for nothing baby. You were brought in for pity. Like what you are right now, you disgusting little meat bowl.” The pegasus took another step, his face being fully lighted by the sunlight filtering through the thick overcast that served as the bedrock of Cloudsdale.
“Seamus? Is that you? Ah don’t believe it!” Storm reached out a hoof to touch his long-lost cousin, but was batted away by the very same pony.
“Get away from me, you disgusting freak!” Seamus looked at the buffalo standing before him with a look of complete disdain. “I just came back to tell you that you will never be family. Never.”
“Naw wait just ah moment, laddo! Ah don think thaht is how yew talk tah yer family!” Seamus glared at Storm and took off, leaving him perplexed and slightly sad because one of his family members had left again. Hearing the five minute bell, Storm huffed and turned back to the schoolhouse.
The rest of the day consisted of lectures and homework that Stormhoof did rather fast. Mr. Quill would go over to check Stormhoof’s work, and as he would check, it would all be correct. There would be some comments from the other classmates that he cheated off the ponies around him, and once somepony told Mr. Quill that he had been threatening them to hand over their work. A simple scolding from the teacher cleared that situation up.
At the end of the day, Stormhoof got up from his desk and walked out of the classroom, not needing to take anything home due to doing it in class. He whistled a happy Scoltish folk tune when shouting could be heard from out in the distance.
The voices of Black Gold and Seamus were in the background. It sounded like Gold was winning the argument he was having with Seamus, who then flew off into the horizon. Gold shook his head as he flew down from the sky down to the sidewalk. “I swear ta Celestia! That boy is going ta’ get his flank handed to ‘im!” He sighed and shook his head as he turned to face Storm. “Little bro! How was school today boyo?” He smiled wide and moved to Storm’s side. His accent had faded a bit since Gold had been hanging around others lately. His little brother had a thicker Scoltish accent then even he does.
Stormhoof shook his head a little. “Well, brother, ah had a little talking to wit Seamus today. Ah dunno what seehms to be his problehm, but he was terribly mean.”
Gold sighed. “He’s an idiot boyo, don’t listen to ‘im...He just spews lies and slander...Care to tell me what he said to you?” He looked over at his brother.
Storm huffed and shook his coat clean of some dust. “Ah don rightly know, brother. Firs he goes and talks about how ah just am not ah pony, ahnd then goes ohn to talk aboot how ahm a freak.”
“Yer not a freak Storm! Yer a pony! Just like me! Don’t believe what anyone else says to ya and you’ll be just fine...”
Storm smiled wide at his brother. “Thank you, me bucko.“
“Ahh, don’t mention it! Common, let’s get home now big guy. I hear mum is makin’ haggis!”
They both set off full tilt towards the edge of Undercloud city, where their home was.
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A few years later, it was time for Gold to pass the Scoltish right of passage into stallionhood at sixteen.
“This is honestly the dumbest thing I’ve ever had to do mum..” Gold walked out of the living room of the large house. “I am not repeat, NOT, playing those bagpipes all night! I LOATHE playing those things!”
“Gold, quit fighting and play the pipes! It’s your coming of age!”
“I don’t care what it is mum! We’re not in Scoltland anymore!”
“But it’s your heritage.” A loud groan came from Gold’s mouth.
“FINE. I’ll play the damn pipes..” He grumbled and mumbled his thoughts as he walked to the large instrument. He pushed it towards the chair and sat down on his flank, pulling the large instrument into his lap. He shook his head and blew into the wooden tube that filled the bladder with air. He pushed it down with his fore-hoof and used his wings to move over the holes. It sounded quite good. The family came downstairs and cheered as he did it, but the same bored look on Gold’s face was showing.
~*Five Hours Later*~
The rage inside Gold was boiling when his cousins pushed the bagpipes to him. “Play more! You have to keep going!” Gold was standing still and turned slowly.
“No...” His mother walked over to him.
“Play!”
“NO! I’M SICK OF THIS SHIT! I CAME TO THIS COUNTRY TO GET AWAY FROM MY HERITAGE! I HATED EVERYTHING ABOUT SCOLTLAND AND YOU BROUGHT THAT SHIT HERE!” The family backed off. “I’M SICK OF YOUR MUSIC, YOUR FUCKING RIGHTS OF CELESTIA-DAMNED PASSAGE, AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN! I HATE THIS FAMILY, AND I NEVER WANT TO SEE ANY OF YOU AGAIN. FUCK. YOU. ALL.” He slammed the front door closed and a picture of Gold fell to the ground and shattered.
“Awww, now wait one damn minute, laddie!” Stormhoof, who was now substantially larger than anyone else in the family, rushed out of the house and yelled into the sky at the rapidly retreating form of his big brother.
Storm’s father came out and placed his hoof on Stormhoof’s shoulder. “Now, now, bucko. He made his own choice. Les go back inside, sonny.”
Storm came inside and cleaned up the remains of Gold’s picture, seeing that the rest of his family was completely ignoring the fact that there was shattered glass everywhere along with a photograph of his brother lying on the floor.
“What’sa mattah with you?! You jus’ letcha family walk out on you?!” Storm was infuriated that nobody cared. He shook his head and walked up the stairs to his room. “You all make me sick!” He shot glares at them all before closing his door.
* * * *
Gold flew hard and fast, just wanting to get away from his family. He never wanted to see them again. He came to this country to start over in life, not have it keep going. He kept up the speed he was going at for about a hour before his fatigue caught up to him. He flew to a cloud so that he could lay down on a cloud and rest his body. Taking a noticing of his surroundings, he was near a town that didn’t look anything like Cloudsdale or Undercloud. His ears were ringing from the air that flew past them in his haste to get out of the house, so he couldn’t hear much. Gold’s sense of hearing soon came back and what sounded like music started to blare in his ears. moving his head to the left revealed where the music was coming from.
A large group of ponies was outside, jumping up and down as the music played and lights flashed everywhere. Gold raised a brow as he inspected the sight while his eyes caught the attention of a mare on top of a stage. She had a white coat with a two toned blue mane.. She looked absolutely gorgeous! But, Gold’s hopes of getting this mare plummeted when he saw a black coated stallion with red streaks in his mane walk up and peck her on the cheek as a more slow song came on.
Black Gold shook out of his haze as he hopped off the cloud and floated down to the group of ponies. He folded his wings when he hit the ground and he pushed his way through the crowd. “What’s up Ponyville?!” Came a feminine voice. The crowd roared in response. “Right now we’re taking it slooooowww...” The lights changed to hot pink and the strobes slowed down till they weren’t even flashing. “Grab that special somepony and have a little dance. If you don’t have one, well, grab a drink and enjoy the music.”
Gold turned to the outside bar that ponies were crowding out. ‘Well, fuckle my buckle, I don’t have any bits!’ The thought annoyed him more and more when he thought about it. He didn’t have a job! He didn’t even have his bucking cutie mark yet and he was sixteen! That just isn’t natural! He didn’t want to have a cutie mark of some damn bagpipes that’s for sure.
“You don’t look like you’re from around here!” Black Gold turned at the voice and was face to face with the DJ who was just up on stage not five minutes ago. Gold stopped to take in the sight before him before a blue magic lifted the DJ’s glasses. “You alright there man? You don’t look so good...”
Black Gold shook his head. “Eh, whaa? OH! Sorry, I stared off into space...Yeah I’m new here..” The white mare grinned and moved towards the bar. Gold followed close behind and the bartender pulled out a shot glass. He poured some whiskey into it, sliding it over to where the DJ sat.
“Thought so. Name’s Scratch, Vinyl Scratch. Most call me P0N3 though because that’s what EVERYONE knows me by.” She shook her head and downed the drink, tapping the now empty glass with her hoof. The bartender trotted over and poured more but Vinyl snatched the whiskey bottle and took a swig. She set it on the table and wiped her mouth with the back of her hoof. “What do they call you, Goldy?”
“Ha, well, funny you call me that, my name’s Black Gold. Nice ta’ meetcha lassy.” She raised a brow.
“Scoltland pony?” Gold looked away and nodded.
“Regrettably...I had to get out of the ‘coming of age’ ceremony that my parents had set up. Five hours of playing bagpipes is not on my agenda for tonight...By the way, what time is it?” The DJ looked at the watch on her arm.
“Uhh, midnight, why? Need to get home to mommy and daddy?” She smirked and Gold glared at her.
“Fuck them.” He tapped the counter and a drink slid to his awaiting hoof. Vinyl was taken aback by his choice of words.
“Why the hostility towards the fam brah?” She took another swig and filled his glass up.
“Thanks...Well, I came here for a new start. But all we did was change location and homes. Everything else is still the damn same!” He shook his head. “I don’t know anymore. I hate them for doing this to me, but I love them for taking care of me over all these years.”
“Changed location? Where do you all live?”
“Undercloud...The ghetto of Cloudsdale...” He sighed. “Life sucks when you’re poor and have big families. I want out of that family though.” He downed another drink but a larger glass was pushed towards him. He looked over at the bartender and gave a nod as Vinyl filled the glass up for him.
“I hear ya man. Though, I don’t have to worry about that. I’m rich and I live with Shale, my boyfriend.” She saw the instant sadness hit his face and she patted his back. “It’s alright man! You’ll get somewhere...Hell, you can move in with us! We got more than enough space.”
His ears perked. “You sure you won’t mind, I mean, I barely know you!”
“Hey man, I’m not a snobby ass like most DJ’s I know. It’s the least I could do for you, and hell! Shale needed another guy around the house to do stuff with!” Gold raised a brow. “Not that stuff you idiot..” He smiled and took a drink of his whiskey. That was the start of his new life.
_________________________________________________________________________
Six months later, Stormhoof was walking around the Undercloud slums, thinking about how his family had treated not only his brother leaving the family, but also his cousin. They seemed to just brush their absences off as something completely day-to-day, but Storm didn’t think so. He thought that every family member was important to remember. Walking by a large wooden stand filled with vinyls, Storm decided on buying a few records to help him get his mind off of his current situation. Heading back home and going into his room, Storm popped the first vinyl into his phonograph, and threw himself onto his large, steel-reinforced bed, it’s well-used bars creaking under the sudden presence of weight.
A solid, electronic beat came out of the record, entrancing Storm with sounds he has never heard before in music. The intro continued on as a familiar voice brought in the song. “BLACK GOLD, BRINGING IN THE BEATS!”
What.
Leaping out of bed, Storm set the pin back a few seconds, hearing his brother calling in the music again and again.
What.
Letting the rest of the song play through, Storm sat on his haunches, with a confused expression on his face. At the end of the song, Storm’s father came bursting into his room, almost yelling at the top of his voice. “What are yew listenin tah, laddo? It sounds like somepohny jus went an let loose on the mic!”
“Pa, ah think ah jus foun Gold! Ah foun him, Pa!” Storm’s father’s face was stony and his movements were jerky as well as forced.
“Sormhoof, yew ferget aboot Gold, ya hear? Jus ferget about him, he aint parta this family no more. I don wanna hear that music anymore under this roof.” He stiffly turned and walked out of door, leaving Storm to sit there and steam with anger.
Reaching for the album cover, Storm found the words $GT. $MA$H in big bold print dominating the front, with smaller script underneath listing the names of the tracks in it. The large decal on the front was an image stamp of a vinyl, oddly enough. “Ol’ Gold musah foun his ass stamp...” Storm mused out loud, rubbing under his chin. Flipping the cover over, there was a business address. Looks like a certain DJ was receiving a letter.
