A snapshot of daily life in Town City
It was early morning in town city, and the lavander and chartuese sky was brilliantly gleaming over the horizon. A light chocolate rain fell down over the mud-thatched house. As the young ivory unicorn filly awoke, She tried to straighten the rough potatoe-sack blankets and looked around the rough room the color of the bedset. Her light pink mane caressed her shoulders as she spied another colorful blob in a nearby cot. She shook her head halfheartedly. " Lini! wake up. It's your turn to collect the milk." she said, shaking the lump furiously. A tiny navy blue unicorn, covered in periwinkle frizz, rose itself up and hugged the elder's thighs, The taller of the pair bent down and hugged the blue lump and carefully ran a brush over the periwinkle , making it sleek as possible without grooming supplies. " Hello Tia " The unicorn said, trying to blow the bangs out of her eyes. The little one trotted over to the door, which was a mish-mash of fences, wood planks and metal scraps. Outside, on the uneven front steps of multiple sized rocks, sat a bucket which was halfway full of the chocolate milk rain. She dragged it inside, and handed it to the eldest, Tia, to set on the table. grabbing two bowls from a chest made out of a vegetable crate, she poured the milk into the bowls and chopped up a radish which had been recently altered by law to taste like buttered toast. She slid a bowl over to the child and sat down herself, ladeling scoops into her mouth queitly. Lini looked down at the bowl and grimaced. She was not hungry today. Tia coaxed her onward. " Come on, Lini! You have to eat if you want to grow big and strong someday. It's not so bad." She stuck a mouthful of the glop inside her own mouth and tried to fake how yummy it was. "MMMMMMMM!" said Tia, trying to give Lini a spoon. " Tia" she said, " I don't want to go to the festival today. It's no fun." Tia walked over and patted her head. " I know Lini. It's not fun but we have to. Afterwards we get the yearly rations. DOn't you want more biscuits and carrots and tasty clover instead of chocolate milk and radish chunks?" She said, trying to wiggle Lini's cheeks into a smile. They stayed firmly planted in a frown. " Not if I have to listen to him again. Remember what he did to Willow?" The sister's recalled last year's festival of their dictator. Willow Bow, (an old friend of Tia's) and several others had been viciously publicly murdered by the guards of the king Discord. It was not a pleasant subject to bring up. Tia grimaced. " Lini, I swear I'll protect you. That's what sisters are for, right? Come here." She opened up her arms so that Lini could come over and give her a hug, which Lini did. Tia walked over to a clay basin and began to clean Lini and her off for the festival, knowing at least they would have dignity if they looked somewhat presentable. After a quick scrub, the pair trotted out the door into the town square, which wasn't truly much. It was a small, round patch of dirt in the sea of marshy weeds that surrounded the rest of the town. around the circle was the groups of houses, which were all in one generic design, a slightly drafty hut that remsembled a chicken coop, made out of the odds and ends of building material, such as stucko, metal panneling, and multiple sizes and colors of wood. All ponies assembled in a forward march to the very center, where the marble statue of their ruler that was mandatory for each town to have, stood. They circled around it and everyone watched it carefully, waiting for the time to come. SUddenly, with a burst of interference and a microphone squeak, a message was broadcasted live across the land from the hollow bowels of the statue. " Greetings! to My beloved subjects. As you know, this is the 24th bi-annual Discord Day! You are to behave yourselves and enjoy the celebrations and nourishment. Now, let's have no uprisings like last year! Nothing like an uprising to spoil the celebrations, Hmmmm? The decor and deliveries will arrive shortly. Now, let's remember, No flying, and No magic. Goodbye!" and a sharp click came, and all was silent. That was, until, The pink blimpish airship hummed above the scrawny town patch and began realsing shiny squares of colored foil, crepe paper streamers, ballons in polka-dot patterns, and silver bags on parachutes adressed to each resident of town. Shuffling through the pile of sacks, Tia and Lini found their bags of food and quickly carried them off to the house before their ruler had one of his frequent mood swings and confiscated their rations.
Tia began to pack away the contents of the sack: Unflavored Milk, Clover, Carrots, Bundles of hay, and heads of lettuce, along with a few apples. These Tia expecially enjoyed as the seeds could be planted in the empty milk bottles to produce a rarity when even all the treats had been consumed. Of course, she'd have to keep them hidden inside, as no self-planted foliage was allowed in the town. For dinner, Lini watched in joy as Tia pulled out a small vial of something they'd been waiting to use: dried red pepper, which Tia had bought with her bonus from the marble mines in a black market dealership. She grabbed the rather dented and burnt pot they had and placed it on the roasting spit over the fire. She uncorked a bottle of milk and Poured it into the now heating pot. She added clover leaves, chopped carrots, and finally, all off the sparce red pepper inside the vial. She stirred the pot manually, as magic was highly illegal anywhere in the land and even lifting a pebble with magic could result in a public exucution. She placed the lid over the pot and and gave Lini some paper and a few crayons and let her draw quietly while she locked up the house for the night. It was important to do so, because in such a small hamlet as town city good people where hard to come by, and even the closest of friends would end up ruthless backstabbers when faced between the lure of spices, or medicine, or fabric. Also, Needless to mention their close position to the forest, they sometimes faced timberwolfs, hacking at their doors and howling for food. After each window had been covered, each door had been locked, and every corner checked, Tia doused out the fire with the chocolate milk from the morning and laddeld the soup into two bowls carefully. She called Lini to the table, where she handed her one of the bowls. Lini broke out into a grin as the soup smelled delectable and much better than their previous pickings. Tia handed her a spoon and then sat down alongside Lini, and both of them heartily ate their dinner. Afterwards, Tia washed off the dishes and let Lini read out of the only book they pocessed. After all the dishes had been washed and put away, she strode into the corner where the bed sat and tucked Lini in. She then sat on the other side of the bed . " I'll be in later to tuck you in Lini, I need to finish putting away the things from the sack. Just try to go to sleep and be pacient." She toussled Lini's periwinkle locks and strode out of the room. She lifted the sack upside down and shook everything else into the chest. Suddenly, something heavy landed into the pile of vegetables, grain and fruit. It was square and wrapped in parcel paper. On the cover, quickly scrawled in red ink was DISPOSE OF EMIDENTLY. Tia curiously checked around for anybody looking, and ripped off the brown paper tightly wrapped around it. Inside was an old looking leatherbound book, with a strange looking brass unicorn with a sapphire eye on the cover. She examined it curiously, feeling its yellowing pages and tarnished brass. She opened to where in most books you would see the author's name. Maybe if it was worth something she could get a good trade for it in the black market. However, the signiture was smeared and illegible. Tia grew even more curious with the text, and quickly flipped to the first page. A brightly colored illustration of 6 ponies: 3 frozen and 3 huddling together happily, was emblazend on the first page.She read the paragraph below: " After the founders of equestria's hearts where melted by the powers of magic and friendship, the blast that did so accidentally produced 6 strange objects known as elements ment to enforce this friendship between the races. Each one of the 6 founders recieved one of these elements, and they ruled over equestria peacfully for a long rein." She flipped the next page. " However, One day these 6 journeyed into the forest to map out its Trails and landmarks. Suddenly, they stumbled upon an ancient ruin, and decided to go inside. However, this had been predicted long ago in an ancient prohphecy, and upon entering the temple, an ancient demon with the powers to bend reality to it's very will was realased by their presence! They managed to escape, but the demon already began to have a profound effect on the realm!" Tia grew frantic and flipped the page. She put a hoof to her mouth to surpress a scream as the next illustration showed a tall, dark figure that very much reasembled the statue in the town square, the agonized founders of equestria crippling under his talons and hoof as the civilization of equestria crumbled behind him. The text read:The demon fought and killed equestrias's founders,knowing that their elements could defeat him, and vowed to destroy the infernal city and rebuild it in his image." Tia, breaving heavily now, turned to the last page. " The leaders and their now deactivated elements where sealed away in a hidden tomb, and the demon continued to rome free.
However, It is said that one day, the element will be reactivated and equestria freed from the demon's claws." Tia feverishly flipped through the rest of the pages, but all they were where segments of random lines! In a rage, she threw it to the floor. Suddenly, she noticed that these pages, unlike the ones before them, where a light, delicate, translucent paper. Like rice paper, perhaps. The dark ink lines lined up together through these thin sheets, to form a map! Tia broke into a large smile. Yes, yes it all made since now! If it came from Discord, no doubt it was to be destroyed as it could destroy him! Tia Hugged the book closely, and upon looking around, she hid it in a burnt-out hole behind a lose board in the back of the single cuboard they pocessed.
She proceeded into the bedroom and tucked herself in beside Lini. As she blew out the bedside candle, Lini whispered to her: " Tia, Is it gonna be like this forever?" Tia thought this over for a long time, finally muttering quietly: Never forever, Lini. Never forever." and the two sisters slipped into a deep slumber.
