Sweeney Trot

A dark fog was heavy in the air as the waves rose and settled against the large boat, presently docked as a handful of ponies departed from the ship. Those who stepped off were noticeably ragged, several with filthy manes and coats of fur dense with layers of filth. What were presumably once brightly colored ponies were now mutely colored, as if to match the grim fog over the air around them.

One of the last to step out however, was a notable young stallion, Caramel, light amber coat and brown mane oddly devoid of the dark discoloration the others had. His blue eyes and radiant smile were out of place in amongst the others. His cheerful misdemeanor gave on the impression of an optimist, one who managed to smiled despite the less than uplifting atmosphere. He glanced around, taking in the familiar sights with a trained eye.

“I have sailed the world,

beheld its wonders!

From the Gardenelles,

to the mountains of Peru.

But there's no place like Lawndon!”

He paused for a moment to adjust the sack he had hoisted over his back. He gripped the drawstring in his teeth, pulling on it slightly to ride it higher upon his back. “I feel home again.” He smiled yet again, craning his neck up to gaze at the sky. “No there’s no place-”

“Like Lawndon.”

The yellow stallion found himself interrupted by another, a deep voice that spoke in the midst of his affectionate ramblings. He turned, seeing a familiar face from his voyage on the ship. Sweeney Trot, that large red stallion he had come to know in these past few weeks. He hadn’t spoken much, but Caramel had come to consider him a friend.

“Mr. Trot, sir.” Caramel greeted him curtly, smiling in his direction as he approached. His greeting was not returned.

“You are young. The world has been kind to you.” He spoke forebodingly, looking off at Lawndon itself. “You will learn.”

Caramel shrugged off the strange exchange, not one to let mere words get to him. “It’s here we go our separate ways.” Sweeney at last turned to face the other stallion. “Farewell Caramel. I won’t soon forget this bountiful boat or the young stallion who saved my life.”

“Oh, there’s no need to thank me for that, sir!” Caramel smiled as he recalled the incident in which he had seen Sweeney in the water, pitching and turning in an effort to avoid slipping beneath the powerful waves of the sea. “It would have a been a poor soul indeed who would have seen you tossing in the water and not given the alarm to the crew.”

“Many souls would have done just that, and not lost a wink of sleep over it.” Sweeney glared at a few passing ponies as he muttered under his breath.

“Alms, alms, alms for a miserable mare, on a miserable mornin’!” A harsh feminine voice filled the air as a mare approached, an old burlap sack open and held out in front of her. Rags covered her from head to flank, each one seemingly even more ancient than the last. Her voice quivered with each word she spoke, shifting from a high register to a rough utterance in a moment’s notice.

She stumbled over to the two half-hazardly, legs unsteady as she hoisted the bag towards the two stallions. Caramel’s goodwill urged him to drop two bits he had into the aged bag. “Thank ya’, thank ya’ sir!” Content with the collection of the bits, the beggar woman turned to Sweeney. “Alms, alms, for a pitiful woman, who’s got wandering wits?” In the midst of her maddened chanting, she ceased, staring at Sweeney from beneath her torn bonnet. “Hey, don’t I know you sir?” Her inane banter spilled forth once more.

“Off with you woman, must you glare at me?!” Sweeney raised his voice as he lunged his head towards the filthy mare, glaring at her with contempt. The mare danced back with a shout as she circled around the large stallion. “Off I say!”

“How would ya’ like to split me muff?” The beggar cried with a demented laughter as she stumbled about. “Mister, we'll go jig-jig! A little-”

“Off I said! To the devil with you!” One more shout from Sweeney and a swing of his hoof was enough to frighten the mare off in another direction, sending her begging somewhere else with her bizarre chanting.

“Pardon me sir, but there’s no mean to fear the likes of her.” Caramel interjected after the exchange, watching the fleeing beggar. “She’s only a half crazed beggar mare. Lawndon is full of them.”

“I beg your indulgence Caramel, my mind is far from easy.” Sweeney confessed as his gaze fell to the ground, eyes tracing up the road. “In the once familiar streets I feel a chill of ghostly shadows everywhere.” A brief silence ensued before he spoke again. “Forgive me.”

“There is nothing to forgive.” Caramel reassured the older stallion, smiling once more. Sweeney at last stood to leave, beginning to walk off in another direction.

“Mr. Trot!” Caramel called as the other began to walk away.

“What is it?” The red stallion looked back, stopping mid-step.

“You know that I’ve come to consider you a friend over this voyage.” Caramel started hesitantly, stepping closer to Sweeney. “And, if trouble lies ahead for you in Lawndon, if you need any help or money-”

“No!” Caramel’s offer was cut short as Sweeney shouted, turning away from him, glaring at nothing in particular.

“Oh, Mr. Trot!” Caramel was slightly exasperated as he attempted to lay a hoof on his companion’s shoulder, but he was briskly brushed off.

“There's a hole in the world like a great black pit,

And the vermin of the world inhabit it

And its morals aren't worth what a pig could spit

And it goes by the name of Lawndon.”

Caramel felt uneasy hearing such a filthy description of a place he had come to know as his home, but he did not interrupt at Sweeney continued his angry ranting.

“At the top of the hole sit the privileged few,

Making mock of the vermin in the lonely zoo,

turning beauty to filth and greed...

Yes, I too have sailed the world and seen its wonders,

for the cruelty of men is as wondrous as Peru

but there's no place like Lawndon!”

Sweeney’s expression softened in an instant as he halted his brisk pacing, mind going elsewhere. He stood like that in silence for a moment before opening his mouth once more.

“There was a barber and his wife,

And she was beautiful...

A foolish barber and his wife.

She was his reason and his life...

And she was beautiful, and she was virtuous.

And he was naive.”

Sweeney spoke softly as he referred to the two, as if recalling a fond childhood memory. Despite his radical shift in demeanor, it was not long before the stallion found himself filled with contempt for the world around him once more.

“There was another man who saw

That she was beautiful...

A biased vulture of the law

Who, with a gesture of his claw

Removed the barber from his plate!

And there was nothing but to wait!”

Sweeney’s head fell at his words, eyes looking the ground as his voice pinched slightly in the midst of his monologue.

“And she would fall!

So soft!

So young!

So lost and oh so beautiful!”

“And...the lady sir?” Caramel spoke after Sweeney ceased to speak after a brief period, fairly curious about the story. “Did she succomb to the man’s desires?” Sweeney’s eyes did not move from the pavement as he answered.

“Ah, that was many years ago...

I doubt if anyone would know.”

“Now leave me Caramel.” Sweeney at last made the effort to lift his saddle bag, hoisting it on to himself as he began to step away at last, moving away from the docks. “There is somewhere I must go, something I must figure out. Now, and alone.”

“But surely we will meet again before I am off to Plymouth?” Caramel called a last remark to the retreating red stallion, knowing he would be setting sail once more before too long.

“If you want, you may well find me around Fleet Street. I wouldn’t wander if I were you.” Sweeney didn’t stop or turn as he advised the younger stallion once more, intent on getting where he hoped to go. He had disappeared from Caramel’s view into the thick fog after only a few more moments.

"There's a hole in the world like a great black pit

and it's filled with ponies who are filled with shit!

And the vermin of the world inhabit it!”