Author's Note
So, I'm back with a new story that has been rattling around in my head for a while. I don't know if I'll update Equestrian Descendants, even though I've partially written the third chapter. I don't think I will update Lost in the Big City, either, as no one seems to be reading it. I really need some critique, though, as I'm still trying to develop a writing style and I'm worried that this could be badly written. I hope to express my ideas better, and thoughtful reviews can really help me improve my writing.
An Unusual Cutie Mark
Light poured over the horizon. The crowing of the roosters signaled everypony that it was rising hour. One pegasus, Lyla Wish, groggily glanced over her at her alarm clock, which informed her that it was 7:30. “Just a few more minutes,” she groaned. Lyla pushed aside her bedsheets and realized that her husband had already woken up. She sighed. There was no use trying to sleep any longer, especially when she had to prepare for her son’s first birthday party.
Lyla brushed her teeth and hair, and then made the bed. Across the hall, she heard a baby crying. Smiling softly, she opened the door to the baby room. A young pegasus colt was wailing and throwing a tantrum, but immediately stopped once he saw his mother. Excited, he flew out of his crib towards Lyla and spun in circles. “Getting a little strong there, aren’t you, Hairy?” said Lyla. “At this rate I’m never going to be able to catch you.” Hairy wasn’t very fast yet, but his flying skills were improving every day. Lyla grabbed him by the tail, quietly chuckling. “Come on, you. Don’t want to miss your first birthday, now do you, Hairy?”
Hairy’s face lit up. “Pawrtiee, pawrtiee!” he exclaimed. His vocabulary wasn’t particularly large at the moment, but his parents had been talking about this day for about a month now.
Lyla trotted downstairs, where she heard a loud bang. Angry, she yelled, “Electric Circuit, is that you again?”
A slightly frazzled unicorn looked at her, and said, “Oh, hi honey. Yeah, I was just fixing up the kitchen sink. It kinda sprung a leak.”
“But it was working perfectly well last night!” said Lyla.
“Well yeah, but I thought that maybe the sink could use a bit of upgrading, but I forgot to put in a screw.”
“Haven’t I told you a million times not to tinker with the plumbing or the electricity unless there is an actual problem?”
“But I thought just kicking up the plumbing a notch might save a few bits on the water bill.”
Lyla sighed. “Great. Because of you now I have to borrow a raincloud for today. I’ll be right back. And don’t touch anymore pipes.” She opened one of the windows and fluttered out, leaving a gentle breeze in the house.
“Well kiddo, guess I’m watching you today,” Electric Circuit told Hairy. He looked back at the sink. The leak wasn’t that bad, he supposed. He could patch it up right now and properly fix it later. Grabbing the roll of tape on the counter, he wrapped it around one of the pipes. Turning around, he realized his son wasn’t in the kitchen anymore.
“Oh, so you want to play hide and seek now, do you Hairy?” said Electric Circuit. He first checked the living room, where there were a few pillows strewn all over the floor, but no Hairy. After looking through the basement, he checked the bedrooms, but the little colt was nowhere to be found. Just then, a giggle came from a broom closet. “I’ve got you!” exclaimed Electric Circuit. Hairy looked up at his father with twinkling blue eyes and smiled brightly.
“Daddy, do magic! Do magic!” said Hairy.
Electric Circuit smiled. “Magic? Alright then.” His horn emitted a soft white glow and one of the brooms in the closet slowly rose off the ground. It hovered and twirled in the air, much to Hairy’s delight. Electric Circuit’s face then grew very serious. “Now Hairy,” he said. “If we’re going to play with brooms, we’re going to have to do some cleaning around here.” Hairy stuck out his tongue in disgust.
“You need to be more respectful, young stallion. Besides, sweeping up the house is fun too!” The broom brushed along the floor, pushing dust into the center of the room. Then Electric Circuit started a weird chant in time to the broom. “Sweep, Sweep, Sweep. Sweep, Sweep, Sweep,” he recited, like it was a poem that he heard long ago. Hairy still did not find this to be very interesting at all. Electric Circuit said, “But Hairy, don’t you remember The Wizard’s Apprentice? That was your favorite bedtime story, especially the part when the apprentice enchants all of these brooms to sweep the floor.”
“Go uppie.” Hairy said, in a demanding but funny tone.
His father chuckled. “Alright, if you insist.” Using the broom, he swept Hairy off his hooves and onto the broomstick. He flew the broomstick around the living room and the kitchen. However, Hairy wanted to go faster, so Electric Circuit took him out into the backyard. Even though Hairy could fly on his own, he preferred riding on his father’s magic broomsticks because they could go much faster than he could at the moment. Electric Circuit was really enjoying this as well, so he let the broom do a few loops and twirls of its own. However, they were quickly interrupted by a stern voice.
“MR. CIRCUIT! JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?” it screamed.
Startled, Electric Circuit dropped the broom, but fortunately Hairy wasn’t hurt. “Oh, hello Mr. Black,” he said. “How’s it going?”
Mr. Black, the pony who had yelled a few seconds ago, didn’t even pay attention to the greeting. He was a brown earth pony with several scars all over his body. His eyes, the color of ground-up coffee, had black circles under them, which were almost as dark as his flowing hair, which was slightly messy. His cutie mark was the head of an aggressive dog. “Don’t you realize that what you’re doing is very dangerous?” he said. “Hairy’s only twelve months old.”
“Come on, we were only having some fun,” replied Electric Circuit.
Mr. Black sighed. “Look, I see that you two were spending some quality time together, but I’m just concerned that you aren’t being particularly…how should I say it, cautious around Hairy Trotter here.”
Electric Circuit rolled his eyes. “You should talk, Serious Black. You own quite a few vicious monsters yourself.”
“My hounds are trained hunting dogs. Sharptooth and Nighthowler wouldn’t hurt anypony.”
“Whatever,” said Electric Circuit. He turned to his son. “Hairy, can you say hi to Serious Black?”
When he saw Mr. Black, Hairy looked visibly disgusted at the visitor. He blew a raspberry and walked away.
Electric Circuit shot a stern glance at his son. “Hairy Jeremy Trotter, I know he’s not a fun guy to be around, but that’s no reason to be rude.” Hairy crossed his forelegs and pouted. “Hairy, Serious Black came for your birthday party and whether you like it or not, he’s staying here for a while. Besides, he’s your godfather, so you should show him some respect.”
Because Lyla was out, Electric Circuit decided to make breakfast for everypony. He wasn’t a particularly good cook, and he tended to burn food. This time, however, he managed to make somewhat decent toast and waffles.
A few hours later, Lyla Wish came home with some party supplies, including a birthday cake and a few presents. She almost didn’t notice Serious Black, but once she did she greeted him warmly. Lyla had also brought the raincloud that could provide water while the sink was still leaking. Electric Circuit and Serious wrapped the presents that she had bought while Lyla prepared a delicious lunch, with hay and cheese sandwiches. Hairy was currently taking a nap, but she made a mental note to wake him up as soon as lunch was ready.
Everypony enjoyed the lunch, even though Hairy was a bit impatient to open his presents. Serious noticed that the room had been getting unusually chilly, but Lyla and her husband didn’t think it was that important. They were about to be proven wrong when a giant gust of wind blew through the windows.
The house suddenly became freezing cold. Even though it was the middle of the day, all of the daylight was just gone, leaving almost no light left in the house. Mist streamed in from the front door and a cloaked figure emerged. All four ponies, including Hairy, were trembling in terror. The figure removed its hood to reveal an old gray mare, covered in warts and wrinkles. She had a gnarly horn and a disfigured face which revealed glowing red eyes. Her breath smelled like rotting flesh. She made a shriek-like laugh which sounded like a witch or banshee.
“No,” breathed Serious. “It can’t be…”
“M-m-moldy Wart!” cried Lyla.
“I thought she was just some old legend!” whispered Electric Circuit.
Moldy Wart cackled. “Hmmm, now what do we have here?” She looked at all four trembling ponies, eager to take what was rightfully hers. “I see some bright young ponies here… sorry to interrupt your peaceful festivities- on second thought, actually, I’m not.”
“What is it that you want!?” cried Lyla.
“I simply want what I have never been able to have… eternal youth.”
“P-please!” exclaimed Electric Circuit. “I’ll give you anything! Just don’t hurt us!”
“Relax… this won’t hurt a bit-but you might need some crutches afterward.” Grinning evilly, Moldy’s horn glowed a deep red aura and a stream of magic weaved its way toward Lyla Wish and her husband. (Serious Black had fled into the basement.) The magic latched onto the couple and began pulling away their youth. Their hair went gray and wrinkles formed on their skin. After the spell was complete, Electric Circuit and Lyla fell to the floor, exhausted.
Moldy grinned. “Now for the colt,” she said. Hairy was currently in midair and wouldn’t stay still, so it proved difficult for Moldy to get him. Frustrated, she tried to knock him back with a laser, but he crashed into Lyla’s raincloud. Then something astonishing happened. As Hairy collided with the cloud, it struck him with lightning and his hair went all static. The shock was conducted through Moldy Wart’s laser, electrocuting her. With a shriek like a banshee, her fragile body was blasted to pieces, while a black shadowlike mist gushed out of the corpse’s fragments and blew right out the door. Hairy Trotter, still lit up with electricity, was lifted up into the air. His eyes were shining with a light so bright that one could not see his pupils. There was so much power in the house that thunder and lightning blasted through the windows, leaving shattered glass everywhere. After a moment, all of the electricity in Hairy’s body went to his flank. There was a bright flash, and a red lightning bolt faded into his flank.
Serious Black came storming upstairs. “WHAT IN TARTARUS JUST HAPPENED UP HERE!?!” he roared.
Lyla and Electric Circuit shakily stood up.
“What the hay!” exclaimed Electric.
“Sweet Celestia!” Lyla gasped. “A cutie mark! At only a year old, too!”
Serious stood aghast at the sight of Lyla and Electric, who now looked very elderly, despite only being in their twenties. “I don’t know what to say… I’m sorry… I just didn’t know what to do and I-“
“That’s not our biggest problem here,” said Lyla. “Yes, I’m horrified at that old hag for taking away most of our lifespans, but Hairy here just blasted her to pieces! Not to mention that he got his cutie mark just now, when he’s only one year old!”
Electric Circuit said,”I agree. I fear he’s far too dangerous for us to take care of him now. Not with this much power and our current state. We’re too frail now to raise him.”
“No, no, this cannot be happening. This cannot be happening!” yelled Serious. “I can’t take Hairy! I wouldn’t know what to do!”
Lyla’s eyes grew misty. “Please, Serious. I need you to take him. We can’t let him, or anypony else for that matter, know what really happened. This will be the most important thing you’ll do.”
After much more persuasion, Serious Black reluctantly agreed to take Hairy. To the rest of Ponyville, Lyla Wish and Electric Circuit had died in a house fire. When rumors began buzzing around about how their son got his cutie mark so early in life, Serious had to make up a cover story. Meanwhile, Hairy Trotter became famous and was now known as the Colt with the Lightning Bolt.
