Author's Note

This is part one of the first chapter.
Note: There will not be any violence or anything sexual until the second chapter.

Chapter 1 [Part 1]: "The Conviction"

Blackness. That was the only thing covering the inside of the prison wagon being pulled by royal guard pegasus stallions, as it travelled in the dark, cloudy night sky. The moon finally showed when the large cloud covering it floated out of the way, allowing the moonlight to shine through the wagon window, to light up the inside. The inside revealed an earth pony stallion with a dark vermilion coat, with a light grey and pistachioish grey patterned mane, and his cutie mark was of a wooden abacus counting frame with five rods, each having a different coloured set of beads on it in an ordered row. Blue, red, yellow, green, and purple.

The stallion sobbed quietly with tears in his greyish magenta coloured eyes, knowing his fate. He had been convicted and found guilty of a horrendous crime that he knew he did not do, and the many ponies who once loved him now hated him. He also felt betrayed that certain ponies in the town he lived in had revealed their secret distrust, and dislike to him from the day he first moved to this town at his trial. And that the investigators sent by the same ponies had turned almost the whole town against him. He continued to cry, remembering what happened.

Three and a half months ago...

The inside of Ponyville's bakery, Sugarcube Corner was full of fun and joy. Little children ran about, laughing and playing, while the adult mares and stallions socialised, laughed, joked, and talked while enjoying food and drink at the party. Standing amongst the many ponies, next to a table of treats and a bowl of punch, the same dark vermilion earth pony stallion was enjoying the party. He then turned around, and smiled happily as he noticed a pink earth pony mare carrying a tray of freshly baked treats on top of her head coming towards him in a bouncing way.

"Hey, Pinkie Pie." He said.

Pinkie Pie made a big bounce, and landed in front of the stallion. "Hi, Abacus." She lowered the tray of freshly baked treats on top of her head to Abacus. "Care for a custard tart?"

Abacus nodded. "Oh yes, thank you, Pinkie."

Abacus took one of the custard tarts off of the tray, and took a bite of it. "Mmm. These are the best custard tarts you've made so far, Pinkie."

"Thanks." Pinkie Pie turned her head. "Oh! Hi, Tiger Lily."

Abacus turned his head in the same direction Pinkie Pie was looking, to see a beautiful, light brilliant tangelo coloured unicorn mare, with a light brilliant vermilion and green striped mane and tail coming over to them. The pony known as Tiger Lily was in fact Abacus's wife. She walked over to Abacus and Pinkie Pie.

"Hello, Pinkie," Tiger Lily said. "Is the special cake ready?"

Pinkie Pie nodded. "Yes, indeedy! Shall I bring it out now?"

Tiger Lily nodded. "Yes, please. I think it's time to reveal the surprise."

"Surprise?" Abacus said. "I wasn't told about any surprise."

Tiger Lily turned to Abacus. "Well, funny enough, the surprise is actually for you, Abi."

Abacus blinked with curiosity at what Tiger Lily had said. Tiger Lily turned around and took a few steps forward, before clearing her throat.

"Everypony! May I have your attention please?!" Everyone at the party turned to Tiger Lily as she called out for their attention and stayed quiet. "Thank you. I have a big announcement to make, and it's also a surprise for all of you." She looked at Abacus. "But more so for you, Abi." She turned back to everyone else. "And it pleases me to know that the efforts to keep this surprise a secret was not wasted."

Tiger Lily turned everyone's attention at the party to a direction. They turned to see Pinkie Pie bring out a big white cake with a white bassinet made of hard cake icing decorated on the top on a trolley. Abacus was confused looking at the cake, then his face shifted to surprise, and turned to Tiger Lily.

"Lily...are you..."

Tiger Lily placed a hoof on Abacus. "I got the results from Dr Stallion last week." She smiled. "We're going to have a baby."

Abacus's face lit up with joy, as a couple of tears of joy escaped his eye. "I'm going to be a father! This is the best surprise ever!"

Abacus laughed with joy at hearing the news. He and Tiger Lily then embraced each other, with everyone at the party cheering with delight as Abacus and Tiger Lily shared a kiss.

One month ago...

A train slowed down towards the station to the big city of Fillydelphia, letting loose smoke and steam as it pulled up at the platform. Moments later, the doors of the passenger cars opened, and ponies got out. Abacus and Tiger Lily got out of the train, and onto the platform of Fillydelphia train station.

"Well, we're finally here." Abacus said.

Tiger Lily nodded. "Mm-hmm. I can't wait to tell Lawful and your mother the great news."

Abacus smiled. "Me too. Mother and Lawful will be so happy."

Abacus and Tiger Lily walked down the platform, and out of the train station, where they were soon standing on a busy city street of Fillydelphia. They see a taxi pony coming in their direction, where Abacus raised his hoof and waved at the taxi pony.

"Taxi!" Abacus shouted.

The taxi pony noticed Abacus calling out to him, and made a beeline towards them. He pulled up to the side of the road, where Abacus and Tiger Lily climbed aboard the taxi wagon.

"Where to, sir, ma'am?" The taxi pony asked.

"787 Flanklin Street please." Abacus said.

The taxi pony nodded. "Yes sir."

Abacus and Tiger Lily sat down, as the taxi pony began to pull the wagon, and travel down the city streets to take them to their desired location. It was a usual twenty minute ride from the train station to his mother's apartment. They past the many buildings, and iconic structures, from the historical Fillydelphia Museum of Art, to the iconic statue of Mane Flanklin. They were both pleased to see that nothing had really changed, for they were both born and grew-up in this wondrous city.

Then fifteen minutes later, Abacus and Tiger Lily were going down the main city street, where they knew they would soon be at the apartment building where Abacus's mother lived. It was a special place to Abacus, since it was where he and his mother had lived since he was born, until he and Tiger Lily moved to Ponyville. The street where his mother's apartment was, Flanklin Street, was a very nice, and friendly neighbourhood. A peaceful domain that connected to Fillydelphia's bustling main street.

Five minutes later, the taxi pony turned down Flanklin Street, and stopped at the apartment building with the number "787" on the front of the building above the entrance. Both Abacus and Tiger Lily got out of the wagon, where Tiger Lily levitated some bits into the front pocket of the taxi pony's jacket.

"Thank you." Tiger Lily said.

"Thank you too, ma'am, sir." The taxi pony smiled and tipped his hat to them. "Have a nice day."

The taxi pony trotted away down the street, leaving Abacus and Tiger Lily on the street. With the taxi pony gone, they turned their attention to the tall apartment building. Abacus looked at it with a warm, reminiscing smile.

Home. He thought, before turning to Tiger Lily. "Well, let's go."

Abacus and Tiger Lily walked up the steps to the door of the apartment building. They entered the door, towards where the stairs and the elevator were, and pushed the UP button to the elevator, where the doors to the elevator opened. When they both entered into the elevator, Abacus pushed the button for the thirteenth floor, and the elevator doors closed. After a few moments, the elevator stopped on the thirteenth floor, and the doors opened, allowing Abacus and Tiger Lily to exit the elevator.

They walked down the halls of the thirteenth floor, until they reached a door that had the number forty-two on it. Abacus and Tiger Lily smiled, knowing that they had arrived at his mother's apartment. Abacus raised his hoof, and knocked on the door. A moment later, the door opened to show a middle-aged, greyish brown earth pony mare, with a dark fuchsia mane tied in a bun with two yellow hair sticks, and wore glasses in front of her moderate chartreuse green coloured eyes.

"Abi." The mare said.

"Mother."

Abacus and his mother embraced each other and kissed each other's cheek. When they released each other from the embrace, Abacus's mother turned her attention to Tiger Lily, and embraced her with kisses too.

"Oh, Lily, it's so good to see you."

"You too, Arithma."

Abacus and Tiger Lily looked behind Arithma to see a dark grey unicorn mare, with a chocolate brown mane and tail, light brown eyes, and wearing black-framed glasses. The unicorn smiled, looking genuinely happy to see them both. Abacus and Tiger Lily smiled back.

"Lawful Eye." Abacus and Tiger Lily said.

"Lily. Abi."

Lawful Eye came over to the couple, where she embraced the two in a hug. Arithma welcomed Abacus and Tiger Lily to come inside.

"Come in, you two,” Arithma said. “You're right on time for lunch."

Abacus smiled. "Thanks, mother. We need a nice lunch after our trip."

"And we've got great news to tell you later." Tiger Lily said.

Abacus and Tiger Lily walked inside, and closed the door behind them to enjoy their time with Arithma, and Lawful Eye.

Forty-five minutes had passed since Abacus and Tiger Lily had arrived at Arithma's apartment. They had just finished a nice lunch of eggs, salad, and spinach pie, Abacus's mother specialty dish. Spinach pie was Abacus's favourite meal since he was a little boy, and both Lawful Eye and Tiger Lily enjoyed it whenever Arithma cooked it, especially whenever Abacus and Tiger Lily came to visit.

Abacus let out an accidental burp, and chuckled with embarrassment. "Oops! Excuse me."

Arithma, Tiger Lily, and Lawful Eye all chuckled at it, until they each too let out a burp accidentally. All four ponies began to laugh at it for a moment, before they each sighed, satisfied from their lunch.

"That was another good spinach pie, Arithma." Tiger Lily said.

Arithma smiled. "Thank you, Lily. It's Abi's favourite, and I never failed in making one yet."

"I can make it too.” Tiger Lily confirmed. “But I don't think I can make it better than you."

Lawful Eye adjusted her glasses. "You know, maybe I should try making it myself one day."

"Of course, Lawful," Arithma said. "I'll lend you the recipe to it."

Lawful Eye smiled. "Thank you, Arithma. I've always wanted to cook it ever since the first time I remember having it."

Abacus's eyes lit up. "Hey. I remember that. It was the first time you and Lily came over for a sleep over when we were little. We had spinach pie for dinner, and you were scared to try it, Lawful. You were like "Spinach Pie? Eww! Gross!". You remember?"

Lawful Eye chuckled. "Yes. I remember. And after my first bite of it, I wanted more. I could see why it's your favourite."

"Indeed. It was a good thing I made two dishes of it that Saturday night you girls first stayed over." Arithma chuckled. "I guess it became a family tradition."

Hearing Arithma mention about families, Abacus and Tiger Lily looked at each other, and nodded, before Abacus spoke first. "Speaking of which, Lily and I have got some good news to now tell you both, and it's a surprise."

Lawful Eye tilted her head. "A surprise?"

"What's that, Abi?" Arithma asked.

Abacus cleared his throat. "Well, we need to know something, mother."

Tiger Lily levitated a large envelop, took out an ultrasound picture, and handed it to Arithma and Lawful Eye while talking to Arithma. "Would you prefer "Nana" or "Nanny"?"

Arithma and Lawful Eye looked at the ultrasound picture with surprised, wide eyes. And they slowly looked up at Abacus and Tiger Lily, still bearing the surprised look on their faces.

"Lily? Abi? Are you..."

Abacus and Tiger Lily nodded. "I'm pregnant."

"You're going to be a grandmother." Abacus said.

Arithma and Lawful Eye's faces lit-up like the sun on the clearest summer day. Arithma's eyes were beginning to show tears of joy at the news she had been told.

"Oh, Abi, Lily! This is the best surprise I've ever had!" Arithma wiped her eyes.

Tiger Lily turned to Lawful Eye. "And Lawful? How would you like to be the godmother of our child?"

"We thought of no one better for that than you." Abacus said.

Lawful Eye sniffled and wiped away a few tears of joy with her hoof. "I'd be honoured to, Lily, Abi."

All four ponies got out of their seats, and they all embraced each other, with Arithma and Lawful Eye so happy with the wonderful news. Arithma was to be a grandmother to Abacus and Tiger Lily's coming child, and Lawful Eye to be the godmother.

A few hours had passed, and all four ponies were now enjoying a nice hot drink, with Lawful Eye and Arithma having coffee, Tiger Lily having tea, and Abacus with hot cocoa. They chatted about all sorts of things, like their days prior, to even the past times.

Lawful Eye took a sip of her cup of coffee. "So are you both staying for the weekend?"

Tiger Lily shook her head. "Not this time. We have to head back home to Ponyville tomorrow."

"We've got the local electrician, Light Socket coming on Monday to fix and replace one of our power sockets." Abacus said.

Lawful Eye adjusted her glasses. "I see. I have to go away myself for four months to work on a case in Manehattan."

Abacus blinked. "Four months?"

"Yes," Lawful Eye said. "I'm required to investigate a drug dealing operation linked to Manehattan and Fillydelphia. And I also have to represent the case as an attorney in court. I leave for Manehattan on Tuesday."

Tiger Lily blinked. "Wow! That's a lot of work, Lawful."

Lawful Eye chuckled. "I know. I guess that's what happens when you're a private detective and lawyer. The work is never done."

"Like parents like daughter," Arithma said. "If they were alive to see it, I'm sure both your parents would be very proud of you, Lawful."

Lawful Eye blushed. "Thank you, Arithma."

The Fillydelphia train station was full of activity the next day, with ponies starting to board the passenger cars of the train. Lawful Eye and Arithma stood on the platform with Abacus and Tiger Lily to say goodbye. They embraced Abacus and Tiger Lily each into a hug, and kissed their cheeks.

"It was nice of you to come visit, Abi, Lily." Arithma said.

"Thank you, mother." Abacus turned to Lawful Eye. "And Lawful, you should come to Ponyville and visit us with mother after you get back from Manehattan."

Tiger Lily nodded. "Abi's right. You have yet to visit us in Ponyville, and see our house."

"I know. You've told me so much about how wonderful it is, and the things you've done there, but I've been so busy with work, that I haven't had time to visit." Lawful Eye adjusted her glasses. "But this time, I'm going to visit you both in Ponyville. That's a promise."

The conductor yelled out. "ALL ABOARD!"

Tiger Lily turned to Abacus. "Abi. We should board now."

"Right." Abacus said.

Abacus and Tiger Lily boarded the closest passenger car that was in view of Lawful Eye and Arithma. There they stood in the car's entrance, where a moment later, the train whistle blew, and the train began to move. The four ponies began to wave and shout their goodbyes.

"Bye, mother! I love you!"

"See you soon, Lawful!"

"Bye, Abi, Lily!"

"See you both in four months! Goodbye!"

The train chugged out of the station with a cloud of smoke and steam, with Lawful Eye and Arithma, and Abacus and Tiger Lily waving until each other were out of sight.

The sound of knocking at the front door was heard around Abacus and Tiger Lily's house the next day.

"I'll get it." Abacus walked to the front door, and opened it, where a pale, light greyish brown earth stallion with a dark tangeloish grey mane and tail, and wearing workers overalls was standing at the door, carrying a toolbox in his mouth.

"Light Socket." Abacus said.

Light Socket spoke, his voice was muffled from the toolbox handle in his mouth. "Morning, Abacus."

Abacus welcomed Light Socket inside. "Come in."

Light Socket walked inside through the door. He followed Abacus into the living room, and into the kitchen, where Tiger Lily was standing.

"Good morning, Mr Socket." Tiger Lily said.

Light Socket placed his toolbox in his mouth down on the kitchen floor. "Morning, Tiger Lily. So where's the power socket that's giving you trouble?"

Tiger Lily pointed at the refrigerator. "It's behind the refrigerator. It started to smoke last week."

"We've been using the power socket we use for the toaster and kettle to power the refrigerator until it's replaced." Abacus said.

Light Socket looked at the extension cord connecting to the power socket where the toaster and kettle were placed. It went along the kitchen bench, and down behind the refrigerator.

"Well, it shouldn't be a problem.” Light Socket turned to Abacus. “You'll have to shut off the power before I start."

Abacus nodded. "Sure. I turned the power off just a moment ago before you arrived."

"Great." Light Socket pointed at the refrigerator. "Could you help me move the refrigerator out of the way?"

"Sure, Light Socket." Abacus said.

Both Light Socket and Abacus got on either side of the refrigerator, and began to shuffle it out of its space. When it got out most of the way, they both got a better grip of it, and began to move it better until at last the refrigerator was out.

"Phew! Thanks, Abacus." Light Socket bent down and opened his toolbox. "Well, I'll get started on this."

Two hours had past, and Abacus and Tiger Lily watched as Light Socket worked on the power socket at the back of the refrigerator in the kitchen. Light Socket wrapped electrical tape around the wires connected to the power socket, and pushed the power socket back into the wall, before screwing it in. He then plugged the refrigerator into the wall, before he got up from the floor, and wiped his forehead with a handkerchief.

"Well, that's it, Abacus, Tiger Lily," Light Socket said. "Could you turn the power back on?"

Abacus nodded. "Sure."

Abacus walked to the main power switch inside a lower cupboard on the other side of the kitchen. He then flicked the main switch to turn on the power, and the refrigerator began to quietly hum.

Light Socket smiled. "Well, the power socket has been replaced, and the wires have been fixed, so they shouldn't give you any more trouble. I'll send you the bill tomorrow."

"Thank you very much, Mr Socket." Tiger Lily said.

Light Socket smiled. "No trouble at all."

Abacus came over to the refrigerator with Light Socket. "Let me help you with the refrigerator."

Abacus and Light Socket got on both sides of the refrigerator and pushed it back into its space in the kitchen. Light Socket went to pack up his electrician tools and parts from the kitchen floor, and put them back into his toolbox.

"Would you like a drink before you go, Mr Socket?" Tiger Lily asked.

Light Socket closed his toolbox. "Oh yes, thanks. That would be nice."

Tiger Lily opened the refrigerator with her magic, levitated a jug full of pink lemonade out of it, and placed it on the kitchen bench. She then opened the cupboard, and levitated a glass out on to the bench, where she then poured the glass full with pink lemonade. Tiger Lily then offered the glass of pink lemonade to Light Socket.

"Thanks, Tiger Lily." Light Socket took the glass with his hoof, and drank the whole glass within a few moments. He let out a sigh, his thirst satisfied. "Ooh! I definitely needed that." He offered his glass back to Tiger Lily, where she took it with her magic. "Well, I think it's time I was on my way. I'm scheduled to go and do some light installations at Rich's Barnyard Bargains at one-thirty."

Tiger Lily nodded. "Of course. We don't want to make you late."

"Thank you, Light Socket for doing this." Abacus said.

"Anytime." Light Socket picked up his toolbox in his mouth, and spoke with his voice muffled. "Well, bye now."

Light Socket walked out of the kitchen, through the living room, and out the front door. Abacus and Tiger Lily followed Light Socket until the front door where they waved goodbye to him.

A few days had past. It was late at night, as Abacus and Tiger Lily enter the bedroom, and went towards the bed. After closing the bedroom door, they each got into their bed, and got comfortable. Tiger Lily sighed happily, getting Abacus's attention.

"Lily?" Abacus said. "You alright?"

Tiger Lily smiled. "Of course I am, Abi. Nothing to worry about."

Abacus sighed. "I'm sorry, Lily."

"I know," Tiger Lily said. "You're just concerned for my wellbeing, as well as the baby." She put a hoof on Abacus's hoof. "It shows how much you care. I know you'll be a really caring father to our child."

"And I'm really excited about it." Abacus sighed. "It's just...Well, the thing is Lily...I...I'm sort of scared too. You see, I never had a father, so being one is going to be a challenge and unknown thing for me. I even recently borrowed some books on fatherhood that I've been reading to help me get prepared, and-"

Tiger Lily placed a hoof on Abacus's mouth to silence him, and smiled and chuckled sweetly. "Oh, Abi. You're so silly. Fatherhood isn't something you read in books, it's something that comes from within, just like motherhood." She took her hoof off of Abacus's mouth and shared a kiss with him. "Abi. I'm glad you told me. I was a bit worried at first too, because of the fact I didn't grow up with real parents. But it passed when I realised that I have you with me, and you have me. We'll work through all this together."

Abacus smiled. "I guess you're right. I guess talking about it really does help."

Tiger Lily yawned. "It does. But we'll talk about it more in the morning. Let's get some sleep."

"Sure, honey." Abacus turned the bedside lamp off, and lay down in bed under the covers next to Tiger Lily. "Good night, Lily."

"Good night, Abi." Tiger Lily said cuddling up to Abacus. "See you in the morning."

Abacus and Tiger Lily went to sleep in their bed together. They were just going to sleep when there was a sudden noise that sounded like a window smashing that woke them both up.

"What was that?" Tiger Lily asked.

"I don't know." Abacus got up out of bed, and walked quietly over to the bedroom door. "But I'll go check."

Abacus slowly and cautiously opened the door, and peered through it. His eyes widened with shock when he saw and smelled smoke, as well as fire light glowing off the walls.

"Fire!" Abacus turned to Tiger Lily. "Our house is on fire!"

"Oh, no!" Tiger Lily jumped out of bed quickly. "Let's get out!"

Abacus pointed to the bedroom window and ran to it. "Quick, the window!"

Just before they reached the bedroom window to escape, a burning wooden beam fell through the ceiling from the roof, and obstructed the window, preventing Abacus and Tiger Lily's chance of escape.

"We'll have to escape through the front door," Tiger Lily said. "Keep low and move!"

Abacus and Tiger Lily went down low to the floor, and began to crawl. They exited the bedroom, and moved down the halls that lead to the living room. The fire had spread to the roof, and the whole house was full of smoke. They soon reached the living room and soon approached the small hallway that lead to the front door.

“Come on, honey!" Abacus coughed. "There’s the door!”

They reached the door, and Tiger Lily opened it widely with her magic. Suddenly, another burning wooden beam fell through the ceiling from the roof. It landed on top of Tiger Lily, pinning her down just before they were safely out.

Tiger Lily reached out to Abacus. “Abi! Help!”

“Hang on, Lily!" Abacus said.

Abacus got up and tried to lift the beam up off of Tiger Lily to free her, but the beam was too heavy, and was hot. He looked up at the smoking, burning roof, for there was a creaking noise coming from there. "Oh no!” He gasped for he realized that the roof was going to collapse at any moment.

Tiger Lily looked at the ceiling, and then at Abacus. She then knew that there was no way Abacus could get her out by himself, and that the roof was going to crash on top of them, killing both of them. She looked into Abacus's eyes, as he struggled to free her. Abacus looked back at her, and Tiger Lily smiled lovingly at him.

“I love you, Abi.” Tiger Lily said.

Before Abacus realised anything, Tiger Lily shoved Abacus out the door with her hooves with all her might, making him fall backwards on to the ground outside the house. Then there was a loud crack, and the whole burning ceiling collapsed on top of her. Abacus got up to just see the burning roof collapse completely into the inferno.

“NO!!!!!!!!!”

Abacus collapsed on the ground, with his cries and screams echoing around the quiet street. His house burning to the ground, everything he once had was all gone. But the most precious thing of all lost was his wife and unborn child taken by the flames right before his eyes. Unfortunately for Abacus, this horrific, tragic loss was merely a foreshadowing of the horrors that were soon to await him.