arrival
the cleaning mare hate her job, cleaning up after the fat cats. Sure, spend more money in one night then most working ponies will ever see in their lifetime, it is not like they care what their tithes and rents go too. Bucking aristocrats.she had too admit though, the fillydelphia museum of art is certainly more peaceful at night. Gah, more food on the floor. For so called pillars of the community they are certainly slobs. Wait, who is that in the corner. “Ugh, look buddy, sleep off the cider at home, hey wake up” something's wrong why is he not waking up? “HELP, SOMEPONY GET A DOCTOR”
I hate my job, wait that is not quite true. I love being a lunar guard, I hate paperwork. Some criminals just deserve being hit with brass hooves. Usually I don’t get into trouble here in hollow shades, thestrals for the most part keep a low profile. Especially small town thestrals, savage in a fight, but even tempered.
“Hey ranger, I hear the diamond dogs have been stirring up trouble in ponyville.” that is my partner silver smith, I always envied his red coat, mine is a muddy brown. He calls me by my last name, everyone does, I like it better than forest.
“Think they will try to raid the undertown again?”
he chuckles “that lot can barely take one mare without messing up” I don't agree with his conclusions. Much of hollow shades is under the ground, a place the diamond dogs will feel right at home. That and our ancient enmity from when we claimed these hills for ourselves. How did I get here? my cutie mark was not crossed sword or nothing, it is a book. Sure, it has a shield on the cover and I soak up military history, tactics, and strategy like a sponge. Sure, I graduated from the academy. But I only did okay in blade training, and I do not like to fight. Well...I do like to fight, what I don’t like is hurting anyone.
“Forest, what is floating in your head, boy” my father never really understood my thought process, he tries but… “you have vacation time” he is also my boss
“but dad, I don’t wanna”
“cut that out, anyone who knows what gargantuan means can speak like an adult. Besides it is mandatory, so get those leathery wings flapping. Who knows, maybe you will finally find a girl”
“DAD"
Could be worse, could be going to manehattan. “Okay, the train to fillydelphia is arriving soon, wish me luck” normally I don’t like large cities, but fillydelphia is a very old city with tons of museums and historical sites to visit. I should have a ball “oh dear, I will miss you sweetie” “mom, I will be fine. Fillydelphia is a relatively small city, so I won’t get lost. And I have plenty of bits.” *CHOO CHOO* “see you all later”. They wave at the train as I fade into the distance.
Let's see armor, helmet, hoove-blades, an apple to drink later, a moth for when I get peckish, what else.
“Tickets, pleaseees” he seemed a little shocked, not surprising seeing as I am a head taller than most ponies, have cat’s eyes, and I am holding a hoof-blade.
“Don’t worry, I have a permit for these. Besides you can always tell when a thestral is about to commit violence, the wider the pupil is the higher the heart rate and adrenaline output.” odd that did not seem to assure him. “Oh, you are here for the ticket. Here you go” he let out a squeak, punched the ticket and dashed out the door. Odd, so let's see what places are on my map. Hope they have a tour of pen’s stable.
In the hospital, baron ferro lies in a coma. The doctors have never encountered anything like it before, the only thing that they found was a fiber in his stomach that appears to be from a feather.
In the city park 2 figures in trench coats exchange words. “Your research goes poorly, the mistress is displeased.” the 1st pony is large, a stature that suggests a dock worker. A farm laborer, or a hired thug.
The 2nd is smaller, but it moves in such a way that is reminds ponies of a dancer. “Science is slow. The failures of the initial trials gives us vital data, the product will be finished by the deadline.”
the 1st figure leans in closer “it better be... For both our sakes”
The city of fillydelphia is ancient, one of the oldest in equestria. Billy pen came to equestria during the great freeze, he hoped to create a place where all sentient species could exist in harmony with each other. Dragons, griffins, zebras, and many others make their home here. They feud sometimes, but they still get along fine. That is until the best zebra apothecary in the city was found in a coma….
In the dark pit in a bad neighborhood a creature Writhes. It thinks of its purpose “a Failure again, what is wrong with the formula. I use the best ingredients. I use precise measurements. Could it be the magic? Matters not, the event is happening soon and this will tip the balance of power in our favor, but i need time. How can i keep the cops off my fl..” then it saw a newspaper sitting on the desk. The headline said in big, bold letters, prominent zebra and unicorn citizens targeted, has gang violence returned? Then it got an idea, a brilliant idea, an awful idea, an awful brilliant idea. Then a laugh rang out of that grim room.
Oh boy, Oh boy, I am finally here. I am in fillydelphia!!! The train station here is much nicer than back home, the marble and concrete make a startling contrast to the wood and stone. I grabbed my luggage and exited the station, the city is a brilliant sight of brick, glass and steel. I think that this will be the best vacation ever!
Author's Note
I could tell you what the fiber means, but it is more fun to see your explanation. tell me what you think it means in the comments.
“Excuse me, do you know where the guide pony is? Me and my friends are visiting from prance.” these mares seem nice, “sorry I don't know where the guide is, but I would be happy to show you around.” pens stable is bigger than I thought it would be. It seems that his descendants decided that a humble country home was not enough for the rulers of fillydelphia and the province of Sylvania. “the house was built in the year 1043 b.c.l (before celestia and luna) by the pen family. the land was granted to them by the unicorn royal family to absolve a loan owed to Billy’s dad. he was after that moment the single richest noble in equestria at the time. the unicorn king lived in the old country and the big migration had not really gotten started yet. Billy was one of the nobles who preached peaceful coexistence with the other tribes, not a popular opinion then. however, it had its appeal, that and the prospect of free fertile land drew a lot of ponies. in the next room, you can see his armor which he..." *slam*
a dragon ran down the hallway, he was sweating profusely. he has no idea what is going on, all he can think of is a smell and a face.
what hit me, DRAGON!!! it is probably an adolescent by its size, but still larger than most ponies. what is that pink hue in its eyes. *arg* it swung its claws at me, THE GIRLS!!! I look around the room, they seem to have left the room, good time deal with this jerk. I left my weapons in my room, so what can I... there a spear on the wall. probably a priceless relic, I use my tail to grab it. I use it as an extension of my tail, jabbing and slashing. it is only a matter of time before he just thinks to roast me, time to finish it. I extend my wing momentarily blinding him, I then thrust the spear between his legs and turn it tripping him. I then slammed his face with my hoof, again and again.
security had to drag off him after I knocked him out. it took 5 guards, 4 cops, and a taser spell.
dad will not like this, being arrested may ruin my record. not as if i killed him, i just put him in the hospital... he will regrow those teeth...and those scales...and his jaw was not that fractured. the door opens.
captain armor clad is not happy, he not only have the mayor looking over his shoulder on the daktari case, and now this country bumpkin fall right into it, "so mr... ranger, you are not here for the assault. the witnesses all agree that it was self-defense. what i don't get is why he attacked you. do you remember anything"
hmmm... "his eyes were an odd pigmentation pink, perhaps caused by an hormonal imbalanced. the clumsy way he fought lend credence to that theory." he looks a little surprised "ya surprisingly articulate aren't i. i am big, not dull. and it is guardpony ranger."
little does the little hero know that the dragon that he just put in the hospital was pike crag, the head of the largest dragon gang in the city. the other gangs are quickly struggling to fill in the void, and this underworld civil war is about to get worse.
the griffin triads are a secretive bunch, a secret society of extortionists and info brokers. a microcosm of griffinstone society, with conflicting khans competing for money, territory, and power. the anarchy reminds them of home. they pounced on the dragon's to take advantage.
the noble houses are the elite of the city, the patriarchs and matriarchs. there exist in this secretive cliche a counsel of 5 great dons, leaders of the many leaser nobles. they keep them from devolving into opportunistic predators, doing whatever they wish. the base of power for the nobles come from various places, industry, politics, trade, land, and finally crime.
the zebras are a minority in the city, consistently suspected, harassed, victims of violence. daktari was well respected in their community, his coma was the last straw. they formed several militias, so called striped watches. for self defense, or perhaps vengeance.
the city of sisterly love is a powder keg, and someone is dropping matches.
armor clad is looking through the archives to find forest rangers records. "hmm, graduated from north edge guard academy, majored in military history, minored in forensic magic, etc etc. bright stallion, it seems. i will have to talk to his commanding officer."
texas ranger was reading a note that arrived from fillydelphia, "i wonder what that son of mine has done this tim... WHAT!!!!"
after an hour or so yelling about how forest is a no good bum, texas finally agreed to have forest work on the case. after all, not as if he could stop forest from getting involved anyway.
Author's Note
daktari: doctor in swahili
