The Weaver

Chapters

Chapter I: Fresh Start
Chapter II: Betrayal
Chapter III: Arrows
Chapter IV: Long Time No See
Chapter V: The Facility
Chapter VI: Sharp’s Journal: Autumn Blaze

Chapter I: Fresh Start

Steamrails, Train Conductor.

It had been a very long ride from the Crystal Empire for the now-slumbering yellow unicorn mare. Her grass-green mane was all mussed up and it fuzzed out all over her face. Despite the infrequent twitch of scuffed hooves, the unicorn seemed relativley peaceful lying there across the old worn maroon seat. She was just peaceful enough that the teal earth pony conductor didn’t really want to wake her, but her stop was coming up.

The conductor- a smoke-maned dirty-green earth pony, fittingly named Steamrails- had conversed with the polite yellow unicorn earlier while she was eating her dinner in the dining car. She had been sitting alone, so Steamrails had decided to sit with her to keep her company- his wife often commented on him not being social enough. After talking amicably about the weather and train-food, Steamrails asked the unicorn about her time in the Crystal Empire and she had regaled him with tales of extreme cold, giant white bears, and a yeti. It had been quite a tale, especially the part about her meeting a yeti, and Steamrails would have passed it off as a "nice story" had it not been for the large yellowed fang that the yellow unicorn pulled from her saddlebags. It had a ribbon strung through a hole in the side and looked like it could be worn around the neck much like a medal won from a competition, but in this case the medal was a tooth and the competition had been a yeti.

Upon seeing the tooth for the first time, Steamrails had been concerned that the unicorn had fought the yeti to obtain such a prize, and so Steamrails had voiced his concern to her. The unicorn had laughed merrily in reply and promptly told him that she had beat the yeti in a game of checkers, winning the tooth as a prize. She had gone on to tell Steamrails that the yeti was a long-time pen-pal of hers, since her first year at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. She had graduated from the prestigious magic school just two weeks prior, just before the annual Summer Sun Celebration. Steamrails and the yellow unicorn had talked a little bit more about trains and the wonders of snowshoes before he had to excuse himself to go check on the other train cars and their passengers.

Now it was pretty late at night, and the train was all but empty. Most of the passengers had gotten off at the Canterlot station, and the few that remained had left on the stops between Canterlot and the next stop, Ponyville. Unless somepony had an invisibility cloak, The yellow unicorn was the last passenger on the train. Steamrails took a second to think and then decided that it would be for the best if he woke the friendly unicorn before the train arrived at her stop so that she wouldn’t have to rush to take care of her luggage. And then he could go home and see his wife and kids for a while before he had to go back to work. Steamrails sighed quietly to himself before stepping over to the slumbering unicorn's side. Steamrails was reaching over to gently shake the unicorn awake when suddenly the passenger car hit a hard bump which caused the sleeping unicorn to fall off of her seat and onto poor Steamrails, who almost fell over from the sudden addition of weight. After regaining his balance, Steamrails stood there with the unicorn across his back for a few seconds, feeling very awkward.

"You can put me down now, umm... Steamrails. Your name is Steamrails, right?" said the unicorn, causing Steamrails to first jump a little.

"I'm sorry, uhmm..." squeaked Steamrails.

"Lemonade. Don't worry, you didn't forget my name because I had forgotten to tell you earlier. Sorry." said Lemonade as Steamrails bent down so she could get off. "And it looks like we're just about to Ponyville, so thank you for wakkng me."

As if on cue, the train's whistle blew twice, signaling that the next stop was coming up in a few minutes.

"Hey, Steamrails." said Lemonade casually, using a green field of magic to pull her saddlebags off of the storage shelf above her seat. "If I give you my new address, will you write me?"

Steamrails was stunned into silence, as he had not expected this question. He was tired, so he took a moment to process the question. After checking the time quickly, Steamrails turned to Lemonade and gave her an answer.

"Uhh... sure?"

Lemonade gave him a friendly smile in return. "Is that a sure as in maybe or a sure as in you have no clue?"

Again, poor Steamrails was at a loss for words, probably as a result of the sheer absurdity of Lemonade's request, but she seemed to take it as apprehension.

"Hey, if you don't want to be my forty-ninth penpal, that's ok. Just never had a train conductor as a penpal before." Lemonade said a bit sadly.

"Forty-nine?" said Steamrails, taking a seat on a nearby bench. He thought forty-nine was a very large number of penpals for one pony to have. How would a single pony even write to that many other ponies?

"Yeah, well, right now I have only forty-eight, including the yeti, but my goal is to beat the current record of fifty-four." Lemonade said as she unzipped her saddlebags with her magic and stuck her head inside, presumably to look for something.

"Fifty four?" asked Steamrails, as fifty four was a significantly larger number than forty-eight or forty-nine.

Her voice muffled by having her head partially in a bag, Lemonade replied "Held by one Quilliam Inkwell, in Canterlot. I was his fifty-fourth and he was my first. That's what got me started on having pen-pals anyway."

While Steamrails sat and pondered this, Lemonade continued her search, eventually pulling her head out of her bag with a triumphant-sounding grunt. In her mouth was a slip of paper, which she quickly grabbed with her telekinesis and held out to Steamrails.

"Here's my card. Isn't it cool? I just made them before my trip up north!" Lemonade said proudly.

"Wow, uhm, thanks! I will try to write to you." Steamrails said, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "I think I'd enjoy that."

There was a slight jerk as the train came to a full stop, and the passenger car doors opened automatically.

"Thanks Steamrails!" said Lemonade as she stepped out the door.

Steamrails watched her get off the train with a smile on his face. When Lemonade turned around to wave at him, he noticed a piece of paper on her flank, right over Lemonade's cutie mark. It seemed to be held in place with tape, and it had writing on it that said... that said 'nothing to see here.' Huh. Steamrails dismissed the odd note in favor of more important thoughts, like a late dinner. He gave his new pen-pal a quick wave goodbye as the train car's doors closed and then he sat back down in one of the worn passenger car's seats with a sigh. Maybe when he got home, his wife would have some leftover pasta for him.

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Lemonade, Tired Unicorn.

The sheet of paper on my flank fluttered in the wind when I got off of the train. I turned around and gave a quick wave to my new friend Steamrails before heading towards the ticket booth at the front of the train station. There weren't many sources of illumination in the dark of the Ponyville Train Station other than the light coming out of the ticket booth window of the Ponyville train station so I lit my horn with a light-green glow. Despite the fact that the train station belonged to a small town, the brick flooring did not look worn at all in the glow from my horn. On a hunch I cast a magic detection spell and sure enough the bricks beneath my hooves glowed a faint gold for a second. I stopped walking and snorted once. I was standing about halfway to the ticket booth. I concentrated for a second before casting a semi-complicated version of the spell-me so that I could see all of the enchantments on the bricks. Light green words formed in front of my face naming each layer of enchantment. First there was a simple no-break spell that was probably placed by the bricklayer, followed by a water-wicker spell that would send rain beneath the bricks so they weren't slippery. The last enchantment confused me, as it was a "General Magical Aura Lv. 4." A level one GMA would be normal, but level four is alicorn-level, which meant...

I shook my head with a small smile as I dismissed the spell-me. I had forgotten that Princess Twilight Sparkle lived in Ponyville, most likely because it was very late and I was very tired. With this in mind, I continued over to the ticket booth to find out where 42 Main Street was so I could get some sleep.

Hopefully.

Author's Note

A new story, with new characters. Heyo heya don't be a naysaya!

Chapter II: Betrayal

Anne Lace, hyper little fluffball of an earth pony.

Daddy was not happy with Brackie. thought Anne Lace as she stared up the stairs. Even though Brackie is soooo cool, Daddy thinks she is irres... irresponsible! Yes! Brackie told Lace before that Daddy was wrong, and that Brackie was amazing, and Lace liked "amazing" better than "irresponsible," and so Brackie was amazing! Lace did a little happy dance on the spot. Immediately, a happy smile plastered itself to Lace's face. She bounded up the steps to go wake her favorite sister.

Upon reaching the door to her older sister Bracken's room, Lace stopped. Then she sat. And then she thought.

If Daddy wants me to wake Brackie early on a weekend, then Brackie must be in deep trouble! The little filly gasped audibly upon coming to this realization. Now stressed, Lace ran into the bathroom to think more. She jumped into her "thinking spot" (the bathtub) and continued thinking while holding her "thinking rock" (some really old soap).

What had Brackie done lately that might have made Daddy mad? Hmm... She was out later than that time last night with her friends, but last I checked, Daddy doesn't seem to care if she stays out late anymore… Maybe it had something to do with the big scary kittysaur that Brackie had shown me a couple days ago? she thought, her muzzle scrunching up as she concentrated. Brackie said that the kittysaur was a nice kittysaur and wouldn't hurt anypony unless it was th... th... threatended! Yes! What did threatended mean?

Lace thought for a moment before deciding that she did not know what "threatended" meant, and with no clue as to why Daddy was mad with Brackie, Lace gave up and climbed out of the tub. She put her thinking rock in her super-secret hiding place (under a towel) and bounded out of the bathroom to go wake up her sister, but for real this time.

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Bracken, not a morning pony, but still an earth pony.

"Wake up wake up WAKE UP!" screamed the annoyingly high-pitched voice of my younger sister.

I was awake instantly, as nopony can sleep through Lace's infernal screeching. Even though I was awake, that didn't mean I couldn't go back to sleep. I flipped my pillow out from under my head and over my ears, reducing the loudness of my sister to levels that wouldn't explode my eardrums.

My bed started to shake and I could feel Lace climbing onto my bed, and before I knew it my pillow was forcibly ripped from over my head.

"BRACKEN BRACKEN YOU NEED TO GET UP! YOU WERE IN THE PAPER AGAIN!" screeched the little abomination directly into my ear. So what if I was in the... Oh Celestia burn me in the sun and serve me fried.

I was awake and sitting up in my bed immediately. Lace, with her ultralight green coat and not-so-light green mane was sitting to my left, giving me an innocent smile.

"What. Did. You. Just. Say." I asked slowly, daringly. Lace opened her mouth to scream it at me again, but I stuffed my hoof i there quickly.

"When I take my hoof out, the next words out of your mouth will be quiet and polite, or you will be defenestrated. " I said before removing my hoof from Lace's mouth. It came out all slimy with fillyspit. Yuck.

"You were in the paper again! I don't know why! Also, Daddy wants to see you." said Lace, glancing at the window and then back at me. "He doesn't seem happy."

I groaned audibly before I rolled over and fell out of bed onto my hooves. I looked at Lace tiredly.

"How not happy?" I asked, hoping that what was in the paper had nothing to do with it.

"Very. He wanted me to get you up." replied Lace.

I shivered, maybe from fear, maybe from not being in my warm bed.

"Is Clover awake yet?" I asked Lace, trying to hide my nervousness.

"Yeppers. Red got up real early to go for a run."

Of course little miss goody four shoes got up early. She just has to stay in shape because if she gained one pound it would be the end of the world!

"Bracken?" called my dad from downstairs. "I need to talk to you."

I could tell that he was really, really mad. This was not going to go well. I called back, "I'll be down in a few minutes! I need to use the bathroom!"

There was only silence as a reply. I grunted and went to take care of buisiness. I walked into the bathroom and almost screamed when I saw myself in the mirror. My usually-straight black and grey mane was frizzed out on one side, and the brown fur on my face had a blacker tinge, probably from the ash from last night's bonfire. I could see the bags under my grey-violet eyes, and wished that I had been able to sleep in another two, three, eleven hours maybe. Yeah, that'd be nice.

There was nothing I could really do about my hair, but I did dunk my face in the sink after I let it fill with water, leaving the water a dark grey-brown.

I wiped my face on a towel and headed out of the bathroom to face the music.

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When I came into the living room, my dad was sitting in his favorite chair with a frown across his grey face and a newspaper in his hooves. When he heard me coming down, he looked up at me angrily.

"Mornin' Dad..." I said, hoping that he wasn't as mad as he looked.

"Young mare, can you explain to me why your antics are on the front page of Ponyville Daily?"

Hoo yeah, he was not going to take it easy on me.

"I, uh, it was... it was an accident?" I replied, meekly. I walked over in front of his chair and sat.

"It was an accident that you caught a manticore and then you had to chase it all over town while you tried to recontain it? It was an accident that before the manticore could destroy the schoolhouse Princess Twilight had to come and STOP IT?"

"It was an accident! I would never release something-" he cut me off with a wave of his hoof. My tail started to twitch nervously.

"Why did you even need a manticore?!? Why do you try go cause so much trouble, Bracken?" My dad looked at me pleadingly from over the newspaper.

"I don't try to cause trouble! It just works out that way sometimes, and those times are the only ones you ever notice, Dad!" I replied, my voice rising a little. I tried to look as sorry as possible, but it looked like he wasn't buying it.

"Are you sure your mark doesn't mean you should, I dunno, do something else other than unleash the horrors of the Everfree upon the rest of Equestria, Bracken?"

I deep-sighed as obviously as I could. My father and I had been arguing over the meaning of my burning fern cutie mark since I got it five years ago, and it was always the same thing. The next thing my dad would usually do is tell me that he thinks I should join the Royal Guard.

"Bracken, honey, have you thought about joining the Royal Guard?" asked my dad, right on cue.

"I have, and I don't want to. I want to study the Everfree, Dad!" I said, exasperated.

"But have you given it real, actual thought?" said my dad. "Have you ever explored the option at all?"

"I have done so multiple times, and each time the final verdict was 'No.' I just don't want to, Dad."

"I just want what's best for you."

"I know."

"And I love you, now and always."

"I love you too dad. Now and always."

My dad set his newspaper down and I caught a glimpse of the front page photo of Princess Twi using a shield to block a manticore from stinging Roseluck. I was in the background cowering on the ground. I remember the manticore running at me from behind Sugarcube Corner where I was keeping its enclosure while I studied it. It had bowled me over and stood over me, staring at me. Then it ran off to terrorize the town. I remained curled into a ball on the ground until Princess Twi had captured the manticore. Thinking back, I wondered how my dad didn't notice all the screaming and panicking that was going on outside town hall where he works.

"Bracken," said my dad, breaking me from my thoughts, "Just... just be careful. Please."

"I always am, Dad."

"Hug?"

"Hug."

We hugged for a few seconds until I tried to pull away, and found that I couldn't move out of his grip. There was a knock on the front door, and my dad called out.

"Come in! I got her."

I started to feel a little scared.

"Dad?" I asked. He gave me a sad look. "Dad! What's going on?!?"

I heard the front door open as I struggled, and I heard clopping and clanking as two white unicorns in Royal Guard armor stepped in. One of them stepped forward and cleared his throat before speaking.

"We can take her from here, sir."

I felt magic wrap around me as my dad released me. I floated in midair for a few seconds and struggled, but it was no use. I gave my dad a death glare, but all I got was a sad smile.

"Remember, Bracken. All I want is the best for you. I love you."

I began to formulate a reply, but a sharp pain in my neck stopped me. Everything started to go grey, and then, it all went black.

Author's Note

Being bad is relative, unless you know you are bad. Are YOU bad?

Chapter III: Arrows

Wingright, Teacher of Pegasus Archery, non-licensed psychiatrist.
The colt was doing very well today. Much better than a week ago, when he was sad. Wingright's student, Sharp, couldn't even hit the damn target, so the old archer instead sat him down and talked to him about why he was sad. Apparently the colt was lonely, or so he had said. Wingright believed it, as Sharp's sandy coat had been disheveled and the poor colt's wings looked like they hadn't been preened in a few days. Sharp's big brown eyes were bloodshot and it had looked like he hadn't slept in a while. So yes, Wingright believed Sharp. According to the colt, the old archer was the only pony that Sharp knew who believed him. His parents didn't, and neither did his uncles, aunts or cousins. Wingright had wondered for a moment if Sharp had just jumped on the family dining table in the middle of an extended family dinner and announced that he was lonley to everypony. Knowing Sharp, it may have been possible.

Sharp did seem more emotionally stable this week, which impacted his performance for the better. Nine of the ten arrows that Sharp had let fly so far were within the second smallest ring, but so far he had yet to get a bullseye. Noting a few errors in his student's stance, Wingright spoke up.

"Steady your left wing, Sharp. There. That's it." said the old pegasus, his voice creaking. "Breathe in steadily as you draw... and loose it once you are ready."

There was a short silence before the thwip of a bowstring propelling an arrow could be heard. Only by squinting did Wingright see that there was now an arrow just on the edge - but still within - the bullseye.

Glancing at Sharp, the old stallion could see that there was still something going on with the colt. He was already nocking another arrow with his wings, and did not seem to notice that he had shot so well.

"Sharp, are you alright? You seemed pretty out of it last week..."

"I am fine. Perfectly fine." replied Sharp, his voice devoid of emotion.

"You don't seem fine."

Sharp was silent for a moment before turning to the old pegasus. "Wingright, if you had no responsibilities and could go anywhere you liked, where would you go?"

The question caught Wingright off guard, and he stood still for a moment before replying. "I guess if I were ever to retire, I would want to move to Ponyville. It's such a nice town." The wind kicked up for a second before dying off, and both ponies were silent. "Why do you ask?"

Sharp's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "No reason. Just curious. Why not stay in Cloudsdale?"

The old pegasus sighed. "I guess... well, if I were to retire, I would have no reason to stay in Cloudsdale. There would be nothing here for me."

"Oh, okay." said Sharp before turning back to the target and drawing his bowstring.

Yes, something was definitely off with the colt, and it made Wingright worry.

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Sharp, hormonal pegasus who isn't really paying attention in his archery class.
"If you're so bored, why don't you go outside and play with your friends? Oh, that's right. You don't have any, do you, Sharp?" my mother said to me. My father, ever-helpful, chimed in "Oh, honey, leave the poor colt alone like everypony else is doing!" And then they both laughed. They both sat there and laughed at me like my lack of friends was the funniest thing in the world. It was hard to hold back the tears, but I did it. If I didn't, my parents would have won, and then they would laugh more. And then they would tell my aunts and uncles and cousins and they would laugh too-

"Sharp, I can tell that something is wrong." said Wingright. I could tell that he was concerned for me. I looked out to the target and saw two arrows within the bullseye. Did... did I do that? I nocked another arrow, drew quickly and loosed it, taking little time to aim. The arrow missed the target entirely.

"Sharp. You can be done for today. We have a few minutes before your parents get here. Come, sit and talk with me. Something's bothering you and the fact that you're bothered, well, it's bothering me. What's the problem?"

I looked at Wingright and sighed before setting the bow on a stand and taking a seat where I was. "My parents." I said before closing my eyes and taking a few deep breaths.

"What about them?"

I kept my eyes closed. "You asked what the problem is. The problem is my parents."

"What did your parents say or do that was problematic, Sharp?"

I sighed. "Remember how last week we were talking about how I was lonely? Well, ever since I told my parents, they've been picking on me about it. Making fun of me. And then... and then they laugh about it."

"...They're deliberately being mean to you? Have they... have they hit you? Or is it just verbal?"

I held my eyes shut tighter so tears can escape. "They don't like to touch me. They either ignore me, or they pick on me. I still get food and it's not like they hate me... I think."

"Sharp, your parents are just about here. If this continues, you need to tell me. It's not good.

We sat in silence for a few seconds before I opened my eyes and blinked a few times to clear my vision. Wingright was looking at me sadly. I made my decision, right then and there. "Wingright, there won't be any more problems with my parents. I'll fix it, and make it right."

"Okay, Sharp. See you next week then? Same time..." Wingright trailed off.

"Same place. Thanks." I replied. I stepped outside and found not my parents but two butlers waiting. Of course. We nod at each other and I take flight, heading for home one final time.

Author's Note

I can assure you that my parents were not as horrible as any parents displayed in this fic so far.

Don't worry, it gets ~~better~~ ~~worse~~ ~~I don't even know anymore.~~

Chapter IV: Long Time No See

Lemonade, bedheadded unicorn.

"You..."

The voice was everywhere around me. I could see nothing, feel nothing, sense nothing other than the voice.

"You."

It sounded old, old and lost. It was definitely the voice of something female, but there was no way to see exactly what it was. It seemed a bit angry, too. Like... like it was looking for something...

"You!"

The voice. It called, but I had no mouth to answer. I was nothing.

"YOU!"

I would have hidden myself, but there was nothing left to hide, nor any place to hide. I was certain if I was found, I would cease to exist.

"Y O U !"

And with that, I woke up, flailing about in bed for a few seconds before calming myself and looking at my unfamiliar surroundings. Where was I again? It took me a few moments to remember that this was my new home, a moderately-sized apartment at 42 Main Street, Ponyville.

Currently, my apartment was practically bare, with just standard household items like my bed, a nightstand, a sink, a stove and oven, and a bathroom. Off in a corner were my saddlebags, which I had decided not to unpack last night in favor of crawling into bed and sleeping until... Some time after sunrise. I used my magic to raise the windowshade and tried not to hiss as sunlight poured in through the window. Blinking away some leftover sleep from my eyes, I noted that it was just before eleven in the morning, based on the position of the sun.

I looked out the window at the street below me (I was on the second floor of the three-floor building) and I could see ponies going about their daily business, walking to and fro. It was the last day of the weekend, so it was no surprise for me to see a few fillies and colts running around playing what looked like tag. I opened the window to let in some fresh air and was rewarded when the scent of cinnamon-sugar wafted into my apartment. I turned from my window and headed for the bathroom, pulling a brush from my saddlebags as I passed them. Feeling a little perky, I began to hum a little tune that I had heard in the Crystal Empire. I think it was played by a band called the "Foof Fighters" or something like that. I brushed my mane until it was not as messy, and then exited the bathroom to go get some food for breakfast. Since it wouldn't have been a good idea to try and stuff my bags with food as well as the rest of the stuff I had brought, I would have to go out to eat today. I grabbed my saddlebags in my magic and put it over my flank, making the paper taped there crinkle a little bit. I walked to the front door and opened it, only to be blocked by a light brown pegasus with a blue wool hat that shadowed her eyes.

"Heyyy..." she said with a slightly grating yet recognizably feminine voice. "Was just about to knock, and here you are! Long time no see, Lemonade."

I gave her a hug. "Where have you been, Perspicacious?"

"I've been around." she replied, hugging me back. "After you left for magic school, I futzed around for a bit and then applied to Cloudsdale's weather academy, and..."

"...and what?"

"I made it in and graduated four years later..." Perspicacious trailed off, giving me her trademark there's more to this story smile.

"C'monnnn..." I whined. "Spit it out, Perci."

"I graduated top of my class. I think everypony there was surprised when it happened. Especially with my condition." She smirked.

"Ohh... I am so happy for you! First in your class? How big was the class?" I was practically squealing with delight.

"One-hundred something."

"Oh, that's just wonderful! Now, about your condition... has it gotten any better?"

"Nope. Still covering your mark?"

I showed her my right flank, lifting my saddlebags to show the sheet of paper with "Eyes up there" with an arrow pointing in the general direction of my head. "Yeppers. So far nopony's asked about it, but I've only been here for less than a day. What are you doing in Ponyville, Perspicacious?"

Perspicacious flicked her chin up, causing the tassels on her hat to swing. "Since I was the best in my class, I got to pick where I go, and what place would be better than Ponyville?"

I raised an eyebrow, and she chuckled.

"Okay, okay. I went to Baltimare first but everypony there was so damn rude. Get this: on my very first day, some pegasus dude rammed into me and sent me to the ground, and then I almost got run over by not one, not two, but three wagons. They didn't even try to not hit me."

"Yeah, I can believe that." I replied, smiling a little. "I was in the crystal empire for the last three days and all of the crystal ponies really have a "better-than-thou" attitude that got more noticeable every day I was there."

"Yeah, I heard you were in town and I just had to stop by to say hi. You all moved in yet?" asked Perspicacious, ruffling her wings a little.

"Not yet, but it won't take too long. I was going to grab a bite to eat before I started." I replied. "Do you know a place?"

"Have you met Pinkie yet?"

"Pinkie Pie? Element of laughter? Nope. I read the book, though. Twice."

Perspicacious smiled at me like she had a secret. "Best meet Pinkie on your own terms. Sugarcube Corner is just down the street that way." She pointed. "It has the best food in town, in my opinion."

"Sounds good to me." I replied, taking a second to lock my door before following my friend down the stairs and to the street. "When are you free next? I would love to hang out and catch up on what you've been doing, Persi."

"Yeah," she started, glancing back to look at me, "that'd be nice. I have a few stories to tell you. For a small town, a lot of crap happens here."

We were both standing on the street now, and I noticed that Persi was looking at me funny. Or I thought she was but couldn't see her eyes to be sure. So, I asked. "Is there something wrong?"

"No, I was just realizing how much different you are. You're... better. Almost as good as me!"

I gave her a look.

"I'm kidding! I'm a total waste o' space. Yep. That's me. Humble, too." We both laughed. "So to get to Sugarcube Corner, you're gonna want to just cross the street and go north a bit, and you can't miss it! You've seen pictures, of course."

Of course I had seen pictures! My thesis was on the magic of long-distance friendship, and I had to of course reference some of Princess Twilight Sparkle's adventures abroad. I probably wouldn't have moved my arse to Ponyville if it wasn't the home of the Elements of Harmony. I would have vocalized all of this if I didn't already know that it would bore Perspicacious to death and back a few times over. Instead, I gave her a side-hug and a hoof bump. We exchanged goodbyes, and I walked off towards Sugarcube Corner. A few ponies said hello as I passed them, and I kindly returned the favor.

It wasn't even a minute's walk away, and it looked even better in real life than it did in pictures. The pictures made it look nice, but when I looked up at the cupcake and candle roof, the candy-cane-toting-pony-weathervane, and the "frosted" windows, it had a certain lifelike quality, like the shop was not just a shop, it was a living being. I could smell the goods from outside, plus a strong odor of... cotton candy? I turned around and was snoot to snoot with the pinkest pink party pony to have ever pronked: Pinkie Pie. Pinkie stepped back, and then took the biggest, deepest breath I had ever witnessed a pony take. And then...

"You look new! That's because you are! I'm Pinkie Pie! Welcome to Ponyville! What’s your name? What's your favorite flavor? What's your favorite color? Why is there a paper covering your cutie mark? Can I see your cutie mark? If you have cutie mark problems I know three little fillies that have cutie marks in helping ponies understand their cutie marks! There's Scootaloo and Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle and a whole bunch more but not all of them live here like Gabby and Babs Seed! Are you free this afternoon? I’m gonna have some friends over and we’re gonna party like there’s no tomorrow even though there is a tomorrow! Tell me quick because I have to go raid a anti-freedom-of-thought facility and if I’m late then it won’t go well at all!”

It took me a few seconds to realize that Pinkie Pie was done talking for a moment, and it took a few more seconds for me to answer. “I’m Lemonade, there is no such thing as too much chocolate, green like my mane, I know exactly what my cutie mark means and I really don’t want to show anypony else, and I forgot the rest of your questions.” I smiled sheepishly.

“That’s ok!” said Pinkie Pie, pronking. I noted that she kept her legs stiff and instead relied on the springyness of her hooves. “I just wanted to know if you were free this afternoon so I can throw your very own “Welcome to Ponyville” party!”

“I’ll be free.” I replied, trying to figure out how Pinkie pronked. I just had to ask, because I couldn’t tell how it was done. “How do you do that?”

“Do what?” asked Pinkie Pie, pronking into a backflip.

“The pronking! I want to know!”

“Oh, I just straighten my legs and let my happiness into my hooves!” she smiled with glee, pronking in a circle around me. I straightened my legs and thought of all of my friends, and all the fun we had back when we were fillies. I pictured my happy memories flowing into my hooves, and I felt it. There was a springyness in my hooves, in my legs. I pushed a little and felt myself bounce. I kicked a little and I bounced higher. I looked at Pinkie and she looked at me as we both pronked in place. Her eyes were practically sparkling when she said “We are going to have so much fun together, Lemonade! But not right now ‘cuz I gotta go!” When her legs hit the ground, they seemed to compress like springs until Pinkie was belly to the ground. And then she went flying, her legs extending so suddenly I almost didn’t see it.

“Pronk ROckEt!!!”

She went sailing over Sugarcube Corner and out of sight. By then I had lost my bounce, and just stared for a few moments before heading into Sugarcube corner to get a late breakfast.

Author's Note

My original plan was to have Lemonade go to Sugarcube Corner and find out that Pinkie had just left, and then Lemon eats breakfast. Obviously this was not the case.

Chapter V: The Facility

1st Sgt. Fried Rice of the Royal Guard.
At the Reformation Center for Rebellious Fillies and Colts, they took no shit. But out of all of the ponies who worked there, First Sergeant Fried Rice took the least. He didn't get where he was by taking shit from ponies, no, he took no shit and even gave out his own shit sometimes. Not literally, of course, as that would nullify any crown funding for the RCRFC. And that would be bad, so no, Fried Rice did not literally give shit.

In his extensive history in the Equestrian Royal Guard, Fried Rice gained quite a few friends, and he owed a good chunk of those friends some huge favors for saving his ass. Come to think of it, a few of them owed him favors too.

One such favor was owed to one Private Maple Sap, who had contacted Fried Rice about rehabilitating his rebellious daughter. Fried Rice was told that she wouldn't come willingly, and she would have to be subdued. It wasn't hard to take her after she had been knocked out, but she was due to wake in a few minutes and Fried Rice wanted to be there to see how she would react. The usual reaction was a lot of pleading, crying and begging to not be brainwashed. The facility had a bit of a reputation for being effective, which was good in the eyes of parents but not so good from the perspective of their children. There were a few clever unicorns that got lucky and broke out of their cell, but they only ever managed to get as far as the outside fence. Nopony had ever escaped from the facility completely besides that one pegasus, but nopony talked about that particular incident for fear of the wrath of Fried Rice.

Fried Rice levitated his coffee cup in his magic and gave himself a once-over in the faculty lounge mirror. White crew-cut, grey coat, golden eyes. No bags under them. Muscular. Yes, Fried Rice really liked what he saw, but he would never say it aloud. After watching his mirrored self take a sip from his coffee mug, Fried Rice exited the faculty lounge, went through the double-access gate and quickly trotted through the maze of hallways to finally arrive at Initial Containment Room Delta, which currently housed one brown earth pony behind magically reinforced glass. There were two pegasi guards standing by the door, and both saluted Fried Rice as he approached.

"Sir!" they both said. One stepped forward and stated "Sir, Bracken is ready to be woken whenever you are ready. We’ve readied the new device for her as requested."

Fried Rice took another sip from his coffee. "Wake her."

In the small glass room, there was a single steel bed that was melded into the floor. On the bed was a mattress and on that mattress was Bracken. One of the pegasi guards pressed a button on a console and a loud whooping alarm began to sound within ICR Delta, jolting the pony within into wakefulness. She struggled fruitlessly against her safety bonds that kept her from getting out of the bed.

Fried Rice noted all of this and stepped up to a microphone which would cast his voice into the glass cell. "Hello, Bracken. You are probably wondering where you are. All will be-"

The earth pony interrupted Fried Rice, which made him snort in annoyance. "I know where I am, Rice. Of course, this was supposed to happen a bit later in the year but this will do fine."

Fried Rice narrowed his eyes a little. "Do tell where you are, Bracken."

"Initial Containment... Beta, Southeast Wing of RCRFC. You need to replace the ceiling tiles sometime, Rice. These were the same that Blackdust had."

Fried Rice smiled in amusement. Bracken had no idea what was going on. "Is that so? No matter, our security is much better now than it was two years ago. You are correct in that you are at RCRFC. When you are willing to cooperate, we will let you out and get started on your rehabilitation into a responsible young mare. It should only take a month or so-"

She interrupted him again. "Rice, I'm going to give you a few choices here. Let me out now, or stay out of my way while I do it myself. If you get in my way, well..."

Fried Rice rolled his eyes. "You do realize that you are-"

"Underground, yes. Three hundred feet, roughly. Same. As. Blackdust."

"What do you know about Blackdust, Bracken?"

"Release me or I will release myself. You have one minute."

"It seems we will not be releasing you anytime soon. And good luck escaping. If you were to cooperate, we would make your life better for you and your father." said Fried Rice.

Bracken was silent for a few seconds. "My father does not know what's best for me anymore. Forty seconds."

"You are strapped to a bed in a magically reinforced cell. You are going nowhere. If you don't cooperate, you will stay there in that bed being force-fed food via a tube in your throat until you decide that cooperation is best or you become legal age to not be a minor. We will not force you to work with us, but we will force you to stay in that bed until you're eighteen. Your choice." said Fried Rice, stomping his hoof for emphasis. "The minute you gave us is up, and yet you're still here."

"You're right." said Bracken, throwing her front legs up in the air in exasperation. "I miscalculated. Enn. Bee. Dee.”

Fried Rice was a little confused. "I don't keep up with the new quote-unquote lingo, so I would appreciate it if you would enlighten me as to what enn bee dee means."

"No big deal."

Fried Rice was silent.

"It means no big deal. Are you okay in the head, Rice? Need some time to think?"

"Don't." said Fried Rice, doing his best to swallow his annoyance, as it might give away his ace in the hole. “I'll give you double what you gave us in time to decide whether you want to cooperate or not. Two minutes." He turned to the guards. “Turn it on.”

For the first thirty seconds, Bracken was silent. Then, for no apparent reason, she said "There we go."

Fried Rice was immediately at the microphone again. "What do you mean?"

"I have another piece of lingo for ya, Rice. FTFY. Ever heard of that one?"

||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||

Bracken, doing what she does best.
I couldn't see what Rice's face looked like through the weird blindfoldy-tech thing that covered my face, but he was probably feeling confused and really annoyed. No matter.

"Is that a swear or something?" asked Rice. His voice was most definitely confused, but I couldn’t tell whether the other emotion was misplaced sadistic glee or

Yeah, he was confused. No matter. I rolled off of the bed and on to the ground, landing on my hooves. It took a bit of finesse and a lot of luck, but I had managed to get my legs out from the kinky bands that were fused to the bed. Now that I was visibly free, they would gas me with the paralytic. Which was what I wanted.

"Guards! Gas her!" shouted Rice.

Immediately, a purple gas came into the room through a vent in the ceiling. I ignored it, and instead turned my body to face Rice. His face had turned an angry red. "Eff tee eff why. Ring a bell, Rice? Somepony has said that to you before. We both know who." Blackdust, that’s who. He would be arriving shortly, or so I hoped.

The gas had reached me, and I inhaled only a little, doing what I had practiced. My next breath was a little deeper and the one after that even deeper and deeper as I let my body adjust to the paralytic. Since the paralytic was a derivative of manticore venom, building up a resistance to that over a few months with the help of Kitty gave me virtual immunity to it. I would have liked another few months, but the plan was not for me to get admitted to the damn facility by my own father. I was supposed to be caught vandalizing some symbol or other on the Ponyville town hall and then get sentenced to the facility then. Oh well.

As more of the purple gas filled the chamber, I coughed and pretended to let it "get" me. I let my body go limp, and I fell to the ground, making sure my head hit one of my front legs instead of the hard floor. No head trauma for me. I laid there with my eyes closed for five minutes while they vented the excess paralytic gas from the room. There was very little conversation that I could hear from where I was, but the unmistakable squeak of the cell door was music to my ears. I heard heavy hooves enter the cell, but the door did not close.

"Sap said you'd be trouble. He was right, but you're not very smart, are you?" Rice kicked me lightly with his hoof before I heard him stepping around me and over to the bed. "How'd you get out of the bed though?"

I opened an eye and could see Fried Rice examining the bed closely. On his flank was his saddlebags with a keychain that had his access card, some keys, and a little figurine of Princess Celestia. Cute. I took my chance and bucked him in the shin, not hard enough to break bone but just hard enough to knock him over and knock the saddlebags with the keychain off to the floor. With some quick hoof-movements of my back legs, the saddlebags were on my flank and I hightailed my arse out the door, closing it behind me with a kick. The two guards were staring at me, dumbfounded. Knowing that they wouldn't do anything to me for at least ten seconds, I yelled out, hoping that Rice would hear me.

"FTFY! FIXED THAT FOR YA, RICE!" Not my best retort, but I really didn’t have time to think of a better one.

And then I bolted, running away from the guards as fast as my legs would carry me. I took a left at the first hallway, and then another left. There it was: the records room. I slipped in using Rice's access card, and was rewarded with a ID-badge printer. I messed with the settings a bit and got a nice picture of my face, and then left the room with my very own unlimited-access id card. I went on my way away from where I had originally escaped, not running any more to not arouse suspicion. From above, a speaker crackled and loudmouth Rice's voice came through.

"All personnel to front gate, look for hostile earth pony. You hear me, Bracken? You aren't getting out until I let you out!”

Funny, he sounded way more smug about this than I would have thought... s’not like he was winning. Feeling a bit rushed, I took off down the hall at a gallop.

Author's Note

Bracken OP, plz nerf

Chapter VI: Sharp’s Journal: Autumn Blaze

From the Journal of Sharp, one year before the return of Nightmare Moon.

With no real friends to "hang out" with, and being privately tutored despite being the least favorite of my five older and six younger sisters, I had loads upon loads of free time. When I was younger, I would spend this time daydreaming and imagining up friends for myself. Imaginary ponies that I could trust and who cared for me. I was a smart colt, and I knew that my imaginary friends weren't real, but I just felt that it was better to talk to somepony instead of talking to nopony at all, even if that somepony wasn't really real. I had always felt that there was something, some feeling that I never had from my parents or siblings that I could get at least a little from my imaginary friends. That one nameless thing that I was missing.

I had learned to read soon after creating my first imaginary friend and my imaginary friends became much more realistic in my mind, until my family found out. I was talking to the most recent imaginary friend (an earth pony that I had named Lighty) when one of my older sisters, Sliced Bread, came into my room and asked who I was talking to. I was too innocent to understand that most of my family did not like me, and so I told her that I was talking to my imaginary friend. Her eyes went wide and she disappeared from view behind the door, and I resumed my one-sided conversation.

It was not even five minutes later when both my mother and my father came into my room and locked the door behind them. My father sat on the floor while my mother asked me if I had an imaginary friend. I told her that I did. She looked at me with concern, and then told me that imaginary friends were evil. I told her that it wasn't true. She went on to explain that one of her old neighbors used to have a young colt. The colt made an imaginary friend, and they did everything together. But the colt began to grow up, and didn't have as much time to spend with his imaginary friend. The imaginary friend didn't like that, so it killed him. As a young colt, I was absolutely terrified, and I began to cry. My parents left my room, leaving me alone with the newly formed monsters in my head. I kept the light on all night, hiding under the covers from my own thoughts. Eventually, I fell asleep and started dreaming. In the dream there was a glass wall, and behind it were all of my imaginary friends, pushing and shoving at each other, all of them trying to get to me. The glass began to crack, and I tried to run, but I was frozen in place. This was before Princess Luna returned from the moon, and so nightmares were unrestrained. The glass continued to crack, and crack, until it shattered and the mass of ponies dived at me hungrily. I closed my eyes, but they never reached me. I opened one eye and could make out a rusty-orange pegasus wearing reddish-bronze armor. I opened the other eye and could see that she was holding back the horde of deadly imaginary ponies with wings that seemed to stretch into eternity. With one mighty push from her massive wings, the pegasus sent the horde flying out of view. The pegasus turned to me, and I could see that she was beautiful. I wanted to say something, to thank her or really say anything at all, but I found myself still speechless and immobile. The rusty-orange mare gazed deep into my eyes and I recognized her. She was my very first imaginary friend out of the twenty-something that I had made. The one that I had spent the most time with. Autumn was her name. You are dreaming, Sharp. she said, her mouth not moving and eyes never wavering from my own. As I realized that she was speaking the truth, I began to wake. As the dream began to fade, I heard her words as almost a whisper: I will protect you.

I sat up in my bed, drenched in sweat. It was still very, very dark out, and there were no lights in my room, but I didn't feel as afraid as I had been before I had the nightmare. I wasn't really fully awake, so I just laid back down in bed and went back to sleep without any problems. To be honest, it was the first real good sleep that I'd had since I can't remember when.

All of the other imaginary friends I had made had really just been figments of my imagination, but there was something else that I had put into Autumn when I created her in my head that made her different. Something that made her more real than the others. I first noticed it a few nights after my parents found out that I had imaginary friends.

I was imagining up an adventure where Autumn and myself had to get from one side of a "cloud mountain" (a pile of cloud by the weather academy known as "Cloud Pile") to the other. It wasn't much of a challenge, and after we had gone over and back a few times, Autumn suggested that we go into it. What was weird wasn't the suggestion itself, but instead the fact that she had suggested it without me imagining her to do so. I immediately remembered the story my parents told me and became scared. I suggested that she go in first to make sure that it was safe, but she didn't seem to hear me. She stared at me, her eyes a bit wet-looking and her ears drooping.

Sharp, if you don't like me... there's nothing I can do to stop you from getting rid of me. Your parents told you that story to scare you. It's not true.

In my head I had directed her to go into the mound of cloud, but in my imagination, she wouldn't move. She just looked at me sadly. I looked away, at my hooves. I waited a few seconds and looked back up, expecting my imagination to show an angry demon, but instead my mind was blank. Autumn was not there.

Afterwards, I tried to fly back home, and I couldn't do it. I had to glide to the ground and walk to the mansion. Alone. Every few minutes I would look back, half expecting an evil-Autumn to be attacking, but my imagination refused to show me what I feared. I remembered how sad she had looked, and felt guilty, but not guilty enough to try to talk to Autumn.

It was shortly before dinner when I arrived at the mansion that my parents owned. I was an emotional mess, barely holding back tears that could have been from guilt, fear, or something else. I entered through the back, not wanting to let my parents know that I was sad, because no doubt they would try to make it worse, either on purpose or by accident. Luckily for me, one of the older maids who I was friends with, named Doily, saw me and brought me to my room. She left me there saying that she would bring me my dinner in my room and inform the rest of my family that I seemed "barfy," because that would keep them away from me for the night. I thanked her and watched her fly off down the hall. Doily was one of the few ponies that I knew who cared even a squitch about me. She had two daughters, both younger than me, and I loved to hear about them and their normal lives. I stayed in my room and read a book alone, eating a little of my dinner and otherwise avoiding thinking about Autumn. I eventually fell asleep, and found myself in an empty white space asI began to dream.

It was just white, with no floor or walls. There were no points of reference for me to gauge my position. In my dream, I blinked, and suddenly the white was black, and I could feel it all around me, squishing me. I felt like I was suffocating, and I could do nothing to stop it. Then came the fear; the wave of utter terror at the darkness. This was no ordinary nightmare, no it was a Night Terror. In some small corner of my mind not totally overtaken by terror, I remembered from a class on monsters and demons where the teacher had talked about Night Terrors. Night Terrors were shadow beings that fed on fear, and would find and latch on to a dreaming host. They would then take over the host's mind and cause endless nightmares, and feed off of the fear. Nopony ever survived very long, and I would probably die of an exploded heart within an hour. I struggled and tried to suppress the fear, but it kept coming. I tried to think happy thoughts, and my mind turned to memories of Autumn. How much fun I had when I first made her, and how she had protected me in my dreams. Suddenly, I felt a tugging sensation and the next thing I knew, I was face to face with my savior: Autumn.

She had her bronze armor on with the blades on her wing's edges and the helmet on her head. The blackness that had held me just moments before rose up in front of Autumn and she used her wings to slice through it. Almost immediately, the dark started to reform in the cuts, but Autumn kept cutting and slicing, using her momentum from one cut to make the next easier. Somehow, she was able to hold it at bay.

As Autumn tirelessly fought the Night Terror, I could not move. I could not help her. But could I do something else? Night terrors could only affect dreaming ponies, so if I woke up, I'd be safe. An easy way to wake up in a dream was to... to die. I suddenly heard Autumn yell.

Are you sure?

I didn't understand.

Are you sure that dying will wake you up? We're in each other's heads, Sharp. Now. Are. You. Sure?!?

I was sure. I needed to wake up. If I could have screamed, I would have when Autumn's wing blades came whistling towards my neck. Just before they would have hit me, I woke up. I had a horrible headache, and my bed was covered in a black, tar-like substance.

But I had survived.

We had survived.

Autumn was not just a figment of my imagination. We still don't know what exactly she is, or how she came to be. Maybe, once I find somepony that I really trust, I can tell them about her. Until then, I will keep her hidden.

Author's Note

Just some backstory this time. Whenever a character is not really doing much, I’ll give them a journal excerpt. You will never see three of these in a row, cuz that’d be boring.