Introduction: Notes of Darkness
Notes of Darkness
The rain fell heavily from the dark grey sky, the sound a steady droaning that filled the air. The ground was soaked and puddles dotted the ground. There was not a pony in sight, the deluge having driven them all inside from the cold rain.
All but one, that is. Siting in the Manehatten cemetery, a single colt sat in front of a grave stone. His head hung low, his sandy brown hair soaked with the heavy rain as it hung over his saddened face. On his flank was a red guitar pick, with a black Treble cleft that slightly covered it.
"Why..." he spoke softly to nopony, looking up at the tombstone. "Why did you have to go...why did you leave me here...I'm so alone..."
He lifted his head to face the tombstone for a bit longer, his blue eyes sad. "Why did you leave me...I miss you so much...I...I just want you back...I miss you so much sister..."
Memories of his sister filled his mind: images of her smiling face, the sound of her voice as she spoke and laughed, her sweet, green eyes that reminded one of emeralds. the image of her returning home one night, bruised and crying; the dull, muted sounds of the police ponies when they told him his sister had died. As the thoughts circulated in his mind, his shoulders shook as he tried to hold back the tears. He sniffled, wiping his eyes and nose, before he sneezed, and shuddered from the cold rain.
He wiped his nose again before he rose to his hooves and headed out of the Cemetery, his dark brown body shining with the rain as he trudged off home sloshing his way through the wet grass, all of his worries coming with him.
The streets were deserted as the colt made his way through the streets, the rain by now had let up, though the streets were filled with puddles. The night time air was cold and humid, the colts breath making small clouds of fog. His hooves clicked softly on the ground as he took soft, half hearted steps as he made his way down the hard street.
As he walked down the street, his mind was filled with a bubbling cauldron of thoughts. Besides the sadness he felt from the death of his sister, other thoughts entered his mind.
For one, there was hatred. And this dark feeling was targeted at his father. A stallion who had barely been there for him and his sister at all after their mother had passed away. He had never been there for any of the colts performances; he was never there when his sister had been raped, and he wasn't even there when she died!
The other feeling was anger. He had no real friends during the years that he had lived here. He had ponies he had almost called friends, but they ended up stabbing him in the back to get what he really wanted. He learned that he couldn't really trust anypony in this city, no pony except his sister, before she died, anyway.
He also felt a sense of overwhelming confusion. Why was he here? The city wasn't a place for him. The city was to big, to crowded.To many ponies wanted to much and they wanted it to quick/
As all these thoughts of hatred, anger, and confusion bubbled in his mind, she shook his head, clearing it of the din of overwhelming thoughts. He had to get out of here. The city was to much. He needed to leave, find a new home; a new place for him in the world.
He pushed the door to his sisters apartment open as he hurried in to start packing his stuff. He ran into his room and started by piling the few clothes he had into a large duffle bag; a few battered sweaters, some vests, and a few nice, dress clothes. Once he was done with that, he looked around his room for anything else he could bring. His eyes fell upon his guitar and all of his related stuff: Amp, tuner, effects pedal, and such.
He wasn't sure if he wanted to bring them with him, but a small tug in his heart meant that nowhere would feel like home unless he took them with him. His music was the only thing that kept him sane in this dark and confusing times. He gave a small, sentimental smile, remembering the first time he played an actual song on it; the magic of that one moment, and the magic of the fact that he also received his cutie mark on that same day.
He looked around the room for other things to pack, but his eyes fell upon all of his "family" pictures. They were all of my sister and him, all at happy times in his life. His first performance, when he got his cutie mark, all of his birthdays, and so on. He gave a smile as the memories of his sister once again flooded into his mind. He missed her so much. He sat down, alloiwng for the first time that day to officially cry, the tears flowing readily as he cried.
Later that night, the colt found himself at the train station, a ticket hanging from his mouth as he waited for the train. All of the things he decided to bring with him: clothes, a few dozen books, and his guitar and related gear. He sighed as he sat on a bench; was he really gonna leave the city, running from his pain and problems to try and find a new life?
As hard as the decision was, he decided that it was the best thing he could do. He had decided to just go wherever the train took him, until he found a place that felt right. His ears perked up as he heard the train approach. Here it was, the ride to a whole new life.
An Unexpected Stop
The train had been chugging along for a day or so, heading out of the city and into the country side. I leaned against the window, feeling the cold glass on my cheek as I watched the trees and hills roll by.
I still felt said that I had left my home in the city. I mean, Manehatten was my home; it was where I had grown up. It was the only place i really knew. It was the place where my sister had died for pete's sake. But the more I thought whether or not it was a good idea, the more the old feelings of pain and misery arose again, and I shook my head, deffinatly sure that I had made the right choice.
But as I stared out the window, I was presented with an even more daunting question entered my head. Where was i gonna go? How far was I gonna have to travel before I found a place that I could call home. it kind of scared me, but i wasn't gonna let that stop me.
The rocking of the train was starting to make my eyes heavy, and even though i fought to stay awake, i soon drifted off to sleep.
There was a sharp hiss that filled my ears, and a lurching sent me tumbling to the floor of the car with a small yelp. After a second or to to compose myself, I rolled onto my hooves, shaking my head and peering out the window.
The train had come to a stop outside a small town, mainly comprised of small houses and shops. A few of the building stood out, cause of their brightly colored paint jobs. What surprised me the most was the fact that there was even a cloud house!
I saw the conductor walking by, and I opened my window to ask him why we had stopped.
"Train's broken," he said fatly in his gruff voice. "We have to keep the train here until we get it fixed"
"How long will that take?" I asked.
"About a week. We have to get the part from Bitsburgh and then replace the broken piece."
Ugh. Great, a week stuck here, in the middle of who-knows-where.
With a sigh, I took my things and climbed off the train. I looked around as i started heading into the town. it looked nice enough. Something I could kind of get used to. There were a few ponies around, just doing day to day things. Like cleaning their house, tending their garden, and just chatting. it was basic small town life really.
I have been told I can be a bit spacey sometimes. i usually disagree, but today I realized it was true when I ran onto somepony. I fell back with an "Oof" as my stuff tumbled to the ground. The pony I ran into gave a shocked "Eep" as a book landed in front of me.
i looked up to see who I had ran into. I saw a Mare, maybe a little older than me, with a violet body, a long mane with three lighter shades of purple, and soft, blue eyes. A quick glance up and I saw a horn poking through her mane, and I noticed a white star on her flank.
"Ooh! I'm so sorry. Are you ok??" she asked me in a hurried voice, concern filling her eyes as she got onto her hooves.
"I'm fine. And trust me, it's my fault. I tend to space out sometimes; I just didn't look where I was going."
I bent to pick my stuff up off the ground, and she levitated the book into a saddle bag she had with her.
"You must be new here," she said with quizical look. "I don't remember seeing anypony like you before."
"Yep; my name's Silver Note," I said with a smile. "I just got off the train. things broken, so I'm gonna be stuck here for a week."
"My name's Centari" she said with a smile
"Ahh, the closet star to us"
"You know astronomy??" she asked, eyes wide
"Nah, just a little bit that my mom taught me" I said with a cheesy grin.
"Ah. Well, it sucks that you're stuck here for a bit. If you'd be ok with it, I have an extra room in the library if you need a place to stay"
"Well, i guess it's better than nothi- wait a minute, you live in a Library?"
"Well, yeah," Centari said with a slight blush. "It's kind of been in my family for two or three generations now. But come on, i'll show you where it is."
She walked off, and I followed her. Soon we arrived at a large tree. There were doors, windows, ledges, everything that set it apart as a kind of habitable home. A large sign out front read "Ponyville Library."
"So, this town's called Ponyville?" I asked, walking past the sign.
"Yep. Nice little place isn't it. My grandmother moved here years ago when she was about my age. She lived here in this library, same with my mom. My family are huge bookworms."
The smell of ink and parchment lingered in the air as I walked in. It looked nice inside, and I was a bit surprised when I saw all the books. I set my things down and took a few minutes to look at the books. They were all magic books: spell books, potion books, and so on.
"What's with all these magic books," I asked Centari. "I usually thought unicorns could only do simple magic, like levitation and such."
"Well, not really," she said, levitating a few books back onto the shelf. "Some Unicorns have a talent for magic in general, and can do so much. My grandmother and Mom were like that. My grandma was Princess Celestia's faithful student, actually."
"Whoa" he said as he continued to look at all the books.
"Well, the room I told you about is through here" She said, gesturing through a set of doors.
I looked to where she was pointing with her hoof an nodded. I grabbed my things and headed for the door. i nudged it open, and gave a yell as something brown flew in front of my face. I scrambled back and fell onto my things.
"Oh, there you are Edalpo," said Centari with a giggle; I looked up and saw a brown owl perched on a shelf next to her. "Silver, this is Edalpo. He's my assistant here in the library."
"Nice to meet you" I said as I climbed back up onto my hooves.
"Who" was the only reply I got.
I walked into the room and looked around. It was a decent size. Not really to small, and not that big. With a small nod, I sighed. This would do nicely for a week.
