The Colt in Sugarcube Corner

Octavia took a deep breath to try and stop her hooves from shaking.  They’ve been doing that a lot since she first met this colt.

“I found a hammer.”

“Really?”

“I never knew we had a hammer.  I stood right next to her turntables last night and just… looked.  I really thought I was going to use it, but I just stood there.  All night.”

“And how many nights have you done this?”

Octavia sighed.  “For about 4 nights now.  Vinyl doesn’t know, but she’s starting to wonder about my sudden nocturnal tendencies…”

The colt wrote a note in his book.  “So when are you going to do it?”

“I don’t know!  I want to, but then I don’t, and…I just…”  The words were like cement, and as they dried in her throat, she almost felt like she was choking on them.

The colt took a deep breath.  “Okay, let’s move on.  About this cello of yours.”

“What about it?” Tavi croaked.

“It must be important to you, to come to me for help.”

“Are you kidding?  I’ve never been without a cello.  It was my mom’s idea.  When I was about 4 years old, for Hearts Warming Day, she got me a small play cello.  We didn’t have much, and my dad was never around.  My mom said he was off protecting Equestria from Nightmare Moon; she never had the heart to tell me the truth: he left her.  And me.  ‘That’s what happens when you love, sometimes’ she would tell me.  We didn’t have enough money even for food, so I was ecstatic when I opened my present and saw the most beautiful thing I ever laid my eyes on.”

The scribbling of his pencil on paper was frantic as Octavia poured out her soul, trying as hard as it could to catch a portion of what she said.

“I got my cutie mark that night, you know.  The entire day, I just played and played, and my mom was just about to pull out her hair, but I played anyway.  I loved the way she smiled every time I played a song for her, even before I knew how to play the cello correctly.  She told me that the music that came from my heart was the sweetest notes a pony could play.  Even after she… left this world, I continued to play for everypony I knew, because if she was still here, it’s what she would have wanted for me.”

The colt’s eyes flickered with… was that compassion?  But when Octavia focused in, the spark was gone, and the emptiness greeted her again.

“That’s very nice.  I didn’t know.”

“Why do you care?  What’s so important about the details, anyway?”

“I find them interesting.”

“But what is it that you need to know?  What are you trying to get at?”

“I need to know what you are feeling.  That’s part of the deal.”

Tavi just could not win with this colt.  He knew her life’s story already, and she didn’t even know his name.  Even though she was uncomfortable around him to the point of hyperventilating, her heart fought her better judgment, told her that this pony can be trusted.  It was this feeling that scared her most.

“I’ll… I’ll do it.  Tonight.”

“Really?  You’re ready?”

“Yes.  I owe it to my mother to do everything I can, even if Vinyl has to suffer.  But I think she’ll understand.”

“Come again?” The colt’s eyes narrowed and the atmosphere created by Octavia’s reminiscing disappeared instantly and gave way to hostility.

“I’m telling Vinyl everything.  About you, and what you’re making me do.”

“No you won’t.”

“Oh, yes I will!”  Octavia rose to her hooves, towered over the colt as he calmly crossed his forelegs.

“No, you won’t.  In fact, you aren’t going to tell a soul about me.”

Just as quickly as she rose, the grey pony fell back into her chair in a slump.  He was right.  She couldn’t tell anypony about this.  What would she say, anyway?  It was all too fantastic, nopony would ever believe it.

“Can you at least make sure that Vinyl will forgive me?”

The colt looked down and peered into his book.  He shook his head.  “That wasn’t part of the deal.”

“Well, I thought it was implied.  I don’t want her to be mad at me.”

“You did not mention this when we made our deal.  There is no promise she will forgive you.  Besides, there are consequences for doing what you’re doing.”

“Destroying a turntable?”

“It’s more than just a turntable.”

“What?  I’m afraid I don’t follow.”

“You can’t just come to me and not affect somepony—everypony—around you.  You came to me to make the impossible happen.  To defy fate.  Don’t think the cosmos will forgive you so easily.”

“For destroying a turntable?”

“For destroying the universe.”

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The cheerful sound of bells rang through the store as Pipsqueak trotted into Sugarcube Corner.  He never came into such a wonderful place full of delicious sights and smells.  But he couldn’t be distracted now; he needed to focus on his mission!

He ran up to an older pony sitting in the corner booth, a pony he overheard Cheerilee talking to Zecora about.  He was a magician; he knew all kinds of magic.  But he didn’t look like any magician he ever saw before.  For one, he wasn’t wearing a hat.  His book of spells was also very sloppy and well-worn, sitting right next to him with a rip right through the middle of the cover.  Instead of on a stage, he sat almost lazily in a corner booth tucked out of view.

“Captain Pipsqueak here, sir!”

The colt broke away from his pie in search for where the voice came from.  Pipsqueak hated being so small.  “Excuse me, down here!”  Finally, the colt looked over the table and found the source of the voice.

The colt smiled at him.  “Hello there, little one.  Are you lost?”

“No sir, I’m here to ask the magician for help.”

The colt face was no longer smiling at him.  Did he say something wrong?

“Oh…no.  No no no.”

“But you help ponies, I heard Cheerilee say—“

“Forget what you heard.  Go home.”

“But I need help, we have a really hard test coming up and I need you to help me pass it.”

“Look, kid…”  His voice was so quiet, yet suddenly Pipsqueak felt like he was looking into the eyes of a pony who could do bad things to him just as easily as eat his pie.  “…do you have any idea what happens when ponies make a deal with me?”

“They… they get what they want.”  Pipsqueak fought back tears.  Captains didn’t cry.

“They change the world.”

“But all I want is to do good on my test.”

The dark colt came down to Pipsqueak’s eye level.  They were nearly face to face.  Pipsqueak didn’t want to do this anymore.  He wanted to run—run as far away as he could from this scary colt.  But every time he told his hooves to move, they wouldn’t; he was paralyzed by his inequine stare.  “That’s what you say.  But once you change one thing, where does the change stop?”

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Pinkie barely saw the small brown pony (his name was Pipsqueak, right?) dash out the door.  She was sure that he would buy something, why else would he come here?  She also noticed the colt in the corner.  He needed someone to talk to.  His tired head was set on his hoof, holding it in place just above the table.  He sighed deeply, as if he just did something he regretted.  She really should talk to him.  Maybe she could find out more about that book.

The pink cloud of a pony bounced her way to the colt, whose back was toward her.  He didn’t respond.

“Why the long face?”

No answer.

“Was Pipsqueak coming in here to talk to you?”

No answer.

“Hmm… I see, and what did he want?”

Silence.  He turned his head away, facing the wall opposite her.  Pinkie knew something was wrong.  “You don’t need to be so secretive, just open up; you never know who can be a good friend.  Okay?”

The bouncing pink cloud that walked over to the corner came back dark and gloomy, unsure how to befriend the strange pony in that booth.  She was running out of options.

“Opera.”

What was that?  Could it be…? Pinkie turned around to find that the colt had done the same.  His eyes were not looking at her, rather towards the ground.  She knew that he was just shy; he must not have very many friends.

“What did you say?”

“You asked what music I like.  Before.  I like opera.”

He answered!  There was hope yet!  And as her hope grew, so did her grin.  She walked back to the kitchen with an extra hop in her already springy step.  Too bad you couldn’t ask about the book, she thought to herself.  They didn’t like waiting, even for her.

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“I did it!”

“You did now?”

“I sure did!  Now you want to hear about it, right?”

“Please,” as he automatically readied his book and pencil.

“Well, I looked everywhere in Canterlot, and I mean everywhere!  I helped out all the ponies I could, but then I saw her; a poor little filly, no older than 3.  She was crying.  It looked like her parents forgot about her, because she was sitting there in the middle of the plaza crying.  I knew it had to be the pony I was supposed to help!”

“And?”

Applebloom cleared her voice, wanting the colt to clearly hear the next part of her story, “Well, I HELPED her!  I went over to her, was able to stop her crying, and we walked around the plaza for at least an hour, but we found her parents.  They were looking for her, too, and I helped them find each other!”

“Well,” the colt closed his book, “It looks like we are done here.”  He turned his attention to his daisy sandwich, leaving Applebloom sitting across the table with a worried look growing on her face.

“But what about my cutie mark?”

The colt looked up with his mouth wide open, inches from taking his first bite.  “What is that?”

I don’t have my cutie mark!  See?”  She stood up, and showed the colt briefly her rear.  She was right; it was as blank as the day she came in to meet him.

“I see… you are not done.”

“Yes I am, I helped somepony!”

“Then you did not help the right pony.”

“No, I did!  She was the pony, I know it!”

“If you had helped the pony, you would have your cutie mark.”

“YOU PROMISED!  GIVE ME MY CUTIE MARK NOW!”  Applebloom was usually more calm and level headed, but she was Applejacks sister, and this colt was asking for a bucking.

“I cannot give you a cutie mark, nopony has that power.  You know this already.”

“But you promised to give me my cutie mark if I—“

“I didn’t promise to give you anything.  I told you that if you helped this pony, you would get your cutie mark.”  He eyed her, and she felt every word hit her square in the chest as he said his next sentence: “Whether or not you get your cutie mark is up to you.”  His eyes stayed trained on her.  It had occurred to Applebloom that she was forgetting to breathe.

She sighed.  “But I’ve looked everywhere in Canterlot, and nopony needs help!”

The colt sighed, and placed his uneaten sandwich back on the table.  “Then you haven’t looked everywhere.”

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He stared at her mane.  Did it naturally grow in six colors, perfectly parted like that?  He was never one to be curious about mundane things, but he had never seen this phenomenon in a pony before.

Rainbow Dash had just gotten back from her shift in the weather department in Cloudsdale.  Today they discussed with safely handling a storm cloud, but more importantly, she talked to Scootaloo.

“I invited her over to my house.  To spend the night, I mean.”

“You’re serious about this?”

Dash still wasn’t comfortable with it.  “Yes.  It needs to be done.”

“Need… that’s a very interesting word.”  The colt looked up at some imaginary cloud floating above Rainbow’s shoulder.  She looked, but there was nothing there.  When she turned back around, her eyes met his, locking her gaze in his.  “You need to be a Wonderbolt, and you want not to hurt Scootaloo.”

“What are you saying?  I’m the Element of Loyalty; I am always loyal to my friends!”

“And loyalty is a fickle things at times… you don’t have to go through with this.  You know that right?  Everything you do is your choice, and your choice alone.”

“I need to be a Wonderbolt.”

‘I can see that.”  He sighed.  “Then, tonight?”

“Yes.  I can’t keep waiting, or I’ll back out.”

“And how are you going to do it?”

“My cloud home is pretty secluded and soundproof, so nopony will hear her or see her.  And I heard that very wet cloud pieces can asphyxiate a pony if it’s inhaled… it’ll be a quick and clean death.  No mess, and she’ll drift to sleep.”

The colt, as always, was writing his ever mysterious notes in his book.  “So, after this is all done… what do you plan to do?”

“Become a Wonderbolt!  That’s what!  I’ll finally have what I want.”

“Want… need… I’d caution you not to go through with this, Miss Dash.”

Dash was shocked.  What was he saying, and why now?  “No, I already made up my mind.  It’s the only way, you said so yourself!”

“You’d be surprised at how little I know.”

“No, you’re just trying to stop me!  Just like my father!  Just like anypony whose ever told me I couldn’t!  I’m going to be a Wonderbolt no matter what!”  She has hysteric.  Everypony in Sugarcube Corner stared at the red faced pony as she bolted to the front door and kicked the door open with a loud CRACK!  As she flew to her solitary cloud in the sky, the colt bowed his head.  It gently swayed from side to side.  “So naïve.”

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“Can I warn the visitors and workers that something is going to happen?”

“No.”

“Can I give the nurses the day off?”

“No.”

“Can I do anything about the other ponies?”

“No.”

Celestia was already fighting herself, forcing her hoof to participate in this abominable act, and the colt was not making things any easier.  She had hoped to clear out the hospice before she bomb went off, try to reduce the number of casualties to the bare minimum, those who were terminal already.  As for those who would perish, she hoped that their sacrifice would not be in vain.

“Just tell me… how is it that you plan to kill Discord.  If you can guarantee his death, then I’ll do it.”

“Princess, I won’t do anything.  I can’t do anything.  But if you do this, Discord will die.  No exceptions.”  The princess was still not convinced.  Her face betrayed her doubt when she bit her lower lip.  The colt continued; “Celestia, if you are so adamant about bring about Discord’s death, why not do it yourself?”

Celestia let her ever-flowing mane drop in front of her face.  She was ashamed.  But it had to be done.  For the good of Equestria.  “I have lived for a thousand years.  I inherited my royalty from those who came before us.  When I became a princess, along with Luna, we were shown the flow of the universe.  Fate, for a lack of better words; the fate of the land, and everypony in it.  They showed us the balance, the delicate nature.  They instructed us that every choice we make can affect the flow of the universe, and we have no way of knowing how much will change.

“They made us take an oath.  We would never directly take the life of anypony who was one of the Ancient Times.  They were too vital to the flow of the universe.  Discord, Nightmare Moon, even Chrysalis… my hooves are bound.  All I can do is delay their threat.”  This was why she needed him.  She could never take his life directly, but if he just happened to die, there would be no fault on her part.

The colt leaned in.  She had never seen him look so animated; he nodded his head at every word she said.  His eyes egged her to continue.

“But if you took his life, and all I did was… that,” she couldn’t bring herself to say the words ‘murder 26 ponies in cold blood’, “… then YOU would kill him, not me.  No laws would be broken.”

His optimistic eyes quickly emptied, and before she knew it he was the statue she knew he was.  She almost felt like he was disappointed in her choice.  Who was he to judge her, this monster?  She was working for the good of her people!

“If that’s your choice…”

“It is.”

“Then… when do you plan on doing this?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Then we have nothing more to discuss.”

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Applebloom quickly and quietly slipped into Sugarcube Corner and drifted to the colt in the corner.  He watched her move, a shadow in a bustling little café, nopony ever noticing her.  Something was wrong.  Was she being followed?  He gasped; did they find him?

She sat down across from the colt covering her face with her hoof.

“What’s wrong?”

“My family.  They’re looking for me.”

“What happened?”

Applebloom sighed.  “I didn’t mean for them to find out, but they read my diary.  They could somehow sense that something wasn’t right.  But they found out about you.  Granny Smith knows who you are, and forbid me from associating with you ever again.

“They’ve also stopped letting me take shipments to Canterlot.”

The colt was not writing anything in his book.  This surprised her; he seemed so out of character without a pencil scribbling on paper.  “And now you’re…?”

“I’m running away.  I don’t care what they say; I know you can get me my cutie mark.”

“Remember, I do nothing.  But shouldn’t you listen to your family?”

“I found her.”

The colt stopped.  “What?”

“I found the pony—the actual pony I’m supposed to help.  Her name is Sundance.  We met in the Canterlot market.  She told me I looked just like her granddaughter.”  Applebloom fought with her tears, she didn’t want to cry in front of the colt.  She needed to be strong.  “She asked me to stay with her while she dies.”

“While she dies?”  Even the colt was confused, she could tell.

“She is terminally ill.  While she seems healthy, she has a rare condition… but she is going to die tomorrow.  She wanted someone to stay with her, she has no family here, and the hospice workers are not the nicest ponies to be with—“

“Hospice?”

“Yes, she’s staying in the Canterlot Hospice.”  Applebloom stopped.  The colt was acting different.  His mouth hung slightly agape, a look of incredulousness in his eyes.  “What’s wrong?”

He shook his head, and with a few shakes he managed to rid himself of all previous signs of emotion.  “Nothing.”

“I need to help her.  But my family won’t let me go.  So… I’m running away.  Just for a day, so I can help Sundance and get my cutie mark.  I mean, I don’t have any other choices.”

The colt just stared at her silently.  “No… I guess you don’t.”

“Then… this is goodbye, Mr. Colt.  Thank you.”  She extended her hoof.  He did not move.  Even after all the times she seen him, he still resembled a lifeless statue.   After a moment, her hoof returned to her side, and she made to the door.

“Applebloom!”

She turned around.  It was the colt.

“Goodbye.”

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“Wow, we’ve had quite a busy day today!  I’m glad to see that you’re enjoying yourself, Mr. Colt!”

He was quiet as ever, but Pinkie Pie grew used to it.  She tried to say hi to him at least every day now.  Waiting for the right moment to ask.

“So… what’s that book you’re reading over there?” she asked, pointing her head to his side.

“It’s not for reading.”

“Oh, I see… then it’s an instruction book!”

The colt’s eyes darted toward her.  “What did you say?”

“It has to be an instruction book, if you don’t read it for fun!”

He didn’t respond.

“What did you say you did for a job, Mr. Colt?  You sit there every day, talking to lots of different ponies, I wonder why.”

He stared out the window.

“Ooh, so much mystery… you know Mr. Colt, one of these days I’m going to have to read that book of yours!”

As she laughed, the colt felt his eyes involuntarily looking back to the pink mare.  Something was different.  She was the same bubbly pony that came in every day, same giggle and smile.  But her eyes… he stared into them, but they weren’t as friendly as he remembered.  They felt so empty.