The Victorian way of life

Chapters

The servants
Go into the city
The healer

The servants

On a dark and stormy night, a young mare was running through the woods as if she was running from something, which indeed she was. The mare looked to see a four-legged beast running behind her.

The mare didn’t stop running until she came to a small house in a clearing in the Whitetail Woods.

She knocked on the door, as she did so an older stallion opened the door, let her inside.

“What were you running from?” The stallion asked.

“Well, I was visiting Applejack, but this beast came out of nowhere when I was leaving Applejack’s home,” The mare recalled.

The stallion had a shocked expression on his face.

“Oh no, just what we had always feared, in these woods there lives a gruesome beast called the Beast of Nightmares. Legend says that at night it comes and it hurts little kids!” The old stallion said.

“While I was running I saw a young pony out alone so I picked him up and brought him here,” The mare said.

The house was very old the doors were made of Oakwood and once a pony came into the home they were greeted by a very elegantly dressed servant the house looked like it was built before the reign of the two sisters, but the house was not very big, considering that it was located in a clearing in the Whitetail Woods.

The mare opened her cloak to reveal a young pony nestled within it the colt had blue eyes and a jet black main.

“Why do you want to keep him, you have found him in the woods, but he is not one of us?” the old stallion asked.

“I found him in the woods,"

He was all alone, there was nobody else though, so may we keep him?” The mistress of the house asked her dad.

“You say he is not one of us therefore you have to return him to where you found him,” the stallion said.

“But, father I cannot just give him up I was the one who found him there were no other ponies around,” the mistress pleaded with her dad.

“NO, HE WILL GO!” the stallion bellowed.

The mistress ran, up to her room crying and holding the little colt.

In another part of the home one of the servants was making up the nursery for the colt, she was a nurse made who tended to the mistresses needs as well as the children if the mistress decided to go out into the woods and find some abandoned child long forgotten by its parents.

The nurse came upstairs to get the nursery ready, then she stopped in front of her mistresses door because she heard crying.

“Mistress are you in there, is everything all right?” the nurse asked, coming into her mistresses room.

The nurse saw that her mistress was lying on the bed.

The colt was lying next to her as June came closer she could see that the mistress was very very upset.

“What’s wrong?” the nurse asked.

“Why did papa have been so mad about the colt!” the mare sobbed, pointing at the colt.

“It is just who he is,” the nurse simply replied.

“What have you named the colt?” the nurse asked after a long awkward period of silence.

“Noah,” the mare said.

“I have prepared the nursery, and it is time for bed for the little one,” the nurse said, smiling softly at Noah.

The next day the nurse went upstairs to get Noah for breakfast.

“Time for breakfast, Noah,” The nurse said slowly as she came into Noah’s room.

Noah was crying softly under the covers, June came closer to Noah’s bed.

“What’s wrong Noah?” the nurse asked.

“Rast right, roice raid thawte, mommy should have left Noah to die,” Noah said from under the covers.

“What voice?” the nurse asked.

“The voice in my head,” Noah admitted.

“Ok,” the nurse slowly nodded

“You don’t believe me?” Noah asked.

“I am a bit skeptical,” the nurse finally said.

“Now, won’t you come down for breakfast?” she asked.

“Res, Noah come downstairs for breakfast,” Noah said.

The nurse carried Noah down the stairs and into the dining room and set him and his specially made seat so he would sit up right.

Noah couldn’t sit without assistance, so instead of having him sit in one of the family chairs so the stallion of the house and the carpenter made a very special seat for him.

Now Noah got his seat special made because without support he can’t sit upright, the family had tried many different chairs but none of them would work. So eventually the mistress had said to get him a specially made seat from the local Carpenter.

It was not very often that the mare ever heard Noah speak, Noah only ever spoke to his mom when he was addressed otherwise he would stay quiet.

“What would you like for breakfast, Noah?” the mistress asked him.

“Eggs,” Noah said quietly.

“Ok,” the mistress said as she had one of the housemates go into the kitchen and prepare the eggs.

“Did you sleep well?” the stallion asked his grandson.

Noah’s expression turn to from a happy one into a frown.

“Papa, please don’t,” the mistress hissed at her dad.

“LAST NIGHT WAS NOT OK!” Noah screeched.

“Papa I told you you shouldn’t have asked him that!” the mistress said with a disgusted look at her dad.

“I thought he might want to talk about what was bothering him this past night,” the stallion whose name was Nightlight said.

“Papa just stop it already!” The mistress of the house yelled at her dad.

Noah was crying and the nurse was trying to comfort him.

“You deserve it you little worthless child, your mother should have left you to die,” Nightlight bellowed.

Noah took one look at his grandpa and then said something that every parent or grandparent fears to hear.

“I hate you, grandpa!” Noah screamed hitting his head with his hooves.

“What did you just say to me?” Nightlight bellowed.

The mistress of the house went over to where her son was sitting and tried to comfort him.

“Twilight Sparkle what are you doing you should have left him to die but instead you are comforting this little beast,” Night bellowed.

“Papa he is my son and if you cannot accept that you are banished from this house and you are not to return,” Twilight screamed.

“You dare exile me from my own house, I don’t even think you know who I am!” Nightlight screamed.

Noah was very upset.

The nurse came over to where Twilight was sitting and sat down next to her.

“My lady he is in sane you shouldn’t have let him in the house all of those years ago,” The nurse exclaimed.

“Maybe you’re right June I shouldn’t have let him in the house all of those years ago but what do I do now,” Twilight said looking at her son.

Author's Note

Please give me feedback on this story and tell me.

Go into the city

In the house, Twilight was trying to get Noah calm.

“Noah, today we are going to Canterlot and I want you to be on your best behavior, OK?” Twilight asked the foal.

“Yeah,” Noah said.

“Good luck!” June said when saw Noah’s smile.

“Thanks,” Noah replied.

So off they went to the train station.

Ponyville station reflected the technological revolution that Equestria was going through, all made possible by the application of a much older power. It had been known for centuries that boiling water to create steam produced power, but only now was it possible for such power to be harnessed. Previous attempts had ended cataclysmically badly, with many explosions reported due to insufficient safeguards.

The station itself had only one track, as for some reason the builders of the railroad thought it suitable to only give the station one platform. Sitting in the platform was a squat 0-2-2 tender engine, with cylinders set at 45 degrees relative to the frames. These engines had been produced in their hundreds, and this one was pulling a passenger train made up of coaches that were not dissimilar to the old stagecoaches.

Once Twilight had boarded the train with Noah, she found them a seat and sat down.

“Well, isn’t this just so exciting, your first train ride ever,” Twilight said to her son.

Noah just looked out the window and said nothing.

The Guard sounded his whistle, and away the train went, with a loud snort from the chimney and steam pouring from its cylinders. The draincocks emptied in a most spectacular manner, sending steam showering everywhere.

As the train thundered along, at speeds unimaginable only 20 years earlier, the scenery rolled by as the train climbed mountains and thundered over rivers on great bridges built by that great engineer himself, Bruneel, and roared up into the great spiral tunnel. The grades up into Canterlot were simply far too steep to allow for a railway line to be built straight up the side of the cliff, as the train would simply slip and stop. Although an experiment had shown that adhesion locomotives were superior to geared ones and those that used rack rail, these engines could only realistically cope with gradients of up to 1 in 80 or so. To this end, the railway had built a pair of great spiral tunnels, looping through the mountainside and allowing the train to gain elevation.

And onwards that train did fly, climbing like a rocket as it flew up the cliff and roared into the second tunnel. After another few curves underneath the mountain, the train roared along a patch of smooth ground, over a vast viaduct, and into Canterlot Station, a vast and grand building with 8 tracks, and a massive, vaulting roof which, again, would have been impossible to build were it not for the massive engineering evolution that had occured only 20 years ago with the start of the Industrial Revolution.

Once Noah and Twilight had arrived in the station, the conductor helped Twilight to get Noah’s wheelchair off the train. “Have a good time in the city, madame” The conductor said with a tip of his hat before walking away and leaving Twilight and Noah to go exploring the city.

“We should go to the library, to figure out how to take care of you, Noah,” Twilight said with a soft smile at her son.

“Let’s go!” Noah said with a laugh. So, off they went, looking for the Library.

It soon became apparent that finding the library on foot would not be practical at all. So Twilight decided to take a steam carriage to get there. She would have taken the Maretropolitan Railway, but her son made her nervous, as she knew he wouldn’t cope in the conditions. So they went on the surface instead.

The vehicle in question resembled a carriage from the old days, but had a small boiler and internal connecting rods instead of a pony attached to the front. The driver sat on the front, and drove the machine with a combination of chains and foot pedals. Unlike the new-fangled petrol engines, these machines had no easy way of speeding up or slowing down. The pedals on the steam carriages worked as regulators, controlling the flow of steam to the cylinders, whilst the chains were linked to the cutoff, which worked as a continuous clutch to control speed. And there were always the steam brakes, to slow the machine down.

Twilight and Noah climbed aboard, as the steam carriage shot into the street, tearing round bends and zooming along the thoroughfares at the terrifying pace of 12 miles an hour! But things soon went wrong, as the machine collided with a set of railings, comprehensively demolishing them. The driver quickly set the machine into reverse, backed it onto the road, and continued with the journey that went without incident. The machine rolled to a relatively smooth stop outside the library.

“Canterlot Library!” called the driver, and Noah and Twilight dismounted.

Noah looked up at the Library with it's very tall towers on each side of the building.

“Wow, is so great, we here!” Noah said to Twilight whose jaw dropped.

“Let’s go inside,” Twilight said once she found her voice again. So they went inside the library.

The library was huge. It had a great, vaulting ceiling and was full to the brim with bookcases. A vast machine allowed the catalogue to be accessed and instantly move any requested book to the front of the library, powered by (what else?) steam. Twilight walked up to this most unusual of machines, and keyed in a few letters. The machine brought up a baffling array of words and titles, but Twilight narrowed it down to AU.

This place be so cool, i like” Noah shouted. “Noah, be quiet this is a library” Twilight hissed.

“Sorry,” Noah whispered.

As Twilight continued to punch in the letters, from left to right, the machine gurgled and spat out a book, entitled A Field Manual to the Autistic Spectrum Disorder. She took the book and laid it out on a nearby table.

It was only then she became aware of Noah behind her.

“I operate strange contraption!” Noah called.

Noah, despite his apparent difficulties with moving, had successfully manipulated the keys to bring up another book, which was spat out of the machinery and flew through the air, landing alongside the first book with a bump. This one was entitled Cerebral Palsy: Recognising and Assisting those with the Condition.

Twilight, as was her custom, took detailed notes on all things of relevance, but alas it was time to go, if they wanted to catch the train to Ponyville.

“When we going to read books?” Noah asked after a while.

“I don’t know sweetie,” Twilight responded.

“Then why we even come to library if we are not going to read any book.” Noah questioned.

Twilight was stunned she didn’t know what to say.

The book they chose to look at was the one on ASD. They learned many things, such as that Noah would, in all likelihood, not react to things in the same way as other children, or be slow to get things that others find obvious. Inversely, he could be quick to get things that others were slow to understand.

But then they had to leave, or else be marooned in Canterlot for the night.

“We need to leave, otherwise we will not catch the train back to Ponyville and we wouldn’t want to walk at night through the Whitetail Woods to get to our little cottage, now would we?” Twilight said.

“But what about the book I got? We should also read that,” Noah said to his mother.

“Noah Sparkle, I don’t have time, we need to leave, and we need to go now” Twilight harshly whispered.

Noah started to hit himself.

“NO GO BACK TO HOME!” Noah screeched.

Twilight picked up Noah and got out of that library faster than somebody can find a needle in a haystack. Once they were outside Twilight sat Noah down.

“NOAH! I DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR YOUR TEMPER TANTRUM!” Twilight roared.

Twilight’s screaming seemed to make Noah stop, but the next thing Twilight new Noah was crying.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” Twilight said when she had noticed Noah’s sadness.

Once Twilight and Noah came home, Twilight’s papa questioned where they went.

“WELL, LOOK AT THIS ITS YOU AND THE LITTLE BOY” Nightlight screamed.

“I-I c-can e-explain,” Twilight stammered.

“Silence, go to your room and take the little brat with you” Nightlight bellowed.

“Yes, papa,” Twilight said as tears welled up in her eyes.

Twilight ran into her room and shut the door and started to cry.

“Oh, Noah, why is father always so mean?” Twilight cried.

“Mommy have sad, because grandpa not like Noah,” Twilight’s son said.

“Not helping,” Twilight said in between sobs.

“Tell me story of how mommy found Noah” Twilight’s son finally said.

Twilight perked up a little.

“Well it all started on a dark and stormy night, I was walking through the woods when I heard crying coming from someplace, so I checked over by the bushes, and I saw a young pony almost frozen to death, and that pony was you my sweet” Twilight told the story.

“Why does grandpa not like me?” Noah asked.

“Well, he has his way of showing affection, when I brought you into our home my grandfather had been in pain for the last couple of weeks, and when he saw you had a disability well he doesn’t like ponies with disabilities it is uncommon in our culture to see a pony with a disability, four generations ponies have said that ponies with disability used to be cursed” Twilight explained.

“Oh, should Noah leave?” Noah asked sadly.

“No, you can stay we just need to avoid my grandpa for now,” Twilight said.

Downstairs Nightlight was fuming.

“HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN?” Nightlight yelled angrily.

“I think you need to calm down I bet they didn’t mean any harm, I know that our culture may allow that disabled ponies are burned at the stake but that doesn’t excuse that a kid should be burned at the stake” June said to Nightlight.

“You just gave me an idea, out of my way” Nightlight said pushing June aside.

“What are you going to do?” June asked once she got back up.

“I am going to make that little brat pay, with his life!” Nightlight said darkly before going upstairs.

“NO!” June yelled after him.

Once nightlight reached Twilight’s bedroom he knocked on the door. “Oh Twilight give me the boy, I wanna take him out for a little bit,” Nightlight said sweetly from outside the door.

When there came no answer Nightlight went down to the kitchen and grabbed the biggest knife he could find then he went back upstairs.

“Twilight you leave me no choice!” Twilight’s father bellowed kicking in the door with his hind legs.

When Twilight saw her father wielding a knife she took her son and escaped out the window and ran into the woods.

Twilight went deeper into the woods when she found herself surrounded by darkness, she held Noah who was really upset close to her body.

The monstrosity that faced her now was horrifying, horrifying indeed.

It was large, and purple, and had three heads, each of which terminated in a long snout with a dastardly tongue capable of shooting fire. The frame of the creature moved around on 6 massive limbs, and the creature stood at least the hight of 20 fully grown mares.

And this creature had Twilight in its sights.

Author's Note

Please read my stories

The healer

Twilight ran with her son into the bushes on the side of the path they were on.

By now Noah was crying.

“Please, calm down,” Twilight hissed.

“Noah is scared,” Twilight’s son whispered.

“I know, I know, let’s go to the local healer.

She doesn’t live far from here,” Twilight whispered as she and her son made their way out of the bushes.

As Twilight and Noah walked along the path leading to the healer’s home, Noah could smell a beautiful scent coming from within the woods.

He pointed to the end of the path into the eternal darkness that was the woods.

“Noah, use your words,” Twilight reminded him.

“Can smell something,” Noah finally said after a couple of minutes of fussing.

“What can you smell?” Twilight asked.

“Smell like lavender,” Noah answered, not making eye contact with his mother.

“Then we must be close to the healer’s home,” Twilight surmise breaking into a gallop. Noah held on for dear life as his mother galloped through the trees all the way to the healer’s house.

After a couple of minutes of walking down the path, Twilight and her son got to a brightly decorated home. From the outside it looked like it was built in the 1300s. The walls of the house were made of brick, and the roof was made of a darker shade of wool which was typically used in houses that were built in the 1300s or middle ages.

Twilight knocked on the door of the home, an elderly pony who looked to be about in her 80s opened the door, the pony had a robe on, and a beautiful amethyst stone was hanging around her neck, the pony’s mane was damp and matted.

“Wot brings yer ter my humble abode?” The elderly pony asked in what Twilight could only assume was a variant of the accent that the lower classes spoke.

“We seek the knowledge of the wise mare who lives deep in the forest,” Twilight spoke.

“Well that’s me. Come in if yer will and brin' the wee boy with yer,” the elderly pony beckoned them inside of the house.

Twilight obliged because she knew that it did not do good to get on a wise mare’s bad side.

“Now wot brings yer 'round 'ere wee one?” The wise mare asked as she sat down, all the while looking at Noah who was playing with a train that Twilight had brought from the house.

Noticing that the wise mare was addressing Noah, Twilight leaned down to her son who was on the floor.

“Sweetie, this nice old mare wants to talk to you,” Twilight said.

Noah didn’t make eye contact, He only looked at his toy train.

“Maybe I can help. I don't know a bit about ponies 'oo don’t make eye contact, but I sure know 'how to play with em,” The old pony announced.

“That would be much-appreciated ma’am,” Twilight said. She got up and moved to the far side of the room.

The old pony got down to Noah’s level and started blowing raspberries.

“Wassat you've got? Now we used to have a toy train when I were your age,” The old pony said looking at Noah who was playing with his train.

“Is amethyst crystal?” Noah asked, staring at the amethyst necklace.

“Aye lad,” The old pony said.

“Noah likes it,” the colt said as he stared intensely at it.

Then came a loud booming knock on the door. Twilight froze and pulled Noah close.

Night Light had knocked on the door. Behind him, two glowing red eyes peered out from the forest. As soon as they had appeared, they were gone.

Night Light’s eyes flashed green as he went back into the forest and back to the cave from where he came.

“Whoever you are, go back where you came from and do not return!” The healer shouted. As she said that the growling from outside subsided.

“Now, let’s see, Miss Sparkle. Your son will grow up and go into service because there is no other work for him except to go to the workhouse, but I see that you do not want to put him into the workhouse,” the old mare said as she looked at Twilight’s hoof.

“But ma’am, Noah doesn’t understand everything that goes on around him,” Twilight whispered.

Meanwhile, in a darker part of the forest, there stood a cave. In that cave a large dragon with three heads which is perched atop a mountain of gold. The best was purple with speckles of green in its scales. Noah's grandfather, Night Light, who had just come back from the healer’s house, walked into the cave, and bowed before the beast.

“Did you get me the boy's mother?” The beast of nightmares asked in a loud growl.

“No master, I did not.” Night Light answered.

The beast rose up and stared at Night Light.

“You have been living at the Sparkle's house for too long. You didn’t come back with any Intel. I should’ve known that you were worthless!” The dragon growled.

“Master, please do not exile me. I will do better next time,” Night Light pleaded as he changed from a pony into a bug-like creature with holes in its body. The creature that now stood before the dragon coward in fear.

“Be gone! I do not want to see you around here. You are of no use to me anymore, bug!” The beast growled so loud that it shook the cave walls.

The bug-like creature fled out of the cave and into the woods.

“That wretched child has foiled my plans!” The changeling growled as he went deeper into the woods.

As he arrived at the healer home he knocked on the door and quickly changed to in Nightlight again.

“Come in.” The healer said as she opened the door to Nightlight in.

As Noah started to cry when he saw Nightlight.

“Hi, Twilight, I am for Noah,” Nightlight said calmly.

“No, you will never hurt,” Twilight said her horn lit up as she stood protectively in front of Noah who was still crying,