Trench

by Qibli2

Rating: teen
Tags: Alternate Universe, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Bat Pony, Adventure, Science Fiction
Length: 11168

On the moon, there is a city, which is domed in. They call this city Lema, it was once ruled by Luna, but she passed the leadership down to nine bishops who rule the city with an iron hoof.

((Loosely based off the Twenty Øne Piløts concept album Trench.))

On the moon, hundreds of years into the future, there is a city called Lema. Once ruled by Luna as the first city to be established on the moon. She had other pressing matters, and the leadership was passed on to nine bishops, they rule the city with an iron hoof.

The bishops are trying to make everyone live a life dictated by several rules and regulations. They will put every rebel in their place.

However, a lunar pony named Prancey, is having none of it. He tries to rebel and is promptly put in place.

But that won’t stop him from trying.

((Written in the first person))

Published 2019-02-21 23:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2019-06-16 20:13:03 UTC

Jumpsuit

I’m Prancey, and am currently on the run. I live in Lema, a domed city on the moon, and I want to escape with all my life. Though certain bishops don’t want me to do anything.

Of course I’m not living where they won’t let me get outside.

I’ve tried multiple times to escape this place, and nothing really ever comes to fruition. I want Luna back, too bad she’s ruling with Celestia on Earth.

This time, I have a plan that I’m fairly certain will work. I purchased a jumpsuit at a local shop on Lema, got it in yellow. Dashing color. I’m trying to get it on.

I might’ve gotten it a little too small, which is a little shitty. But I have a feeling this will be the scheme that gets me out of Lema. Instead of breaking through the dome, like I’ve been trying to, I’m getting it at the source. One last look at myself, with my green eyes, silver coat, and a messy black mane. I wouldn’t be seeing it again for a while.

Finally, I get the jumpsuit on, there’s voices in my head telling me to stop it. I have no idea if they are friend or foe, but everytime I’ve attempted to escape, the same voices tell me to stop. I always ignore them.

I leave my house, and decide to head to the street. I fly down several flights of stairs in my skyscraper and hit the bottom. There are ponies on hovercraft soaring on the street there. I look around and finally locate them, the nine bishops, rulers of Lema, or at least their headquarters. They tower above every building in the city, and have that radiance about them, that little thing that tells you to just shut the buck up and listen.

I was never good at that, as you probably know by now.

I hop on my hovercraft apperatus and ride it towards the bishop headquarters. When I get there, the doors are locked, of course. I decide to kick them open, that only made my hind legs hurt. I had no experience picking locks, so I had to find a different way in.

Luckily for me, the bishops have windows.

I pick up a moonstone and throw it at the window, bracing for an alarm.

Sure enough, an alarm does sound, I curse under my breath and hide behind the closest rock.

A bishop comes rushing out, he takes a walkie-talkie in his hands and alerts the rest of the complex.

“It’s probably that idiot Prancey again, we need to crackdown and stop him for good.” He rushes past my hiding space.

I’m so bucking screwed. I think, crouching as low as I can. I decide to make a beline for the door.

Flying as fast as I can, I dash inside. Realizing how much I hate Lema’s government, the thing sucks, I try to find any hiding places in the complex I can. I’ve never been in here, so I have no clue what the layout is. I presumed it wouldn’t be to much different from the skyscraper I live in. It’s a very monotonous place, comprised of grate flooring, and some piping on the ceiling, presumably collecting fresh air to provide to Lema. There’s a corridor every few hundred feet, and I knew one of those would have the way I want to go.

The pressure of finding a place to hide heavily weighs on my back as I fly back and forth in the complex, looking for a staircase. Hearing guards’ hoofsteps approaching, I take a bet and fly to the ceiling, hiding amongst the pipes.

Not my brightest moment, especially since every batpony has wings.

They notice me in 2 seconds flat, so I detach myself from the ceiling and fly down the one corridor I haven’t been into. The guards chase me like their entire paycheck banks on catching me. They are dressed in thick plate armor, and all carry a shotgun.

The best news is that the armor heavily restricts their flying capabilities, while there are wing slots cut into it, it’s still heavy. My jumpsuit is a similar design, although it covers all of me instead of just my body, and is made of cloth.

I fly up the stairs, which are of course down the last corridor I check, and I decide to find out how to escape once and for all.

I hit the control room, which is comprised of a bunch of switches, levers, and equipment I don’t know the name of. It also holds several monitors, from the cameras placed around town. I pray to Luna that nopony should notice me in here. I shut the door and lock it, just as the guards are coming up.

I turn towards the monitors, and take a view of the city. There is a way out way up high, but it would be hard to reach to, as the opening is incredibly small, and I only brought a jumpsuit. I ferociously look around for a saw or a metal cutter to open the top, when I hear a voice.

“Well, well, well, Prancey’s trying to escape again, isn’t he?”

I knew that voice immediately, it was Ocin, the leader of the bishops. Nopony knew his real name, but he always went by Ocin. He constantly sent us pamphlets on how Lema was the superior moon colony, and how we wouldn’t be accepted on Earth because we were batponies.

I turn towards Ocin, he looks just as bucking smug as he always does in the photos. Having a nicely groomed short mane, sliver with age, a penetrating black glare, a blue coat almost as deep as Luna’s, and a cocky smile that I just wanted to wipe straight off his condescending face.

“Yes I am, and to stop my plans, you’d have to brainwash me, and cut off all four of my hooves, my wings too! This bucking place is so shitty. I want to get out!” I frantically mess with the levers in an attempt to break free.

“Strong words coming from such an ambitious rebel. Maybe today you’ll die, there’s 3 dozen fully armed guards behind that door, and I could unlock it right now. What’d you have to say then, rebel? You will embrace Lema, all we want is to keep you safe, hence the restrictions on going to the outside, with no oxygen.” He trots around the room, with his nose pointed in the air.

Ocin walks over to the door and unlocks it. Almost instantly, a collection of guards rushes in. I frantically fly up as far as I can and say,”I hope I can get protected by my jumpsuit.”

Ocin laughs.”Your jumpsuit won’t help you now.”

Then, the guards fly at me.

Author's Note

Hold the phone, a SAB story that doesn’t have to do with a musician?

To that my reader, I say yes. After seeing Cerulean recommended in the most recent Seattle’s Angels’ review, I realized that a story based on a concept album would be awesome.

I chose Trench, one of the few concept albums I’ve heard, also a great one.

This chapter’s (loosely) based on the song Jumpsuit (hence the name)

Also, I think I was possessed for the last hour because this writing’s actually good, somehow.

As always, constructive criticism is allowed and encouraged.

Levitate

I wake up in a jail cell. The idiots must’ve tranquilized me, I guess Ocin has some form of morality still left, it was better than dying.

A small crust of bread and water sit in front of me. I eat them to attempt to think of a new plan to break out of here. Believe it or not, I have never been to a jail cell. I usually escape before I’m tossed in the clink. The best news about being stuck here was that the jail was on the edge of the dome, near the bishops’ headquarters. Unfortunately, the jail cells had a reputation of being nearly impossible to escape.

I attempt to stretch my wings, I can’t. I look behind me and realize my wings are bound to my body with chains. The bishops must have taken extra precautions to make sure nopony escaped, despite the fact that there’s only one window covered by bars, and nopony could escape by flying anyways.

I take a look outside, it’s dark like always. Given we’re facing towards Earth though, I’d say it’s night. There’s a pony across the hall from me, so I shake the bars to get his attention.

After a solid five minutes, he wakes up. “Do you mind? Everypony’s asleep!” He walks up the the bars.

“Can I bust out of here?” I ask, as quickly as possible.

“You want to bust out of a Lema prison? Have you lost your mind?” He laughs, throwing his head back.

“I will,” I state.

“Well, you have no help from me.”

I sigh, that was completely pointless.

I take a look at my jumpsuit, realizing it was completely pointless, Ocin left it on. I get an idea, then turn to the pony across from me.

“If I offered you a deal, would you get me out?” I ask.

“Fine, it’s going to have to be pretty apt payment.” He walks up to the bars again.

“Take a look at the jumpsuit.” I take the suit off, fixing my mane as I did.

“What an observation, you think I didn’t?” He laughs again.

“It’s yours,” I say. Deciding to stretch the truth a little, I add, ”I made it myself.”

“That’s pretty good for being hoof-stitched, I’ll take it, if you can get it to me.”

“Right after I’m out. Luna’s word.”

“Alright, now, in the morning when the guards are doing their duty, knock one out and steal their equipment. Then, you should be able to get out.”

I nod, and decide to wait a while.

I wake up after sleeping on the cold floor, and hope for a miracle. I see a guard trotting along the hallway. Only one, I slowly trot up to the bars.

“You want more food? You get fed once a day, no more, no less,” he growls.

In response, I slap my hoof across his face, he falters, so I punch him in the face.

He falls to the floor, so I take his weapon and shoot the wall. It makes a small dent. I sigh, and shoot it again, a deeper, but still small dent. I realize I’m not getting anywhere shooting at the wall. So, I take his melee weapon and slash my chains off. Fly up to the bars, and slash them.

After the incredibly sharp sword makes contact with the bars, they are dented a little, I work the sword like a saw and cut my way through. About now, the guards are coming down the hall, noticing the other guard collapse.

I ferociously cut the bars, and finally fall through. Behind me the other prisoner shouts,”We had a deal!”

I ignore him.

Landing on the dirt outside, the guards notice this and start to make a beline for the exit.

I run towards the dome and slash my weapon across it, it breaks, and I toss my sword behind me. I hold my breath, when I release it, I accidentally take a breath, nothing happens. I suppose Lunar Ponies can breathe on the Moon.

I have no food, so I’ll eventually wither away. But, I walk around for a little bit before sheltering in a nearby crevice. I realize the guards will still be looking for me, so I put my jumpsuit back on.

Upon putting on my jumpsuit, there’s a pony behind me who notices me, they tap my shoulder. I turn around to realize it’s a mare with a blue mane with silver streaks. She is wearing a cloth garment over her wings and back. Her mane is rather messy, and it appears the silver in it is due to moon dust, as her coat appears to be coating in as well.

She beckons me to a hole in the crevice, and I follow her. It leads to a brightly lit area, with several beds in alcoves. The mare who led me in says,”Here, we operate by our own rules, we’re basically outcasts from other Moon Colonies. All of us are a little weird, however, you’re the first one we’ve got who seems to be completely normal.”

I start to ask her what she means when she silences me,”I’m Wingless, you want to see why?” She takes the garment off, and I realize she has no wings.

“All of us are like this, someponies have had their wings cut off, someponies are bald. However, we all sleep here, in this underground Moon Colony.”

“Why is it so brightly-lit? Also, my name’s Prancey,” I say.

“Why hello Prancey, and we have fire creators, we need some form of light.” Wingless walks down the hallway a little, each alcove is personalized.

“I presume everypony has their own alcoves, right?”

“Yes, everypony has their own room. It can be a bit inconvenient sleeping, but we make do.”

“Also, how do you get food?” I ask, hoping to ask one more question.

“You sure are an inquisitive one, aren’t you?” Wingless laughs and says,”We intercept delivery ships, food is impossible to get on the Moon.”

“One more question, does this place have a name?” I follow her to the end of the hallway.

“Yes, I was getting to that if you hadn’t asked so many Luna-damned questions! What I’m trying to say is hello Prancey, and welcome to Trench.” She finally hits the end of the hall and I see a bunch of ponies conjugated in a large room.

“Say hello Prancey, you’ll be here awhile.”

I say hello and slide into an empty alcove, praying to Luna the guards don’t come too soon. If they did, at least I knew how to fly.

Author's Note

Incredibly loosely based off the song Levitate, that song’s hard to make work!

Also, this chapter is better paced than the previous one, but not as well-written. Still, I hope you enjoy the random thoughts of this Sci-Fi fic.

Constructive criticism is allowed and encouraged.

Morph

After I intoduced myself to everypony in Trench, Wingless assigns me a sleeping spot, but I am still worried.

“Look Wingless, I came here because it was the only sign of civilization outside of Lema. Do you know about that place?” I say.

“Yeah, it’s gained fame as the first Lunar colony, what do you want?” Wingless says, brushing her incredibly messy mane off of her eye. It reveals a scar, starting at her forehead and crossing across one eye. “Also, could you take off the helmet of that jumpsuit so we could talk face-to-face?”

“No, this is a one-piece jumpsuit, I’m afraid. How did you get that scar?”

“It’s a long story.” Wingless goes over to a side of the crevice.

“Well, I have no time to hear it, I’m being chased by guards from Lema. It’s a miracle they haven’t arrived yet.”

“And why are you telling me this?” Wingless asks.

“You seem like a leader, I need your help.”

“I am a leader, what do you need my help for?” Wingless is getting continuously more annoyed, I can tell.

“Perhaps destroying the government of Lema.”

“When did you hit that conclusion?”

“I’ve always wanted to do it, but they’re too powerful, Ocin and his nine bishops rule the place and they are shit. They always tell us that we can’t escape and that they hold power over all. They also imprison anypony who dares say an unkind word about them.”

“Look I’ll help you...” Wingless starts.

I perk up.

“In the morning, you should probably get some sleep.”

With that, Wingless trots out of the room. I attempt to make myself comfortable on the floor of moon rock. I assume all the ponies in Trench got their decorations from the delivery ships. I think that’s a little extreme, so I won’t decorate my area. I mean, I’m going to leave in the morning anyways.

I can’t get to sleep, I keep on thinking what the guards will do when they got their hooves on me. Will they kill me? If they do, I am assuming if, a blind hope, I don’t want to focus on when right now. If they kill me, who will care? I was a little mortified at this thought.

At some point, I fall asleep.

My sleeping is interrupted by a cascade of hooves entering Trench. I silently curse myself for not finding Wingless’ sleeping quarters. It took me a day to get to Trench, of course it would take them a day to reach here. I realize I ditched my sword when I left Lema, I was always terrible at thinking about the long-term parts of my ambitious plans.

I hope Ocin isn’t with the guards, I’m in hot enough water already. If Ocin is with them, I’m bucked, he’d definitely order the death penalty for me.

I rush down the hall, running straight into the sea of danger, hoping to find Wingless’ area.

I find her near the front. I hope that my rushing confused the guards a little. I shake her awake.

“What the hell did you do that for? It’s not even bucking morning!”

I point my hoof into the guards, who have nearly reached the end of the hallway.

“Oh, understandable.”

She gets up,”How are we supposed to avoid them?”

“Well, we can’t go under the guards, or around, so we can only hope to go over.”

Wingless looks at me like I just told a funny joke.”Wonderful, now explain how I get over the guards.”

“Um, run and hope for the best?”

“With plans like these, it’s no wonder you got caught. Fine, let’s go.”

Luckily, the guards are nearly to the end of the hallway, leaving a gap for Wingless to run through. We quickly exit Trench, and start heading towards any other area, except Lema, I wasn’t quite feady for that yet.

Unfortunately, guards noticed me, they quickly send off a message to everypony stating that I am leaving the colony.

I only assume this because they all fly towards me, and unlike I can with Wingless in my party, they can fly.

Also unfortunately, I notice a certain pony at the head of the patrol, Ocin. Just my bucking luck.

“We finally caught you Prancey, you weren’t running for long, now were you?”

“Well, I have help!” I say weakly.

“What, that mare who’s been living in a cave and can’t even fly? What good will she do you?”

“She cares about me, at least more than Lema’s government can! Right Wingless?”

She shrugs, which is incredibly reassuring. I know she won’t let me die at least.

“Look Prancey, imagine an alternate universe where there’s a different one of you who follows every rule in Lema. Instead of running for his life, he lives a happier life. A blissfully unware one.”

“Look, you still rule Lema with an iron hoof. Nopony even knows your name. We can’t trust a leader that hides their name now can we?” I retort.

“Look, when was the last time you heard Twilight Sparkle referred to as anything but Twilight?”

“The difference is, people know her name, while nopony knows yours.”

“Oh, I’ll tell you my name, you’re being sentenced to death anyways. It’s Optical Knowledge.”

I decided not to question how he got Ocin out of that. Thought I really didn’t want to die, it felt too early in the journey to give up. So, I turn to Wingless, who is acting like she’s ignoring everything that just went on.

“Wingless, can you climb?” I ask.

“Never tried, however, I can attempt to fight.” She brandishes her hooves as if she’s about to punch something.

At this point, the guards are carrying us to Lema to be sent to Sun Row. I wasn’t done, so I took advantage of our lack of chains, as they never thought I’d leave Wingless behind when she can’t fly. I mouth ‘jump’ at her. We jump.

I get as far out of the circle as I can and rush out, followed by Wingless doing the same. The guards take notice to that, and we get a super minor head start on them. I find a little ravine and hop in, hoping they don’t notice. Wingless follows me, and we hide as deep in the ravine as we can.

“Ok,” I say, once the guards are looking for me at the end at the ravine.”My plan is to get out of this as fast as we can and run as far away as we can.”

“That’s seriously the best you can think of?” Wingless asks.

“Trench showed signs of civilization, we can’t head for civilization for a long time. Just trust me, it’s the best we have, and we have to execute it, we can work out the kinks later.”

Wingless rolls her eyes and follows me out of the ravine. We quickly hit the moon’s surface and run as fast as we can away from the guards.

I wish sometimes I could morph into somepony else, and I wouldn’t have to deal with Ocin anymore. Alas, I couldn’t. I hope Wingless and I could still at least find some solace somewhere.

Author's Note

Opinions on this chapter’s writing: It’s great up until the guards arrive, it’s like a negative ex machina. Then the escape scene wasn’t great.

Although, the rest wasn’t half-bad.

Based off of Morph a little more than I expected.

Constructive criticism is allowed and encouraged!

My Blood

Me and Wingless have been on the run for the past few hours. We’re tired, and night is approaching; however, we have no firewood to start a fire.

“You think we lost them?” Wingless says.

“With Ocin, you can never be too certain. Knowing him, he’s going to swoop out of the sky and knock us both out cold, then brag about how he’s superior to everypony. Damn, I hate that guy.” I look around me just to be certain we lost them.

“But we can stop right now right?” Wingless asks.

Agreeing with her, I slow down my pace. “I wish I could fly without losing you, but you have no wings.”

She nods as we come to a complete standstill, I silently pray to Luna that Ocin doesn’t come soon. I take off my jumpsuit and view the earth in the sky, nighttime has approached.

Wingless takes off her garment and lays it out like a blanket, moving my jumpsuit to the side. She takes her position on the garment and invites me to use it too.

She notices me hesitate and says,”What too weird? It’s not like I just want you to sleep here because I can, I just want to make you a little more comfortable.”

I choose to not use the blanket anyways.

“So, we’re on the run, nopony from Trench knows that you’re gone. That’s absolutely wonderful. To top it all off, I don’t even know what the hell we’re doing with this damn plan! I always sucked at thinking out my plans!” I shout.

“Yeah, I don’t know what you’re doing with the damn plan either. I guess we just continue running and hope like hell for some firewood,” Wingless states.

“That’s what the plan is right now; however, be assured that I don’t want you to be prey to some lunar pony who thinks you’d be a good punching bag. Not only are they wrong, but I don’t have much of a prayer surviving on my own. I lived under a dome for my life, you know how to survive. I’m going with you.”

“That’s fine, I know Ocin isn’t looking for me, so I’ll stay with you so you don’t get floored. You’d make a slightly more apt punching bag for ponies anyways.”

“I do have some questions, however.”

“How much did they not teach you in school?” Wingless snarks.

“Well, first off, I didn’t like school I skipped it...” I start.

“What a genius you turned out to be.” Wingless intercedes, deadpanning.

“...Anyways, they don’t teach you basic survival because they expect you to stay in Lema your whole life. So, yeah, I have a couple questions. First off, how does fire work on the moon anyways? That seems like a glaring hole in this place’s reasoning.”

“They taught you fire needs oxygen to survive, but not how it works on the moon?” Wingless looks at me with a heavy confusion.

I nod.

“So, Luna realized that we’d need fire to survive. She also realized that there is no atmosphere on the moon; therefore, she casts a spell every night when she raises the moon to make fire work here. It was a necessity that we have fire to survive, as electricity was also out of the equation. What’s your second question?”

“How’d you get your scar?” I say, dragging my hoof across my face in the exact position Wingless’ scar is in.

“Well, it’s a long story...” Wingless says.

“And we’re going somewhere?” I retort.

Wingless groans,”Fine. I’ll tell you the bucking story. However, this story is serious, I’m warning you.

“Anyways, I was born without wings, and my birth family hated it. They gave me the derogatory name Wingless and constantly scorned my inability to fly. One day, they scorned me for being unable to fly again, and I just snapped for some reason, I don’t even know why.

“I attacked them out of the blue, punched them, scorned them like they did to me. Apparently, the didn’t like getting tastes of their own medicine, so they fought back, but with their wings. The wings have little spikes, as you know, so they scratched me right down the middle of my face. The scratch bled heavily, and I couldn’t open my left eye for a few days.

“This was the final straw. Unlike your ruthless dictatorship of a colony, we were allowed to leave the dome. I packed nothing, just gathered up some misfits, and ran. Eventually, I found Trench, this was 20-some years ago, and my little team started figuring out how to live. We nominated fire starters to keep us warm, flyers to intercept delivery vehicles, and entertainers to keep us from leaving out of boredom.”

“Did this ever leave an emotional scar? Like, do you sometimes think your family was right?” I ask.

“No!” Wingless shouts suddenly,”Those motherbuckers can die in a hole for all I care!”

“Is there anything holding you down then?” I ask.

“Yes, one thing, I keep it hidden very well. However, I am absolutely terrified of not being a good enough leader. I put up façades to makes everyone completely confident that I’m confident in myself. However, I am terrified of losing them, and them hating me.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about going in alone. I’ll be there, I’ll go with you. Also, you wouldn’t survive being pelted by enemies alone,” I say.

“This is starting to sound like a declaration of love, disgusting. Let me make it clear Prancey, I am not interested in you, nor will I ever be.”

“I’m not either, just want to be your guardian or something. Besides, never is a pretty heavy statement.”

“I’m perfectly capable of taking on enemies by myself, you’re my backup. Also, I’m asexual, never is pretty solid.”

“Backup’s always nice, isn’t it?” I ask.

Wingless nods,”We should probably get some sleep. We’re not going to keep running without it.”

I nod, and start to go to sleep. We had a long day of running ahead, and I wanted to not collapse while running. Wingless started going to sleep too.

I was hoping to be the most valiant backup ever.

Author's Note

The long awaited 5th chapter! Let me tell you, I love this one. A backstory was an idea I had for awhile. Prancey still doesn’t have one, but whatever.

For this one, I took My Blood and built upon it.

Edit: pansexuality is not asexuality :facehoof:, I just fixed that real quick.

Chlorine

I wake up and notice Wingless standing right in my direct line of vision. Her garment is back on, and her hair is replaced over the scar. I notice that some of the moon dust has began to fall away, revealing a scarlet red mane.

“About time you woke up, Prancey, you’ve been like a log for hours!” she says with a wry smile.

I blink sleep from my eyes and take a look, it’s midday.

“I told you you’ve been asleep forever, your badly thought-out plans must make you really tired right.”

I chuckle, but don’t say anything.

“Now, I saw a couple delivery ships go by, I couldn’t catch them, obviously. We’re going to have to go hungry until we find another one,” she says.

“So we continue to look for a city that hasn’t found our crimes,” I say, trying to remind myself what we’re doing.

“Yeah, that’s the extent of the plan, as we discussed,” Wingless says, audibly annoyed.

“I don’t know, I know I shouldn’t be running for my life, but it’s exhilarating! It feels so bad but so good simultaneously!” I shout.

Wingless lifts an eyebrow my way.”What the hell are you talking about?”

“Aren’t you running for your life too?” I retort.

“No, I just wanted to make my parents go through hell, not run away from several government operations with a pony who clearly has no plan.” Wingless tosses me my jumpsuit.”Put that on, and we’ll continue going.”

I equip my jumpsuit and start trotting with Wingless. The landscape is very barren aside from a couple craters. We walk along in deathly silence for a while, until I decide to break it.

“Do you think Ocin will catch us?” I ask.

Wingless chuckles.”With your plan, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“You would rebel though, right?”

“Yes, I would. I tend to rebel when I’m being trapped inside a dome for my life, but I haven’t. I learned a fact when I was in school, red and yellow are meant to convey revolution. Between your yellow jumpsuit and my red hair, I think we’ve got those covered.”

I nod and face toward the barren moon landscape again. I look for any sign of civilization, but I find none. We’ve only been at it for a couple days, but I think we’re going to hit another Moon Colony again for some reason.

After another fruitless day of walking, my hooves hurt and I really wish I flying. I know I can’t, which I hate.

We set up just like last night, I notice Wingless look at me.

“What do you want?” I ask, the first word I’ve said in a while.

“That was an intense comment,” Wingless says.”I’m just wondering what your bucking backstory is, I told you mine.”

I sigh,”It’s a long story, but I can tell it if you so wish, mine’s serious too.

“I was born in Lema, obviously. I never knew my birth parents, they just tossed me out. I had to survive on the streets for a good portion of my life, taking food, learning how to start fires and such. I was eventually adopted, but the family that did must’ve been forced to, because they didn’t like me. Lema’s government does eventually come around, Ocin is selfish and really hates homeless ponies, because they take food to live without paying. Therefore, all ponies have to have a home eventually, no matter how shitty it is.

“Anyways, my adoptive family constantly belittled me and tried their best to ignore me, just doing what they were forced to do. They made me food and that’s about it, no bed or entertainment. I got my entertainment by playing outside and formulating scenarios in my head and how to get out of them, using some paper I secretly took from them. At 18 I was politely shown the door and forcefully asked to leave.

“I eventually got a job that required no education, and a shitty apartment and have been going on since, at least until I actually broke out of Lema and ran.”

Wingless was listening the whole time, and she said nothing to add onto it. When I finish, she lays down on the moon's surface and I do the same.

“You’d better get to sleep, prepare to be woken up the moment I see a delivery ship,” Wingless says.”I will wake you up forcefully if it takes that.”

I go to sleep and hope tomorrow we’ll find some civilization.

Author's Note

I apologize for getting this chapter out so fast, I was bored and excited about the upcoming Equestrian Idiot story.

Have Prancey’s backstory and an incredibly slow-paced chapter to boot. We’ll be getting somewhere. This I can promise, the rest of the story slots into place after this. I do prewrite sometimes!

Shares a name with Twenty Øne Piløts’ Chlorine.

Smithereens

I wake up with Wingless pacing back and forth. I equip my jumpsuit and stomp my hoof on the ground.

“What the hell are you worried about Wingless?” I ask.

She hyperventilates.”I remembered we were on the road for two days straight! Not once did I check up on Trench, I have no idea if Ocin took it over. I have no idea if Trench is still alive! We need to go now, Prancey! Now!”

“Classic Twilighting...” was all I could say to that statement.

Wingless starts running at top speed towards Trench and I actually have to fly to catch up with her. I know we were going to make it back to Trench pretty quickly at this pace.

Eventually, we get tired and have to stop. Night is fast approaching, and I’m about ready to go to sleep.

Wingless is panicking and running around, however, refusing to slow down. “What if they fell into anarchy without a leader? What if they forgot how to make a fire!”

I facehoof and calmly state,”Wingless, look up at the earth. Calm down, slow down. I’m sure they are fine, and we’ll make it in the end.”

Wingless calms down for a little bit.”We’ll continue tomorrow,” I add.

We eventually get to sleep.

I am woken up by a makeshift alarm clock, Wingless panicking again. I was getting really tired of this now, and just wanted to get to Trench. I motion her onwards, and we continue going.

We reach Tench around Noon, but it looks a little different, there were security devices on the side of the opening into the cave.

“You didn’t put those there did you?” I ask.

Wingless shakes her head, and is pacing worse then ever. “Ocin must’ve put them there! I knew leaving was a bad idea!”

I glance at her and say one thing,”Rebel red?”

She rushes in to help save Trench, and I follow her inwards, flying. I wanted to give Ocin what for, and help my friend save Trench from him.

The interior is pretty empty, so far. I know that Ocin is not to be trusted, so I look around for him. Upon not seeing him again, I turn to Wingless.

“So here’s the plan,” I state.

“Oh no...” Wingless says with a judgemental tone,”None of your bucking plans will work. We’re jumping in and fighting.”

“I want to help you, you can’t fly, and I can. May I also point out that literally everypony else flies.”

Wingless sighs, and I take a stick from one of the dead fires to fight Ocin off with. I head to the room at the end of the tunnel, and look for any sign of Lema forces. I notice that it’s uncharacteristically quiet and shout,”SHOW YOURSELF!”

My prayers were answered, two guards jump out at me and I hit one with a stick. If it weren’t for their full-body armor, I’d scratch them with the sharp tips of my wings. Wingless punches the guards who are attacking her. This goes on for a good couple minutes, I keep on fighting, even though my stick snapped.

I don’t know how it happened, but we got separated. I try to look for Wingless in the guards, but I can’t find her. I’m also a little weary about where the rest of Trench’s population is. However, if they had any sense, they would’ve flown away at the first sight of trouble.

I continue looking for Wingless everywhere, every search being just as fruitless as the last. However, I would stay and fight until Ocin dispelled the guards, or I defeated them. I notice that the guards are not attacking me with their firearms, I wonder if I was requested to be brought back alive. If I was, that would explain the sudden pacifist attitude.

I sincerely hope that some help will arrive. I didn’t know when though.

It’s been several minutes, and no help has arrived. I know that Wingless would’ve found some way to escape and call for backup, perhaps they were just taking too long. However, I was getting very tired and couldn’t go on for much longer. I weakly dodge a punch, and throw back one just as weak. The guards advance onto me, and I give my last bit of strength to knock one off, but it’s no matter, I’m still picked up and moved by them.

I dread what I’m going to find out. Was Wingless captured or was she—?

No, I couldn’t think like that. I remember during my old plan, I would’ve faced Ocin head-on. However, times change, and right now I’m really scared.

The guards seem to be carrying me outside, slowly but surely. I glance at the several bedrooms, who knows, I might never see them again.

Finally, the guards carry me outside. I see my least-favorite stallion in the world, Ocin.

He starts, “So, Prancey, I’m sure you know about your girlfriend—“

I cut him off.”That’s just my friend, and why do I never see the Nine Bishops with you?”

Ocin visibly grows madder, and he says,”I was told to lead Lema, I will lead Dema. The other bishops are just figureheads, I’m really the one in charge. About that mare with no wings, you were not just friends.”

“What do you know? Asexuals aren’t attracted to anybody! Also, you don’t deserve to lead Lema, maybe then, but not now!”

Ocin looks at me with ”I just want to keep you safe.”

“That excuse has worn thin, you went mad with power. All that ‘safe’ bullshit is not what you actually think!”

Ocin pulls out a gun and points it at me,”Shut up Prancey. If you don’t, you face the same fate your friend did.”

“What is that?” I retort with pride. However, I feel a sinking feeling in my stomach.

“She’s dead Prancey, Wingless is dead.”

Author's Note

I was bored, again. However, I don’t think this chapter is really good.

Also, I’ve got this entire story planned out from here onwards, I’ve studied. This should lead to a better story that updates faster. (Hopefully, knowing my writing, might as well hope for the opposite.)

Neon Gravestones/The Hype

Author's Note

“This should lead to a better story that updates faster.”

Famous last words. At least the story’s getting better due to some outside examination of other books.

Anyways, I combined these two chapters because they were pretty short on their own. Some tough topics in here, too. So, enjoy!

Neon Gravestones/The Hype

“Wait, Wingless is dead!?” I shout, with half of my tone of question, and half of it on emotion.

“Oh, yes,” Ocin says smugly,”I saw it with my own eyes. She’s dead, and you know what’s even crazier? She killed herself.”

This shakes the foundation of my world. It seemed so out-of-character for Wingless to commit suicide, but then again, I was constantly learning new things about her.

“She really got that distraught over losing a fight?” I ask, hoping to verify my suspicions.

“Yep,” Ocin says with a grin on his face that makes me want to punch him,”she begged us. Put her out of her misery, really.”

I hang my head in defeat, Trench was invaded, Wingless was dead, and I was too sad to come up with some crazy plan.

“Trench is about the only thing that’s getting out alive here, we’ve let them live. You, however,” Ocin says, pointing a hoof at me,”are coming with us.”

I feel like I’m dying a little more inside with each and every statement Ocin hammers into my skull. I submit without resistance because right now, all I need is some time to think.

They start on the day-long trot back to Lema. I follow like a servant who has no choice on whether he can follow or not; a matter of life and death. The only good thing about the trip is that it gives me time to think. I think plenty to myself, why does suicide exist? And why is it used as a jailbreak for life? It’s like ponies think they can end all their suffering by suicide, when in reality, it may end their pain, but everypony else still has to live with it.

These questions swirl around in my head, and only make me feel worse, making me want to join Wingless in afterlife. She was the only friend I’ve ever had, and a worthy ally to have in battle.

My thoughts are broken by a gruff voice in my ear, one of Ocin’s guards.

“Move it! Our town has no place for people who constantly look like they have an inner war! Perk up Pracey, or you won’t get off with a warning!”

That certainly shocks me, and makes me raise my head. I still have the questions in my mind, and the depressing thoughts of Wingless’ death.

After what feels like several millennia, we finally reach Lema just as the earth is leaving my vision. They recite some password that’s about three dozen characters long and impossible to remember, especially for a pony as sad as I, and drag me inside the glass dome.

I’m quickly released, and trusted to go straight to my house. They were right, as I go straight to my house. I take off my jumpsuit, bunch it up, and throw it right beside my bed.

I lay on my bed and cover my head with my wings.

And I cry.

I cry without stopping, my emotions flooding my mind and heart. I lay there, shivering and not wanting to move, feeling like the world is against me.

I know tragedy builds character, I’m not that stupid. However, I really feel like I got burned a little too hard. I don’t know where I’ll go from here, I just know that it won’t be very good.

Finally, I uncover my head and stand up, shaking. I am still unable to think straight, but I at least know a couple things. First, I wasn’t going to commit suicide, never mind the incredibly scarce ways in my house by which I could. I didn’t know many ponies, but I wasn’t going to leave Trench without a leader. Second, my jumpsuit is a worthless piece of shit, it’s not going to cover me, just make me stand out.

The ultimatum’s still the same, my friend had committed suicide. This makes me feel no better.

I don’t know how long I stay in my house without leaving. Days, weeks, or months, but I’m running criminally low on food, and needed to go out eventually.

I’d recovered enough sanity to think about what Ocin had said, Luna-knows-how-long ago. I’ve also shaken the moon dust out of my mane, and I’m officially back at square one. I’d had plenty of time to think though.

I remember his words, and the more I think about them, the more holes appear in them. I know Wingless, and she’s one of those ponies who would rather die fighting than take the easy way out. Hell, she raced like a mustang back to Trench just to make sure her legion was OK.

Also, if anything, her last words would’ve been some snarky comment, and not begging for death from the one pony I’d told her I loathed.

These holes make it clear, she was a victim of a homicide, not an assisted suicide. The pony who would most likely kill anypony in his way was likely the culprit, Ocin himself.

However, this doesn’t change the fact that I need food, and I’ve regained enough sanity to go shopping. Finally leaving my house, I take a walk to the store nearby.

I enter the store, and get stared at by every Lunar Pony in the vicinity, as if they were shocked I’m still alive. I find this utterly ridiculous, and I just go about my normal shopping list.

I’m picking up some vegetables and haybacon, which are located in similar aisles, when I see a shady pony lurking in the corner, wearing a yellow jumpsuit that doesn’t cover their whole body. I thought it was some figment of my imagination, due to my undetermined amount of time in solitude, I figure I’m just seeing things that don’t exist. After all, they even look and sound like they’re the punchline of a bad joke.

So, I finish my shopping trip and go up to the cashier, who quickly scans my groceries.

However, my curiosity gets the best of me, and I go back to the place I saw the pony earlier.

As soon as I approach the pony, they pull me down with a hoof. I’m clearly very shocked.

“What the hell?” I ask, not caring who hears us.

I’m told to shut up by the pony, who doesn’t say a single word. Their glare makes me lower my voice a little.

Now that I’m closer, I can make out their features. I notice a very square jawline, clenched as a coping mechanism, his red eyes, and deep brown coat, but most of all, his hair. He’s clearly not given a buck about keeping his hair presentable. His hair is a mess and covers part of one of his eyes, but not to the extent that Wingless’ did.

“Who the hell are you?” I ask, quieter.

“I’m on your side, Prancey, trust me. Name’s Dust.” He says, quickly, and a little nervously.

“That doesn’t exactly answer my question.” I reply.”I don’t know who you’re loyal to, and how the hell do you know my name?”

“We’re a group inspired by the first pony to escape in decades, we previously thought escape was impossible, but you changed it. We’re the rebels, who want to escape without coming back.” That last sentence is recited with a little poison clearly aimed at me.”We’re the Banditos.”

Nico and the Niners/Cut My Lip

“What the hell is a Bandito?!” I ask, crumpled awkwardly in the corner.

“Are you deaf?” Dust hisses.”We’re trying to escape! Now clean out your ears and listen to me. We have a plan.”

He stands up and flies out the door, which seems like it’s more harm than good, because now everypony knows he’s doing something. Smarter than he is, I go on the down-low to avoid him.

This is just as suspicious as he was, and I garner a few looks. I don’t blame the store’s customers, I would be suspicious, too.

I sneak outside and, thankfully, Dust is standing there with a pained look on his face.

“You are such an idiot, Prancey,” he grumbles.

“I never claimed I was smart!” I reply.

He rolls his eyes and goads me with his hoof somewhere I haven’t seen before. We head over to a building on the outskirts of town, and I slowly follow Dust, hoping that this wasn’t a bad idea. The door opens with a mighty creak, and I step into the building.

Dust flips a switch, and the lights turn on, revealing a dusty, wooden room with plenty of ponies dressed in yellow jumpsuits entertaining themselves. All of the lunar ponies are dressed just like Dust, the jumpsuit is cut at the head, and doesn’t quite cover the whole body. A few pictures of Luna hang on the walls, otherwise, there’s literally nothing.

“I’ve found the famous Prancey!” Dust says.”He’s quite an idiot.”

Everypony looks at me, and I wave sheepishly.

“I mean, we never doubted that,” one mare in the corner says. However, that’s the only sound I hear in the room, maybe except somepony coughing, but that’s it.

“So, what are we doing?” I ask, trying to make it a modicum less awkward.”I’m trying to escape too, you know.”

“Well,” Dust says,”I don’t have the plans, I think Lunar Phase has them.”

The mare from the corner steps up with a scroll in her mouth. She’s brown, and her grey mane is concisely pushed back. She appears a little older, with wrinkles around her eyes. She lays the scroll upon the ground, unrolling it.

The scroll is a 1:1000 recreation of Lema, straight down to the guard’s patrol. Dust looks at the map and says,”Phase, that is not the plans. We have a plan recreation written out somewhere...—“ he trails off, and looks around. He finds another scroll and unrolls it next to Phase’s.

“Now, Phase’s map was a huge asset in us finding out the perfect route to take. Prancey, take notes, because you obviously can’t think of a good plan on your own,” he continues.

“Anyways, here’s the plan, in the easy-to-remember format.” He points his wingtip towards the scroll next to Phase’s map.

I take a look at the writing on the scroll, examining what it says, which happens to be this:

”Toss a razorblade at a guard, make sure to start a riot; a complete diversion, alert the guards, break free, head East.”

“So,” I say,”explain how this plan is going to succeed. Besides, we can’t save everyone.”

“I know, we’ll pick and choose.” Dust says.”I’ll explain how the plan is going to work.

“Step one, we purchase a razorblade from the store, which is simple enough, I was actually about to do it when you interrupted me. We won’t require any id, as it’s just a razorblade, and nothing much to worry about. We want to get the sharpest ones we can find, and everypony here will get one.

“Secondly, we’ll take our razorblades and toss them at the guards. Make sure to toss them at different guards, as we want complete confusion. They’ll wonder why the hell razorblades got tossed at them and will likely be on the alert, the slackers, even.

“Third, a couple of the well-built ponies in here will head into an open clearing in Lema and get into a loud pretend brawl. The guards are trained to focus on breaking people up, mainly because the defenses are so heavily fortified that it’s kind of silly to focus on protecting them. The ponies that we will send out to brawl will be Moon Rock,” Dust motions to a muscular, bald, stallion in the corner,”and Pony Kind.” Dust points to a Black stallion with long, straight, dark brown hair and a goatee.”They will start a pretend brawl, and we’ll exploit it.

“Finally, we’ll break free by knocking out a guard, to the best of our abilities. and shoot the glass. It will set off an alarm, putting them on alert for whoever did it, as that is the ultimate priority. We’ll leave to the west, Prancey, you and Phase will gather up everypony who wants to leave Lema.”

“How do we know which ponies want to leave?” I interject.

“Study Phase’s map carefully.” Dust says, motioning with his wings to the scroll Phase drew out.”Plan an efficient way to hit everypony’s house and state ‘East is up’, they’ll know what you’re talking about. Then, you head out the west hole, we’ll flt around the dome and head East.”

“Me and what army?” I snark.

“The army you’ll gather of course! Now, I’ll meet you in 30 minutes at the general store, be ready.”

I head over to the general store to purchase my razorblade. After purchasing it, the Banditos gather outside.

“Our plan is to be performed in 3, 2, 1!” Dust shouts, and I head off to gather up everypony, hitting the houses along the way. I probably look like an idiot flying through Lema at top speed, but I stop at every house and tell them,”East is up.” Most ponies do not know what I’m talking about, but a select few nod and tag along.

With my army, I head over to the hole on the west side of Lema, where almost every guard is gathered. My improvised army jumps in and then attempt to beat the guards into submission.

Of course, their armor prevents us from doing much damage, the most we can do is crush their helmets in and knock them out.

A guard slices me on the nuzzle, and my lack of weapon allows him to slice me a couple more times. Then I remember, I have the razorblade! I slice the guard with the razorblade, it does nothing, but he’s momentarily confused. I take his gun off of him and try to shoot him, the bullets are armor piercing, so in his confusion, I am able to get a hit off. I decide to help my army fight off some more.

Eventually, we win, but are not without loss, a fourth of my army succumbed to the guards. We decide to bury them, as we have the body, and we silently fly East.

We see a campfire dead East and I thank Luna we found it, I see Dust and Phase, as well as some other ponies sitting there. We had found the Bandito camp.

Author's Note

I did a similar thing here, I combined two songs because the solo ideas I had were too short. Enjoy! I also skipped Pet Cheetah because that makes little-to-no sense with my concept.

I suck at writing fight scenes. I still like the chapter, though.

Legend

I land at the campfire, and examine how fast the Banditos got set up.

“Quick wood delivery?” I ask.

Dust nods, and examines the meager group behind me.

“That’s really everypony you managed to get together?” he asks, irritated.

I smile sheepishly.”Well, most of them died while fighting my way out of Lema.”

Dust nods in understanding and walks behind the fire.”Might as well get comfortable, we’re going to be loners for a while.”

For once, I notice how few Banditos there actually are, we weren’t great in number, but everypony matters. I payed that we didn’t end up as loners and that we’d maybe find civilization like Trench. A place where everypony can rest in solace, not afraid of what’s coming. I just wanted to be somewhere else, I wasn’t good enough on my own, I needed other ponies to help me be good.

“So,” Dust says,”we have to start telling stories for entertainment, as nopony here is a guaranteed writer, so we’re improvising for entertainment.”

Dust kicks off the story-telling spree. He tells a quick little story about ‘Ace and the Beanstalk’, one we’d all heard before. Although he does add some of his own flavor to it, as I’m pretty sure the giant wasn’t a machine in the original.

As the storyteller role goes around the circle and gets closer to me, I wonder what I’m going to tell. Soon it dawns on me, I wouldn’t tell a make-believe story, but a real one. After the pony next to me is done, one I’d never got the name of, tells his story, it arrives to me. It’s getting late, but I wanted to tell mine before I fell alseep.

Dust checks out Earth as it’s going through the sky.

“Banditos, it’s getting late, we should go to sleep.” He lies down and closes his eyes.

Instead of going to sleep, I say,”Hold on, I want to tell a story.”

Dust sighs,”Prancey! We should be going to sleep at this damn hour! It’s like midnight!”

“I want to tell the story of a living legend,” I start.

I hear a collective sigh, nopony wanted to hear me talk about this.

“I want to tell a story of a lunar pony.” I continue.

“Let me guess,” Dust groans,”they’re fake?”

I shake my head.

Dust rolls his eyes.”Story’s over, good night.”

Out of force of will, I continue.”Her parents casted her out at a very young age, just because she was different. Her wings, or lack thereof, were the sole problem about her, nothing else, but our pegasus-wired minds, pegasus being a word I saw in a textbook of what we are based off of, couldn’t fathom a lack of wings.

“She wandered until she found a whole in the surface, she made it her home, running back to her city and collecting some others who didn’t fit in. She went back to that hole in the surface and assigned duties, collecting moon-delivery ships to give to her community. She eventually got an idea for a name, they called the hole Trench. She made everypony feel at home, allowing them to decorate their alcoves how they saw fit. She gathered more ponies until she had a self-sufficient community, all of them not feeling like they fit in with their community.

“On my first escape from Lema, I stumbled upon her community. She welcomed me with open wings, figuratively of course. She gave me a place to stay, and answered all my questions about Trench with heavy patience. I used to be quite the question-asker.

“Soon, we left Trench alone, we wanted to run away from Ocin, who had found my location at the time. We looked for civilization, but her incorruptible will to want to be with Trench forced her and me to run back to check on them. When we got there, Ocin had invaded, but we still fought him, in her case, she fought them to the death. Every breath she gave was an effort to help Trench, to make it better, all up until her inevitable death.”

Dust who was, thank Luna, still awake. Interrupted me.”Yeah, great story, I totally believe in that pony with a lack of wings.”

“Scoff all you want, but she was real, she was called Wingless. She was my first friend, the person who taught me to care about others. I consider her a living legend.”

“Now, could you forget about her and go to sleep?” Dust asks, fully irritated now.

“No,” I reply,”I don’t think I will.”

I look out towards Earth, smiling that I shared Wingless’ story, even if no one believed me.

“If she was real, you should just trot on over to Trench and put it back together,” Dust snarks.

“I think I’ll do that,” I reply, absentmindedly, still looking towards Earth.

I stare into the deep blue seas and think to myself, Wingless, if you are out there somewhere, I look forwards to having a lunch with you again.

I lay on the ground, still smiling, I think I’d head to Trench tomorrow.

Author's Note

Surprise! An update! One that didn’t take multiple weeks, to boot!

I have one last chapter for this story. I really enjoy how this one came out, and I would end the story on this if ‘Leave This City’ didn’t exist.

Also, I have a whole relation with Celestia (in this case, Luna) with God, so that exists.

All in all, prepare for one last chapter, and then prepare for Equestrian Idiot.

Leave This City

I wake up, I pray that it’s early enough. When I see Earth on the horizon, I realize that it’s the perfect time to enact my plan. I find an open piece of ground, and stomp on the moon dust to make sure it is still soft. I take my wing and start writing a message in the dust.

After I am finished, the message says:

I’m heading back to reclaim Trench, I don’t know if I’ll be back.

I rub my wings together to get the dust off, and head a few feet to the Bandito camp. Seeing that everypony is still asleep, I take some of our wood stockpile and start heading in the general direction of Trench. There was just one problem, I knew we were East, but I didn’t pay attention to where Trench was.

After a while, I decided to head West, I can somewhat remember when I first escaped Lema. I went West of the Bishops’ Tower and eventually stumbled upon Trench. Wood is very hard to fly with, so I had to pull a Wingless and trot all the way there. I realize that I have no food, but if I chase delivery ships, who knew where I’d end up.

I trot for a whole day with no luck. When I pass by the glass dome of Lema, nothing good will happen, so I recognize I have to go wide. I lay down my wood, laying on the ground and attempting to sleep in the coarse dust. It’s very uncomfortable, but I somehow do fall asleep.

Picking up my wood, I realize just how boring this actually is. I trudge on, hoping for some appearance or fragment of civilization. A few hours pass, but I do finally find a city. It’s unlike any city I’ve ever seen, it’s not covered by a dome, and everypony appears to be outside. I trot in, dropping my wood.

I’m a nopony here, they don’t recognize me, and I don’t recognize them. I walk up to a pony who’s laying down and watching colts and fillies play. He has a long, grey mane and deep blue skin, with wrinkles.

“Sir, do you know where this is?” I ask.

He looks at me strangely.”I believe you are in Sol, though you would know that if you were from around here.”

“Except I’m not, say have you heard of a place called Trench? I get this is a really silly question, but it doesn’t hurt asking,” I reply.

“You say, that’s where Wingless got off to...” he looks down, as if trying to count something,”20 years ago?”

He phrases it like a question, and I wonder if this is where she’s from.”So,” I say,”how do you know her?”

“She was from here, I think it was a couple down the street, but she was their child. I heard some nasty things from that household, anyways, I believe Trench is a couple day’s time,” he points his hoof in a direction,”West.”

I thank him for his help.”Do you have any food?” I add, as a last-minute statement.

The old stallion nods,”Sure, just come on in. I understand if you have to get some food before trudging off to Trench.” He heads inside.

I enter his house, a quaint moon rock house, and look for some food. I find some haybacon and cook it carefully, after asking the kind old stallion, first. Upon eating it, I apologize for leaving so early. I head outside and continue my trudge West.

My wood with me, I eventually realize that I have to sleep for the night, so I put down the wood and try to fall asleep, I have been getting to sleep a lot faster after nothing but trotting all day. I fall asleep quickly.

Nearly driven mad from the isolation, I hope that this will be the last day. I didn’t want all my searching to be for naught. Not helping matters was the moon’s endlessly grey surface, constantly appearing to repeat itself while slowly making your brain hurt.

After another full day of trotting, I’m on the verge of giving up. I set up a fire and watch as the fire slowly falls away, leaving nothing but glowing embers. I didn’t want to fall asleep, I just wanted to watch the fire. I can’t tend to the fire with the little wood I’ve got. Eventually, I’m sitting in near-darkness, Earth on the horizon. With nothing more to look at, I fall asleep after the second fruitless day in a row.

Waking up, I continue heading West, not having much left in me to continue. After another half day of trotting, I’m done.

That is, until I see a pony lying next to a hill. I fly to them, and examine them thoroughly. One of their wings is cut off, so she’s a misfit, her color palette is nothing special, seeing as how lunar ponies could only have a few, but she’s a modest blue. Her eyes are green, and she looks about ready to give up, too. She has a black mane, and she clearly has bangs, but the are pushed back.

Well, it’s a pony I can relate to, I think, but how useful will she be?

“Hey, do you know where Trench is?” I ask out of desperation.

She nods and motions me toward the hill, the hill with a hole dug into it.

I step inside Trench, left alone by Ocin. He ponies are located in their rooms, all with a disdainful expression on their face. The pony leading me through motions them up and into the eating room.

They follow us, and soon, everypony is congregated in the eating area.

“So,” she says,”we’ve found Prancey. He does not have Wingless with him.”

A very audible groan goes throughout the crowd.

“Thank you,” I say,”ummm, what’s your name?”

She blushes,”Call me Blue.”

I nod.”Thank you Blue, I have unfortunate news, Wingless is dead.”

Everypony gasps.

“Ocin killed her. However, I can assign you your jobs. I’ll take leadership duties, and we will begin rebuilding Trench tomorrow.”

Everypony claps their wings together, of those who have them, and there’s a mutual cheering.

Looking at everypony who is with me in this Moon Colony, I smile while realizing something I’ve always known, but never realized.

I’m sure, after all I’ve gone through, I can live a better life.

In Trench, I’m not alone.

Author's Note

And there it is! The end of the story. Love the ending, as I always do with my stories, though the chapter’s slow-paced.

I hope you enjoyed, and I’d like to see you leave comments on how much you enjoyed this story. If you stuck with me.

I’ll post a blog post on details for Equestrian Idiot tomorrow, until then, I hope you enjoyed.