Ruferd

It was a beautiful day in Ponyville. The sun was shining down on a box in an alleyway, and a certain pony crawled out of the box. Although he did not look like a normal pony. He was a colt, that much was obvious. But he had a tail like a dragon, similar to Discords own tail, actually. He was completely pink. His horn was colored like a rainbow, along with the front of his wild mane do. He had spikes on his back like a dragon. His ear looked to have striped fabric lined in it. The bottom of his front legs had hearts on them. The top half had stars. On the front of his chest was a sewn on bloody cake with a knife in it. His hind legs had crayons patterned on them. Separating the sections of with legs seemed to be stitches. He was rather cute, much like a plush.

He looked at his box, proudly bearing the words in marker: Home of Lord Tyrant Quilten Alastor Atticus Von Maimjoy. Although his friends called him Killjoy. But he preferred Lord Tyrant.

Lord Tyrant rummaged through a trashcan that he made his own.It also had the very long label on it. Inside was a sort of hair gel and a heavy black cloak. It had holes for his wings, but also had buttons to- "Heh. Buttons to button up the holes." Lord Tyrant was not sure why he found that funny. He took the gel and smoothed his hair down slick with it. 'Fancy'. A dark aura covered the cloak as he covered himself in it. It was made of fine cloth, with white fluffy clouds along the bottom. It was more like a blanket. "Doesn't cover my tail... But I do love the ruby clasp." Lord Tyrant put on the cloak. So much of his body was covered that what could be seen of his front legs could be mistaken for as weird socks. He then put on silver shoes, similar to the design of Celestia's own. Finally, the crown. The silver crown was what let him pull it off. The scam. The-

"Howdy Killjoy! How ya doin?"

Lord Tyrant whipped his head around as he glared at Applebloom and Scootaloo. "Humph. I was doing fine inspecting the silver of this trashcan until you two came along". He huffed and poke Applebloom hard in the chest. "Now go away, pheasant".

Scootaloo ruffled her wings angrily. "Hey, you don't gotta be so rude! Wait. Why is there a trashcan made of silver?" Scootaloo shook her head. "Applebloom, forget it. Let's just leave Mr. Snobby Killjoy to himself."

"Sorry Scoots, but no." Applebloom glared at Scootaloo for a moment before turning back to Killjoy. "Anyhow, Joy-" Applebloom was interrupted for a moment as she was corrected with the words of 'Lord Tyrant'. "Anywho, how'd you like to come with me to Sweet Apple Acres? Cause I know how much ya like to-"

"No." Lord Tyrant said. "I am not interested in going anywhere with you." He said as he sat down on his haunches. "Especially not on a date." He said with a short nod.

Applebloom blushed from surprise, while Scootaloo looked bewildered. "What? No!" Applebloom said, taking a step back while shaking her head. Her face grew redder. "No! I was gonna invite there 'cause a family reunion is going on, and I know how much ya love countrin food! I wasn't askin ya on a date!"

Lord Tyrant arched his left eyebrow, his right eye narrowing at Applebloom. "Hmm... I'm not convinced. Why should I go? Hm?" He then stood up, turned around, and sat back down.

"Come on Applebloom! We're wasting time!" Scootaloo complained. Her parents were coming to town to eat at the reunion. "If he doesn't want to go, we should just leave him." Scootaloo tapped her right hoof impatiently.

Applebloom would not give up. "Oh come on,Tyrant!" She saw his ear twitch at the sound of his 'proper' name. "There will be pie!" Only a grunt in response. "Lotsa cider!" No response. "Mah cousin Babs will be there." This was answered with a turn of Killjoy's head, a confused look on his face, before he turned away. "The Cakes are coming along with all mah friends and I don't want a single friend to be left out and Pinkie is gonna bring treats and I now how much you love to eat and-"

A right hoof was stuck in Applebloom's mouth. "Did you say the Cakes and Pinkie are bringing food?" Applebloom nodded with a 'mm-hm'. Lord Tyrant looked over his right shoulder. He took his right hoof out out of Appleblooms mouth and wiped it on her chest. "... Fine. I'll go." He stood and looked at Applebloom. "To embarrass you I might say that that blush makes you look cute, but frankly the thought of me thinking of you as cute makes me sick. Literally. SO! Lets forget that and get so good grub!"

Applebloom smiled as she saw Killjoy smile. Killjoy then quickly out a scowl on his face. Applebloom noticed his face go green for a moment before he looked away and jumped in Scootaloo's wagon. "Huh." Scootaloo said. "Applebloom with a red face really does make you sick." In reply, Scootaloo got a short nod from Killjoy. Applebloom clambered in to the wagon,sitting behind Killjoy.

Lord Tyrant watched the scenery zoom by as he sat in the wagon. He stared at Scootaloo's wings buzzing and pondered. Finally his curiosity got the better of him and he spoke. "How does it feel, having wings but not being able to lift off the ground?" He got a glare from Scootaloo. It wasn't the answer he wanted, but for lack of answer he could just tease her later.

"What does it feel like, being such a snob?" Scootaloo told Killjoy. She didn't like the question, and was pretty sure Killjoy would just tease her later for answering.

Lord Tyrant paused for a moment to think. "It feels pretty good actually. You feel like you're better than most anypony else. Even at your lowest you know everypony else is always lower. Folks know that you think highly of yourself. You feel like you are the utmost best. You rarely ever feel sad. And when you do, you quickly grow happy thinking of how much you own. So being a stuck up, up tight snob is quite profound."

Scootaloo didn't expect an answer like that. A snide remark, maybe, but not a full on complete answer. The three rode in silence before Applebloom spoke up. "Yeah you're a stuck up, but you certainly ain't when it comes to proper food. 'Cause I ain't never seen you eat fancy food. Only shoving hay burgers in your mouth.

Scootaloo looked back and saw Killjoy looking down between his front hooves, a deep blush covering most of his face. "I'm stingy with money, okay? The food is cheap and filling!" he shouted. "really filling." Scootaloo almost stopped from the tone in his voice. It sounded so... sad. "Really tasty, I mean. Ahem."

An awkward silence filled the air before Killjoy pointed forward, almost hitting Scootaloo on her head. "Hey look! We're almost there! Wait. You can't fly but using your wings you were able to travel three times faster than a grown pony. That's actually pretty impressive!"

Scootaloo grinned. "Yeah, I know I'm awesome. Now come on! We're here!" Scootaloo skidded to a stop and hopped off her scooter. Her adventure parents were at a table looking around.

Applebloom smiled. She may not have parents, but her entire family was there at Sweet Apple Acres. She looked at Killjoy, who looked unsure of himself. "Tyrant, the foods over there. Have fun stuffing your face."

Lord Tyrant huffed as he walked over to the food table. He took a slice of apple-pie, using his hooves. He did not want to use his magic in front of everyone. Lord Tyrant took a small bite. He was, after all, a high class pony. He soon took many small bites. "Forget it." he to himself. "Don't even think about it." He looked at the whole apple-pie. "Hnn" He bit his lip. But he than remembered Applebloom's words to stuff himself. "I give up." And with that, he ran to the pie and smashed his face in it, eating eagerly.

Babs trotted over to the unicorn stuffing his face at the table. "Hi! You must be Killjoy." She watched as Killjoy whipped his head around, a look of embarrassment on his face. She watched him stutter for a moment. "Don't worry. The foods good enough for most ponies to forget their manners. I'm Babs Seed! One of Applebloom's cousins. You must be Killjoy! I recognize that fancy cloak from her letters.

"Well, yes, um." Lord Tyrant stuttered. He then regained some of his composure. "But it is not Killjoy. That is something that the lowly crusaders keep on using... For some reason." Lord Tyrant paused, a look of annoyance on his face. "No. My true name is Lord Tyrant Quilten Alastor Atticus Von Maimjoy. Otherwise known as Lord Tyrant."

Babs cocked her head to a small tilt. She didn't understand why, or how, Applebloom could be friends with him. Then again, Tyrant was acting a lot like Babs did when she first came to Ponyville. "Alright than. Nice to meet you." Babs extended who right hoof to Tyrant. He slowly reached out his hand to hers.

'Wait! What am I doing? If I shake hooves with her, she'll find out what my hide is!' Lord Tyrant thought to himself. He also realized he was almost showing his scars. He quickly pulled his hoof back. He than stuck his nose up and to the left. "A b-bow will do." Lord Tyrant said shakily/carefully.

Babs found this offensive, but said nothing. In Tyrant's eyes was a look she was all too familiar with. Self doubt. "So that's why Applebloom said I'd like you" she muttered. She then caught a quizzical look from Tyrant. She then realized what she said. "Uhh... I mean-"

"Shut up now, before you cause embarrassment to yourself!" Lord Tyrant snapped. "...Actually, Applebloom has blabbered about you to me many a time. To convince to come to this reunion, she told me you would be here. Although I don't quite understand as to why. Also it seems your grandmother is coming this way."
*
***Later
*

"And so that was Applejack's first words!" Granny Smith chuckled to herself as Babs Seed, Scootaloo, Sweetie Bell, Applebloom, Applejack and... 'oh what was his name?' surrounded her, listening as she told stories."Any awho, Mista um.. What ya name? Oh no don't tell me. It's umm. Lets see here. Quilt Plaster! Anywho, Quilt Plaster, what was your first words?"

Lord Tyrant was drinking some cider when he finally realized that 'Quilt Plaster' was him. He choked and coughed on the cider for a moment. "You mean me?" Granny gave a slow nod to confirm, before patting his head. "I uhh. Um. BUCK IT!" he shouted. He never knew his first words! That was too embarrassing! And what if from that, they found out his secret?

Babs eyebrow's went up in shock. She was about to question if Tyrant had just cursed when Applebloom spoke. "Y'all first word was bucket?" Applebloom asked. Tyrant nodded nervously. "Heh. That almost sounds cute." At that, Granny Smith chuckled. And soon, the whole group was laughing.

Babs wiped a tear from her eyes when Tyrant glared at them all. "Never let out that I was this relaxed at the reunion. After all, I have a reputation to uphold!" He then tilted his head up and sniffed. Babs knew he still meant well from the smile on his face. The entire group then Pinkie Promised they would not tell.

A ball went flying past Babs as Pinkie threw it too hard. "Don't worry, Pinkie! I'll get your ball!" Babs Seed ran after the ball as it bounced down to a river on the property. Babs watched as it bounced to an odd looking mud-pile on the bank. She grabbed the ball. And screamed.

Applejack heard an ear piercing shriek. Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, Scootaloo, Killjoy, and Uncle Orange were already running to find the source. Applejack ran after them. Her friends noticed and followed behind.

Sweetie managed to get down to the river bank first. She was about to ask if Babs was okay when she saw the body. "Oh my Celestia! Is that Button Mash!?" Sweetie grabbed her friend and turned to Babs. "Don't just sit there! Help me!" Tears were rolling down her eye's. She then turned to the only other pony who was just sitting. "Help me!" Sweetie begged to Killjoy.

Lord Tyrant was frozen. He recognized the scars. Sweetie did not see them yet. But Lord Tyrant did. He saw where stitches had pierced the skin of the pony. But this body was fresh. He began to hyperventilate. 'If that is made than that means... HE's still alive. THE MONSTER. THE CREATOR. THE DAD. "Iron Taz". The words were whispered by Lord Tyrant. He had tears of fear flowing down his cheeks. He heard Sweetie shouting at him as the others came. It all sounded muffled. It was too much. Lord Tyrant did the only thing he could think of. He ran. He bumped into Applebloom. He shoved past her. He ran and ran. He ran away from Sweet Apple Acres. He ran until he reached his box. He pulled his cloak off and stuffed it in his silver trashcan. He leaped in to his box and pulled a blanket around him. He realized he had Appleblooms bow. He hugged it. He hugged it tightly. And he did nothing but cry.

Applejack watched as Killjoy ran off. She considered running after him. But Fluttershy did that. Applejack helped Sweetie Belle pull the child out of the river bank. Sweetie was using her magic to try clearing off the mud. The pony was a colt. And he wasn't breathing. "WHO KNOW'S CPR?" Applejack bellowed.

"I do!" A familiar pony stepped forward. He was a someone brown pony with an hourglass cutie mark. "I know CPR. Now please move aside." Time Turner rushed to the pony and gently set him down to the ground. He breathed into the colt, only to find the lungs had air in them. No water. "He doesn't need CPR. Rainbow Dash! Quickly, get a cloud and charge it with electricity. When I tell you to do something, do not question me."

Rainbow quickly got a storm cloud. It looked out of place during the sunny day. "Great! Now don't ask questions, but strike me with a lightning bolt!" Rainbow Dash paused, looking at Time Turner as if he was crazy. "JUST DO IT!" Rainbow struck the cloud, causing the lightning bolt to streak down. Time Turner pointed his hoof to the colt as the electricity traveled through him. It jumped from Time Turner into the colt. It all happened in a hundredth of a second.

Golden eyes flashed open. A breath was released. And many more where taken. IT looked around. Confused. Too bright. What is bright? What are these things? Memory. Loud noise. Scary Noise. HUGE white thing. Huge Grey thing. Fear. Fear fear fear. Scream. Scream. Scream.

The colt started to scream. A scream filled with fear. Applejack rushed over and hugged the colt. "Don't worry sugar cube. Everything's gonna be okay." Applejack spoke softly. She felt him snuggle up against her. Then, she heard him breath softly. Softly sleeping. Applejack put him gently on her back. "Come on, y'all. Let's get this feller to a proper bed. Doctor Turner, if there's anything else to be done, come with me." The group walked back to the house, where the rest of the family was waiting, concerned.

Sweetie Belle and Applejack looked around as Time Turner took Ruferd. "Say, where's Joy and Flutter?" Applejack watched as Fluttershy gently landed, tears is her eyes. She hung her head down in shame.

"He was crying. And running. I wanted to comfort him, but he was too fast! I just wanted to hug him and tell him everything was okay. Applejack, I failed to help somepony in need!" Fluttershy hugged Applejack. "At l-least the other pony is alright. He is, right?

"He sure is, sugar. Doc's patching him up right now. Now sugar, ya seemed to be a might stressed so relax, while I-" Applejack was cut off as the CMC ran up to her. Along with the brown colt, Button Mash, and Babs Seed.

"Don't worry, sis! We'll find him!" And with that, the group was off to find Killjoy. Applejack sighed and went inside. Doctor Turner immediately shushed Applejack. They both sat down, and began to talk...
*
*

Lord Tyrant forced himself to stop crying, and dropped the bow. Crying wasn't just bad for the cardboard, it was also a waste of good water, so he had learned to suppress his tears internally and never let his true emotions escape from their psychological vault. He had to do something to get rid of these bad feelings. He tapped his left cheek as he thought. "Getting jewelry is fun!" Lord Tyrant pulled his cloak back on. No one really suspected a rich one stealing simple jewelry. He hummed to himself before heading down to a bridge. The water seemed clean, so he drank from it. Lord Tyrant wiped his lips. The streets of Ponyville were the modern orphan's jungle and libertarian free-for-all. The sidewalks were littered with families, the roadside carts were littered with valuable theftables.

Lord Tyrant sneered at ponies as he walked through town. There were some who were at first concerned for him, because they saw Lord Tyrant crying. But now, they were only annoyed by the stuck up snob. Lord Tyrant saw the school teacher, Cheerilee. In her saddle bag, poking out, was a golden necklace. A dark aura covered the golden necklace and floated to Lord Tyrant. He then tucked it away in his cloak, his wings holding on to it.

"Killjoy! Did you just steal!?" Lord Tyrant whipped his head around. His neck hurt from how many times that happened today. He saw a large group of small ponies. Almost all the school children. And now even Cheerilee was looking at him, a look of shock on his face.

"I... Uhh..." Lord Tyrant's ears flattened against his head. His eyes opened wide with fear. He acted too fast. He didn't bother looking to see if anypony was looking his way. He looked at the crowd, emotions mixed in it. Some angry, others confused. Some actually looked concerned. "I..." He lowered down, like he was trying to blend in with the ground. A few ponies took steps forward. And one shouted 'get him'. And so, for the second time that day, Lord Tyrant ran.

The entire group followed. Some split up to try to catch him. He ran faster, trying to lose them. He finally lost the group but he could hear others near by. "I need to hide!" He found his box. He shoved his cloak in the trash can and turned it, so the label faced the wall. He jumped in his box. He curled up. In all honesty, he resembled a cat trying to sleep. Hoof steps thundered past the box.

Button Mash had to stop running, but it would look bad if he did. He lost the group in an alleyway. He panted hard, trying to catch his breath. He then noticed a trash can with black cloth poking out. "Got you now." he said. Button threw off the lid, only to find the cloak. "Clever. A false lead to distract us. Huh?" Button Mash noticed a lot of fancily drawn letters and the side of a really large cardboard box. "Home of Lord Tyrant Quilten Alastor Atticus Von Maimjoy. Home?" Button Mash decided to open the box. As he touched it, he heard a whimper. "Got you now!" he shouted as he ripped off the flimsy cardboard flaps.

He saw someone looking at him with absolute fear, a ragged but thick fluffy blanket wrapped tightly around. He saw tears forming in the eyes, but not daring to drop. Button then noticed that in his rush to open the box, it was now ruined. He wasn't sure what to say. He had always wanted to get back at Killjoy for all the times he was a jerk. But now he saw somepony with a frazzled mane, rather then slick hair. Somepony with a ragged blanket instead of a fine cloak.

Button Mash slowly reached out a hoof. Killjoy flinched and curled up while speaking fast. "Please don't hurt me I only wanted to get something I could sell for some food." Button Mash then remembered of how much Killjoy ate during parties. He thought it was because Killjoy was trying to hog all the food. But he was only trying to fill his belly for when he didn't have food. Button Mash sat don next to Killjoy. He looked so scared.

Button Mash remembered of how when he was scared, his mother would pet him and tell him everything was fine. Here, everything was not fine, but maybe petting could work. He reached out his hoof that was nearest to Killjoy. His left hoof. As his hoof touched Killjoy, Killjoy curled up tighter and whimpered.

"Oh Celestia please don't hurt me. I'm so sorry please don't hurt me please don-" Lord Tyrant stopped as he felt a soft rubbing on his back. He peeked his head up and saw Button Mash petting him, while staring at the silver trash can. "Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you." Button Mash continued to pet Killjoy for a few minutes. He then heard a soft sigh from Killjoy, followed by a sharp breath.

"But you were the one who told the crowd to get me!" Killjoy looked afraid once again. And the words stung. Button scratched his head with his right hoof. He wondered how to respond to that. Maybe just a simple response?

"Yeahh... Sorry about that." Button Mash turned to look at Killjoy. He saw that Killjoy had on his snobbish skeptical expression. 'must be muscle memory or something'. "But can you blame me? You were acting kinda weird today. Then you decide to steal a necklace when everypony thinks you're rich!"

"Oh sure I can't blame you! I'm just a homeless freak orphan WHO EATS GARBAGE!" Button Mash almost jumped back from the glare he was given. But he continued to pet Killjoy, and that seemed to calm him down. "But I guess the blame also goes to me for trying to steal. Not that it'll matter anymore. You now know of my secret. So now everypony will now. Then I'll be sent to an orphanage or to some foster parents who 'Only want the best for me'. Then my other secrets will be found out and-" Killjoys face dropped it's snobbish angry look and became afraid yet again. "And HE'LL find me." He put his hooves over his head and gained a panicked look to his eyes.

"Don't worry! I won't tell anypony!" Button Mash said quickly. "I Pinkie Promise you that. Cross my heart and hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye." This seemed to completely calm Killjoy down.

"Thanks" Killjoy sniffed. "But that doesn't change the fact that the entire school caught me stealing from Cheerilee. What do I do about that?" Button Mash tried to think, but nothing came to him. He then looked at the wreck box.

"I have no stinkin idea. Maybe we could come up with a convincing lie? But if Applejack hears and tries to listen to the excuse... I got nothing." Button Mash stopped petting Killjoy and got to his hooves. "Meanwhile, we need to find you a better box. Also sorry for breaking it. Until we find the material for a small shack, you wanna head to my place and play some video games?"

Lord Tyrant tilted his head in thought. He now had a friend who knew some of his secrets. Button Mash has promised not to tell, and offered to help him make a shack. That would be far better then a simple box. But he still pondered one thing. "What in Equestia is a Video Game?"

Button Mash gawked. "I have much to teach you!"
*
Later
*

"How are you so bad and good at the same time!?" Button Mash laughed. It had been tricky getting Killjoy home without anypony noticing, and included a bucket, a yarn ball, two hay burgers as a bribe, and the silver trash can. "Also, how did you buy a silver trash can?"

Lord Tyrant laughed as he munched on some cookies. There were 5 platters of them. Button Mash had explained the situation his mom Cream Heart, and she made lots of cookies for 'Mashy's new friend'. "I don't know! I just am! I got the trash can from Diamond Tiara! I considered getting a gold one, but that proved too heavy to even drag."

The two spoke in this odd crooked ask many questions, get many answers way for some time. It was getting dark. Lord Tyrant was getting ready to leave when Cream Heart stopped him. "You aren't going anywhere, mister! You are going to eat a large dinner, then sleep in a proper bed." She gave him a hard look. Lord Tyrant leaped up and hugged her tightly.

Cream Heart heard 'Killy' whisper in her ear. "Thank you so much!" She watched as he bounded to the dinner table. He kept his dirty blanket on, but Cream Heart would allow it. She sighed, and closed the front door.

Lord Tyrant Quilten Alastor Atticus Von Maimjoy smiled as he waited for dinner to be served. So far, despite everything, this was the best day of his life.
*
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