The Beginning
Have you ever been bored before? Bored of life, maybe bored of your job, or the scenery. Sometimes things at home just aren’t enough. Especially when everyone around you is just as boring as the most boring of boring things. That’s a bit too much of the same word, but you get what I mean. I want to go see something. Maybe the badlands, or anywhere that isn’t Maretime Bay. My parents always tell me “Argyle, the outside world is filled with Unicorns and Pegasi! You can’t possibly want to go out there with them lurking around!”. Yeah yeah, mom and dad, I get it, pegasi and unicorns are dangerous, but isn’t anything to a certain degree? Maybe like Dragons, or changelings? Like what, are you going to say that a pony with wings is more dangerous than a big snake the size of a factory with wings?? They are at least the same level, if not more.
Sometimes I wonder if Pegasi and Unicorns are just legends, made up by the corporate companies to keep us here in this little town…. I’ve read all the books in the library (even the ones I’m not supposed to) and none of them even have the same description of them. Some say Unicorns have little horns all over their bodies, while others say that there is only one Horn from the top that’s as sharp as the sharpest knife. Dragons and changelings have about the same description in every book, leading me to believe that they are most likely real species, not in fact made up like Unicorns and Pegasi. I mean let’s be real here, why in the world would a pony have a horn? It would be so inconvenient, same for wings. You wouldn’t be able to sleep properly with wings, and the horn? You might accidentally poke someone with that. Imagine they go in for a kiss, only to get a stab on the forehead. I mean come on. They are mere myths.
Anyway, the point of this is that I’m thinking of leaving. There isn’t much for me here, I am grateful to my family and this town for raising me and giving me a place to stay but I think it’s time I leave the coup. I am almost a grown stallion after all. Why shouldn't I go and see the world?
-Argyle, diary entry 124, book 3.
-Date 2/6/2005
Argyle closed his diary. He placed it on his bed stand. He had gotten a little worked up over the inconsistencies of pony history in his latest diary entry, but he did that with a lot of entries. Ever since he found a restricted book in the library when he was a foal, he had been sneaking and reading all the books he could find, including copying some of the most important parts that made little sense to him or were too interesting to let go.
He could be considered a conspiracy theorist to some, or maybe just a crazy pony that shouldn't be paid any mind. He wasn’t necessarily denying that Pegasi and Unicorns were dangerous, he believed that. A universally powerful magic user who can both levitate heavy objects on top of you, or kill you with one look, or a pony who can fly and grab you whenever scary. But something about all the contradicting literature did not sit right with him whatsoever. Some would say that the War between the 3 tribes was won by the Earth ponies, but others would say that the Earth Ponies contributed to the war but were wise and peaceful unlike the other races, and went to found Maretime bay to get away from the stupid fighting. When he was a foal he believed everything he was told, even the contradicting parts. Until he found the truth, the truth was that the high powers were hiding something. He didn’t know what, but it was something.
His room was a mess, books, and papers all over. His parents were not pleased with his conspiracy-like research but did not completely stop or ban his search for the truth. Since it didn’t affect them too much, nor did he deny that the other tribes were dangerous, they let him keep his things. Though they would prefer that he would just stop. And also get rid of the terrible goatee he was beginning to grow on his face. It was horrid and an obvious sign of teen rebellion.
Argyle looked to his bed stand with his diary on it. He might want to sleep now, but his ranting had made his heart rate go up. He got up and started walking to the kitchen, maybe a nice glass of water or a small snack would be nice. He walked down and opened the fridge and grabbed a snack and a drink. As he began to walk back to his room the window caught his eye. He went over and opened it, causing the moonlight to come in. It was wonderful. From out of the window he could see the old lighthouse, it looked peaceful. He thought maybe from the top of the lighthouse he might be able to see the starlight. Light pollution from the town caused stars to be much harder to see. Up there. Maybe he could see them shine like sparkles? He shook the thought, maybe tomorrow night. For now, it was time to go back to bed.
With his snack and drink, he made his way back to his room and sat down. Maybe one day, he could finally find his place in the world.
Elaine opened the door to her house in a rather groggy manner, as did many Unicorns. All of them felt something was missing in their lives. None were very excited about anything. There were however some young adults who took it upon themselves to start playing games and whatnot in Crystal Tearoom, it was some Unicorn named Bittle who convinced his mother to let them use her teahouse to do it. It was enticing, but nonetheless not her cup of tea. (haha) The only thing keeping her going nowadays was walking through the forest by herself or with a few animal friends. It was much more peaceful and nice than going to a teahouse that was probably polluted by boring inserts to get you to buy their tea. Not to mention the constant feeling of uneasiness that came from being around other unicorns, they were all just so depressed. She knew that she herself was also depressed, but most of it was just her being affected by the feelings of those around her. She never cared much about being around them. The animals in the forest were a lot more like living beings than the unicorns. They never took anything for granted, and always cherished the life they were given, unlike the ponies in her town.
She knew that her parents hated it, they told her she was going too close to the edge, and that some earth pony or pegasus would see her. She had never in all the days going to the edge seen either pegasus or earth pony, so she chalked it up to paranoia on their part.
Elaine began to walk out of her house, passing rather mopey ponies on her way out. Nopony said hello to each other or anything, keeping their heads low. As Elaine trotted down the path all she could think about was the forest, her safe haven. As she passed her unenthused neighbors, she thought maybe she’d actually enjoy seeing an earth pony or pegasus, they would for sure be more interesting than the ponies of her town. She saw the usual scenery, no foals playing, no unicorns talking, not even any greetings. She sometimes wondered how unicorns had survived this long speaking so little to each other. The only ones who really spoke were Bittle and his friends, they would promote the teahouse and whatnot. It was really just a scam to get their hooves on items.
“Hey hey hey citizens of Bridlewood! Want to play games? WE GOT YOU, want to drink some tea? WE GOT YOU! Best and only Teahouse in all of Bridlewood” Bittle yelled in front of the Teahouse. He was speaking too loud but nonetheless, his tactics worked. With the town being so quiet all the time, it only makes sense the only one screaming is going to get everyone's attention. Unicorns walked in, being at least a little curious to see what he was peddling.
*sigh* Bittle, why of all times did you have to pick morning to peddle your little scam? Couldn’t you have picked the afternoon, when I'm not here, to yell and shout? I don’t want your tea or your “games”. I just want to go to the forest.
Elaine was annoyed, Bittle didn’t usually yell during the morning. He was a least smart enough to know that no one wants to hear yelling during the morning. If he was yelling now, it was either because he drank too much caffeine, or saw something of someponies he really wanted to take. Elaine folded her ears down and continued to walk, ignoring the yelling as best she could. Suddenly Bittle popped right in front of her, causing her to stumble when she tried to step.
“Hey there, Elaine was it? I’ve never seen you go into the Crystal Teahouse, wanna come in?” He said
Elaine was a bit shocked. He usually never personally stopped ponies in the path.
“Oh....Uh, Bittle? Um, I was kind of heading somewhere.” she said shyly.
“Come on, you're the only pony who has never come into the shop before, it wouldn't hurt to try once would it?” He said
Elaine tried to disagree but found herself overcome by the stares of the other unicorns, another disadvantage of ponies never talking to each other was that she didn't many social skills, nor did she have any confidence to disagree.
“Oh um, I guess not.” She said instantly regretting her decision right after she said it.
“Wonderful!” He said excitedly, “I knew you’d come around, everypony who has come into our teahouse has left with an experience of a lifetime!”
He was smug as he led her into what could only be described as an emotional meltdown. As Elaine was led into the teahouse, she became more and more uneasy, the surrounding “auras” of all the unicorns made her feel sick. Obviously whatever he had in the teahouse was definitely an experience, but not the one she wanted to have.
This was going to be a complete disaster.
Author's Note
Hello everyone, welcome to my story. I am not at all a professional nor do I have good skills in writing. I just thought this would be a fun idea. Got it from DRWolf001. Also I drew the cover art.
Chapter 2 Ideas
Argyle woke up slowly. He heard the noises of a few bustling ponies from outside along with birds and other various noises. This was what he woke up to almost every day, it wasn’t bad, just a bit annoying. He got up, rubbing his eyes and looking out upon his room that was still as cluttered as it ever was. The sound of hooves came into hearshot and there was a knock at the door.
“Argyle, Breakfast in 5! also we both have something to tell you!” They said, And trotted back down the hall.
Argyle sighed. He slowly made his way to get up and ready himself for whatever his parents had to say to him this morning. Nothing personal against his parents, but they usually had some way to make things awkward. Especially after he dropped his latest truthbomb of:
“Oh hey, I’m thinking of leaving Maretime bay and exploring the unknown, I wanna go see some deadly creatures! You know, like Dragons and Unicorns and stuff!”
No doubt they were worried for good reason, but denying the thought only made him more anxious for when he would finally be able to actually do it. Go off on his very own and see the world! To him it was heaven, to them it was hell. In their minds Maretime bay was the only safe haven. To Argyle it was a fancy cage.
Argyle went to the bathroom and tidied up his appearance, he walked down the hallway and instantly heard the sound of plates clinking on the table. His Father Silver Sun was sitting down with a large plate of pancakes. His Mother Beatrice went to sit after putting His own plate down on the table. They were both staring at him with a look of nervousness and anticipation for him to sit. He complied with these looks and sat down at the table with his parents.
Beatrice broke the silence first, “So Argyle, my sweet star, me and your father were both thinking about what you said a few days ago about leaving town….” She immediately looked at Silver to speak next, needing backup.
“Um, yes son, We were both talking and we think that you aren’t quite thinking this through. It would be different if you wanted to get your own place and job. You are still underage after all, we think you should reconsider” Silver said
Argyle was angry but not surprised, of course they would try and stop him from going. This was bound to happen. He considered what to say back.
“Mother, Father, I understand your point of view, but I’m a bit confused, you can’t stop me from leaving once I turn 18” He said
“Yes.. We know. We are setting you up with a job over at Canterlogic. We think that once you get a little more responsibility you’ll reconsider” Said his father.
“Sweet star, we think that this’ll be good for you” Said his mother.
“Really? You both are going to apply for a job without even asking me first?” Argyle said angrily .
“Actually, it’s already yours, we spoke to Phyllis about it and her father agreed to give you a job” His mother explained.
That damn Phyllis, she probably thinks that she can convince me to stay. I’ll probably end up as her assistant or something stupid like that.
“No” Argyle said annoyed, and quickly got up to go outside. He needed some air, this was ridiculous, he didn’t want to do any of this. He just wanted to go see the world.
“Hey, where are you going! You can’t just say no and leave!” Said his mother
“Just watch” he said as he opened the door and walked out. He didn’t know where he was going, but he was going to go, maybe even out of town. Maybe a little farther than before. He heard the yelling of his parents from the house, but he ignored them. He trotted down the path, earth ponies were walking and chatting together. Little ponies with action figures playing, and fillies with chalk drawing on the pavement. Older ponies with stands holding freshly baked goods and drinks.
As he walked the lighthouse caught his eye for the second time. He had never really noticed it all that much in all his time being in Maretime Bay, but lately it called to him. It was such a ways out of town as well, he decided that’s where he would go. The lighthouse. The only place where he might get some time to himself. He began to walk faster, then trot, then gallop. His taste for different scenery had awakened and he thought he might see the entire town from the lighthouse grounds. He was excited.
As he neared the end of his journey up the hill he began to feel tired, he began to walk once more, taking in all that the area around the lighthouse had to offer. He plopped down right in front of it, sighing.
He finally looked up at his prize, the entire town of Maretime bay, perfectly framed by the sea and forest behind. He looked out on his small town, never before had it looked so tiny, it was really just a big circle that went around again and again. He chuckled to himself. That’s what it felt like sometimes, just going around in circles, never truly going anywhere, just staying in one place for eternity. He thought to himself for a while, with the morning air that was cool and nice from the sea, the landscape in the background surrounded the bay. It was really only less than 1% of what the world had to offer, and that made him want to leave even more.
It hit him for a moment. He had no money, no house, no job. How had he ever thought he could just get up and leave all of a sudden once he turned 18, he didn’t even have a penny to his name. No supplies, no way to go without most likely getting lost or dead in the process. He needed a map or something, but where would he even find one? It’s not like anyone had even left the town for more than 5 minutes. There wouldn’t be any maps around.
There was a creak and the opening of a door from behind, “Young man?” Asked a voice. Argyle quickly turned his head to the voice.
“Hello, I'm surprised to see such a spry young man near my old tower, I don’t see many faces up here” Said an old stallion who had obviously seen many days in his time.
"Really? Well they are missing out, the view is amazing" Argyle said
The old stallion walked over and sat directly next to Argyle. "My name is Solar wind, what's yours boy?" He asked
"My name is Argyle sir" He said
"Argyle eh? Why did you come on up here to my old tower?" He asked
"Well, my parents wanted me to do something I didn't want to, so I came up here to get some quiet" Argyle said
"Haha, a tale as old as time my boy, I bought this here Lighthouse because I thought it would be a nice change of pace when I was young. Now I'm old and the dang thing is falling apart!" He laughed
"I've been trying to sell the thing for 5 years to live in town for retirement, but no one wants to live this far out of town, to be honest it's not that far to me but I think I'm biased" He said chuckling
"How much are you going to sell for?" Argyle asked
"For as little as possible! I've wanted to move for 5 years now, it would be a miracle if anyone wanted to buy it now"
Argyle looked at the sky "Hey mister Solar, when it's night can you see the stars from the tower?"
"Of course I can, why wouldn't I be able to?" He said
"I can't see any stars in town, only a couple" Argyle said
"Is that so.." Solar said
"Do you know why the lighthouse existed in the first place? I mean it isn't even functional anymore" Solar said
"No, why?"
"I got these old books in the lighthouse, those from the last owner. A lot of rich reading lemme tell you. One of them said that this town used to be a bustling trade center, with travelers from everywhere coming into the bay. It needed a lighthouse to guide ships, but alas, no ships come round anymore and the lighthouse ceased function" Solar explained
"You mean to tell me that there might be entire CIVILIZATIONS that we aren't even in contact with anymore???? How have I never been told this!" Argyle angrily yelled
"Oh yes, lots of things are lost to time, including knowledge. Lucky I still have those books eh? I'll probably leave em for the next owner though, if there is one " He said
"Hey mister Solar, I need to go. I'll be back though" Argyle said as he quickly got up.
"Leaving an old man to get up by himself? Haha how rude"
Argyle was barely listening as he began to trot back into town, feeling the cold wind and excitement on his face.
That young man, he has potential.
"I hope to see you again then, Argyle"
‐-------------------------------------------------------
Argyle opened the door to his house went up to his parents, and simply said
"What's the pay and when do I start?"
Author's Note
Hey my finals are coming up and I have to do like 5 essays and presentations, but this story is actually helping me destress though, enjoy!
