Prompt #240: "Disloyal"

Loyalty. It’s what friends have toward each other. It’s why a soldier feels obliged to serve his or her country. It can make connections, break bonds, test endurance, and even kill you. Some think it to be a good quality to have, while others can’t be bothered. You either have it or you don’t. Most ponies have some degree of loyalty, even thieves.

There are ponies who try to remain loyal their whole lives. Either to their mate, their friends, their god, and their own morals. These are the happy-go-lucky type that are oblivious to how the world really works. They don’t know that in order to get ahead, you’ve got to be willing to do anything and everything. Sometimes that cost can seem a bit high, but it doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is being the best. I’ve come to realize that over the years.

I used to think I lived in an idealistic society, where good prevailed and evil was always crushed. I used to think that friendship was magic.

I was naive.

At first, it was just losing my job. I didn’t really care. Not like I wouldn’t be able to find something else. The funny part is, I didn’t even do anything that would justify termination. Apparently, the regional manager called in a favor to get a relative a job. Guess who used to have that job? Yeah, yours truly. Sure, I was upset about that, but there was bound to be somewhere else to turn. Something else I could do.

Nothing. Not even Sugarcube Corner seemed to need any help. They said that with Pinkie there, it was like having 10 workers already. I just couldn’t figure out why any of this was happening, so I asked the smartest person I knew for help. You know things are weird when even Twilight Sparkle can’t find a logical explanation.

Frustrated, I went back to my old workplace. I demanded to speak with the new ‘manager’, but he wasn’t there. So I said I would wait. After some more discussion, I was told that if I did not leave I would be made to leave. This coming from somepony I had worked with for years. Like I was just some punk from the streets. Finally, I left, but I wasn’t through with that place.

As I was flying away, something caught my eye behind the building. It looked oddly familiar, but I couldn’t place why. That is, until I got a closer look. It was unmistakably the royal carriage of one Princess Celestia. It was then that I realized what had been going on. It was her. She was the one behind all of this.

Like I said, naive.

I discarded any respect I had for the concept of ‘loyalty’ that day. Even now, I can’t even begin to imagine why she would do something like this. But if this is what I was going to expect as the Element of Loyalty, if this was the crap I was expected to go through, then I wanted no part of it.

And now that I am out of a job, I’ve got to make money somehow. Seeing as it’s pretty much impossible to get an honest job now, thanks to Celestia, I’ve had to resort to some things I never thought I’d have to do.

Who knows, maybe there are still some out there who will pay a lot of money for information about the ‘Elements of Harmony’. I’m sure the Changelings would be interested in getting some sort of revenge. I think it’s time I paid them a visit.