Legacy

by Night_Writer

Rating: mature
Tags: Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Princess Luna, Original Character, Adventure, Princess Celestia, Sex, Tragedy
Length: 34509

Long before the adventures of Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash. Our tale occurred back in those early ages of magic and steel, when Equestria was still wild and untamed: a time of mighty warriors, cunning rogues.

Legacy takes place just after the fall of the Crystal Empire, hundreds of years before the exploits of the mane six. With the Equestrian nation only just recovering from its battle with the Crystal Empire, the militia is spread thin throughout the land. Equestria has been riven by inner-turmoils: Luna and Celestia are split as they attempt to re-unite a crumbling nation, and the nobility begins to turn on itself for wealth and self-advancement. Bandits and muraders prey on unwary travelers, and even whispers of necromancy and black sorcery can be heard in hushed tones as ponies tell tales of the dead rising from their graves, and a shadowy warlord rising up from the South to threaten Equestria.
The story follows the adventures of Sweet Peach as he travels the dangerous countryside of a pre-tamed Equestria, attempting to save his family, friends, and, ultimately, himself from the encroaching darkness that threatens all of Equestria.

Rated Mature for sex, drugs, alcohol, violence, coarse language, and otherwise being a fairly gritty and shitty medieval world... filled with ponies of course.

Published 2012-12-16 13:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-09-21 13:35:20 UTC

Prologue

Prologue"Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria. . ."

(Song #1)

Long before the adventures of Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash. Long before this age of stability and peace we now propser in, during some of the earliest of recorded equine history, comes my tale.

This story occurred back in those early ages; of magic and steel, when Equestria was still wild and untamed:  a time of mighty warriors, cunning rogues, and wondrous wizards.

Our story begins with the fall of an Empire, and the tyrannical King, Sombra. The fighting had been hard, and vicious, as the united forces of the Equestrian militia clashed against Sombra’s armies of slaves and dark magic. Even our two beloved princesses, Celestia and Luna, took to the battlefield.

Using the Elements of Harmony, the sisters were able to banish the evil King Sombra, but along with him, disappeared the unfortunate inhabitants of the Crystal Empire. History was not finished with the Crystal Empire, and it would be many years until anypony would discover the fate of those lost souls; but that is a tale for another era.

Victory was swift, but had come at a cost.

Despite the princess’s mighty power, many ponies had died in the fighting, and many more untold thousands had been swallowed up with the disappearing empire. The news was disheartening to the survivors of those cruel battles; who had fought so hard and valiantly for the citizens of Equestria, only to never know if their sacrifice had been in vain.

But unbeknownst to the rest of the nation, a new darkness had begun to creep across the land. From the Smokey Mountain to the Hayseed Swamps, dark whispers began to spread like wildfire with the news of the Crystal Empires disappearance. Many now questioned the land they lived in, some even felt disillusioned with the princesses and their omnipotence, wondering if they were truly the best option to act as custodians of Equestria after recent events.

Rumors of civil war lay heavily in the air. The sparks of battle had been struck, and the disappearance of what had once been a unified enemy of the Equestrian nation only allowed those sparks to blaze into small skirmishes between the fellow ponies inhabiting Equestira.

Battles fought between nobles for petty self-gain and social advancement, families torn apart as ponies took sides and ideals, turning upon each other in their hatred and sorrow. Entire communities were swallowed up in the fighting, entire towns reduced to ash and corpses, as innocents and bystanders were drawn in. With the Equestrian militia spread thin with its recent conflict, the government had lost its once sturdy grip upon the nation, and the tendrils of chaos began to be seen.

More disturbing, though, were the tales of monstrous aberrations and creatures stalking the land, of the infamous Black Acolytes being sighted once more, and even rumors of the dead themselves rising from their very graves in search of warm flesh!

Gather now, my little ponies, and come close to the fire. My tale is long, but perhaps with its telling, you, too, will be able to one day pass it down to your own foals, and their grandfoals, that they too might learn from the mistakes of our ancestors, and not repeat the horrors of history…

* * *

Hope trotted between the tents of the military encampment, the sky darkening with twilight. Her warm breath puffed out in misty clouds as her hooves moved surely across the beaten snow beneath them. The wide cowl of the heavy black wool cloak hung low upon Hope’s muzzle and body, masking her short & curly purple mane and the unicorn horn upon her brow. Despite the cloak’s heavy material, Hope could still feel the winds cold bite through the heavy fabric, chilling her deep blue coat.

As Hope continued her brisk pace, the sound of music became audible through the frozen air. A jaunty tune and muffled voices could be heard drifting lazily between the tents as the soldiers celebrated the victory of the Crystal Empire’s defeat, drinking the night away. She could see the orange glow of their bonfires, and a part of her yearned for the warmth of those flames, but Hope realized that gravity of her task wouldn’t allow for any delays in time as she moved away from the warm light, continuing on her way.

Hope made her way deeper into the encampment, keeping her head low, staying out of the path of the encampments guards as they passed her in their nighttime patrols. She didn’t want to bring attention to herself. They greeted her warmly as they marched by, and Hope mumbled a few simple and polite replies in return.  Before long Hope reached her destination; a cluster of three large pavilions.

The massive tents stood proudly, standing out despite the dark of the moonless night: the flimsy looking cloth shimmered with enchantments. The banner of Equestria fluttered in the wind, and two smaller flags depicting the sun and moon hung below it, marking the cluster as the princesses’ own.

It would have been foalish to believe that the princesses would simply stay in the middle of the war camp without some sort of protective enchantments placed to keep them safe.

The tents were woven from spellsilk, and Hope knew from personal experience that nothing short of the most powerful of magic would be able to even so much as dent that flimsy looking cloth. Besides, it had been Hope’s own recommendation for the Princesses to take such precautions, considering the danger of assassins or an enemy assault. With the exception of herself, Hope could only name a few wizards with the power to shatter spellsilk. Hope pulled her own cloak tighter about herself, the spellsilk woven into the cloak reassuring as it softly brushed against her own coat.

Hope stood hidden in the shadows for a second as she surveyed the entrance to the cluster. Most of the guards would be away at the celebrations taking place across the camp, and the few that remained should, in theory, be nothing overly difficult for her to deal with. Hope had long since memorized the patrols of the guards, and watched in satisfaction as they marched by in synchronized patrols, with perfect punctuality. Hope felt proud watching them. They were by far the best solders she had the chance to serve besides, which made what she was about to do all the more horrid.

A solitary guard stood at the entrance to the cluster. An earth pony, manning the nearest pavilions wide entrance. He looked bored but alert as he stood as still as stone despite the chilly air, seemingly oblivious to the sound of happy ponies celebrating about the camp, a testament to the discipline of the Royal Guards. She knew this one, he had commonly guarded the princesses’ throne room. He had always been a stalwart and stubborn pony, refusing to shirk from his duties no matter the occasion. With an inner cringe, Hope realized she couldn’t remember his name.

The latest patrol marched by. Hope took a deep breath, and stepped out of the shadows and began walking towards the pavilion. The guard’s eyes darted towards Hope, but he stood stock still until she neared.

“Halt! In the name of Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna, name yourself and your business.” The guard moved to block the entrance from Hope.

Hope came to a stop before the royal guard. Her magic glowing a deep blue from within her hood. The Guard bristled at the magic, his legs tightening, unsure of Hope’s intent. A small badge floated gently out of the folds of her heavy cloak over towards the guard. The guard glanced down towards the small object, he eyes widening substantially.

“O-oh,” responded the guard, surprised, “My apologies, I was not expecting the Royal Advisor to be arriving so late.”

Hope nodded her head silently, returning the badge to herself.

“Please, go right inside. It is a cold night, and I’m sure you must have urgent business, “  said the royal guard, moving out of Hopes way and back to his vigil besides the entrance.

As Hope entered, she shivered slightly as the familiar sensation of the enchantments woven into the spellsilk of the tent briefly clashed with the enchantments woven into her own cloak. Prodding and probing, the magic abated when it sensed the magic of the charm she had shown the guard, concluding that she wasn’t a threat.

Hope took a second to compose herself as she entered the empty round ante-room of the first pavilion. A pair of tent flaps continued further into the cluster across the room from her, and Hope knew from memory that beyond would lead her to her ultimate destination.

With one last look to make sure nopony was looking, Hope’s horn began to glow a dusky blue as she began to prepare,  weaving enchantments about herself, and into the spell-silk of her cloak. After she was finished, Hope looked down towards her legs to see nothing. The magical invisibility now inlayed into the spell silk hid her from view completely. She tentatively poked a hoof out from beneath the cloak. To anyone else it would have looked like a dismembered limb simply hanging in the air. Suddenly, with a twist of her hoof, she stamped on the ground as hard as she could. Her hoof visibly hit the ground, but no noise followed. Satisfied with the invisibility shroud, and the sound cancelling magic Hope had woven around herself, she once again retreated her foreleg back beneath the heavy cloak, and continued on her way in magical silence.

Hope began to make out a familiar pair of voices. As she passed into the next tent, Hope couldn't help but let out a small gasp.”

(Song #2)

Smaller Cushions adorned the large round carpeted floor for ponies to sit upon, and a pair of wide massive cushions for the princesses sat against the far wall. A wide table to the side held refreshments for guests upon its thick top. The entire room was very lavishly decorated with wide  beautiful tapestries hung along the walls for additional warmth. A calming atmosphere permeated the room. But what had made Hope’s eyes widen was the sight of the two magnificent Alicorns talking within.

Hope could see the bright colors of Celestia’s multicolored mane as it shifted in gentle unison to her pure white body, in contrast to her sister, Luna: with her deep dark coat and dark midnight mane. The splendid manes and tails of the two Alicorn’s billowed gently in an ethereal wind.  Celestia stood with her back towards Hope as she addressed her younger sister, Luna, standing opposite her.

Hope quickly shook herself out of her stupor and darted towards the only object in the room that she could reach: the table. Hope was glad for the muffling spell as she scampered across the room. She prayed to Celestia (the irony wasn't lost on her) that the Alicorns hadn't noticed the tent flap move with her entrance. With a quick glimpse behind her, Hope felt relief that neither Alicorn seemed to have noticed, but relief was quickly replaced again with fear, as to her alarm the two majestic rulers began to approach the table Hope was hiding nearby.

Carefully, but quickly, Hope hunkered down and clambered beneath the table. Hope got comfortable, and quickly smoothed out her cloak of invisibility so as to be sure it completely covered her. Hope listened intently as the two Alicorns continued to talk.

“… necessary, if we hadn’t taken to the field then casualties would have been astronomical!” Said Celestia, her voice insistent.

Luna looked annoyed, “Celestia, they all knew what they were signing up for when they decided to join the military. If any of your subjects were really foalish enough to believe that wouldn’t entitle them to defending the nation in times of war, with their lives possibly, they are idiots and deserve nothing less than a fools death.”

“None of those soldiers could have known we would go to war, especially with one whom we had believed to be our ally,” said Celestia sharply, “I would never condemn anypony to a prolonged battle when I have the power to personally intervene. We had the power to stop a potential war, and we did. If we have to use the elements of Harmony to keep the peace, I see no reason to not do so.”

Luna huffed, and Hope heard the sound of something being picked up off the table, quickly followed by the sound of liquid being poured. A second later, the object was placed back down upon the table with a soft thunk. Hope listened as Luna took a sip of (apparently) a drink before replying, “ We could have defeated Sombra without the use of those ancient relics. Despite your… reservations to violence, every soldier signed up knowing what would be asked of them if the time came. We rely too heavily upon these relics, and now look what has happened? Over a million ponies simply gone! Given time, we would have ousted Sombra from power,” Said Luna, a scowl on her face.

“ If”, emphasized Celestia, ” we could have removed him from power. Sombra was well supplied and fortified. He would have willingly sacrificed every last one of his subjects if it meant defeating us, or to simply spite us. I agree, we would have eventually won, but at what cost? More blood and suffering? No, I believe my decision to use the ancient powers of Harmony was just and correct.”

“Look at what happened by relying on the Elements of Harmony,” snorted Luna, “ An entire empire, and its people, disappeared. Vanished without a trace. We don’t even know where they went, or if they might return. We haven’t solved anything by using such a power, only prolonged the troubles. I say, that yes, a battle would have been bloody, but aren’t all battles? Better the lives of your subjects be spent now in achieving a real peace, than the false victory we’ve granted.”

“Besides,” continued Luna, “that’s just the problem. You believed the decision to use the Elements was right. I tried to dissuade you, but in the end it was your decision. Not ours. Yours.”

“The decision to use the elements, “retorted Celestia, “was made in conjuncture with the very generals and great scholarly minds of our nation’s finest. We were all in agreement that it was the best course of action in the effort to put an end to the fighting. “

“What a surprise. Celestia offered a solution to the masses problem, and they agreed,” Said Luna with a dark smirk as she re-filled her cup.

Celestia scowled, not ready to yield the point. “They are as much your subjects as they are mine.” Luna gave a snort as Celestia continued, “Their lives are as much your responsibility as they are mine. I think you would do well to remember that. They trust us to protect them.”

“I think you’ll find that…our loyal subjects disagree with you on the matter, “Said Luna coldly, taking a deep drink of the liquid held in her magical grip. “Especially those whom are of a privileged status within our great nation.”

Celestia rubbed her face with one of her hooves “Come Luna, we’ve talked about this before. I’ve told you time and time again that the opinions of Equestria’s nobility are exactly that, opinions. A few bad apples do not necessarily mean the entire batch is spoiled. The nobility does not represent all of Equestria, dear sister.”

“But don’t they?” replied Luna vehemently, “How can I expect to be a co-ruler of Equestria when everyone only sees me as a… -a lap-dog to you, Celestia. Everyone considers you the true ruler. How can I be expected to keep the peace when none respect me? No, dear sister, to them I’m nothing more than the other sister, who raises the moon every night”

“Oh come now, Luna, don’t be so melodramatic.”

“It’s the truth,” insisted Luna.

Celestia sighed, “You are still a royal princess, and more importantly you are my sister. Surely that counts for something, does it not?” Said Celestia quietly. “You know I would never abandon you, or think of removing you in place of another. We’re family, Luna, and I’d not have any other by my side if the world is truly going to turn itself inside out. I need your help Luna, I can’t do this alone.”

Both princesses turned around as a commotion at the other side of the room suddenly caught their attention.

Luna took another sip of her drink, mumbling to herself so quietly only Hope could have heard. “Sometimes, sister, I truly wonder…”

A messenger quickly trotted in from the same entrance Hope had snuck through, and bowed deeply towards Celestia. “Princess, I apologize for my rude entry, but I have urgent news.” The messenger offered up a hastily-wrapped scroll towards Celestia. Luna looked slightly annoyed that the messenger had barged in unannounced, and how he had seemed to ignore her in his entrance, but kept quiet as Celestia dismissed him. After the messenger had left, she broke the scroll’s seal and quickly scanned the document.

“More news from your loyal subjects?” Asked Luna icily.

Celestia gave Luna a disapproving glance, “Need I remind you, again, that they are your subjects as well, Luna.” Luna gave a snort and looked away.

Celestia was quiet a second as she quickly scanned the scroll’s contents. “I must take my leave, Sister; apparently the soldiers have found something of great import that requires my immediate attention. I will return shortly.”

“Do what you will, you've always known the best course of action” replied Luna. “I wish to meet with the wizards and see if their divinations have uncovered anything new about the Crystal Empire. With your leave Sister.” Hope peeked out from under the table to see Luna give Celestia a curt nod as she placed her drink upon the Hope’s hiding place. With a simple dark blue flash, the living goddess disappeared as she magically teleported herself away.

Celestia looked at the place her sister had just stood. She gave a tired sigh and a slight shake of her regal head. Celestia turned around and walked majestically through the flaps to the ante-room and outside.

Hope held her breath as Celestia left. She waited, hearing the sound of Celestia’s own personal guards amass outside the tent to escort her. She didn’t dare move until the muffled sound of clopping hooves disappeared.

‘I have to go now, while both the princesses’ are gone,’ thought Hope, chewing her lip.

With a tentative first few steps, Hope emerged from her hiding spot and began to move across the room towards the cushions meant for the princesses’. Moving around them, she found the tent flap that retired to the princesses personal chambers, and the inner sanctuary.

‘They’ll be in there, or at least, I hope they will be,’ Hope thought to herself.

Hope entered a wide tunnel, a pair of tents connecting to it. Hope peered into both tents, seeing nothing but a large Alicorn sized bed and some scrolls and personnel effects scattered within the Spartan rooms.

‘They can’t be in here,’ mused Hope, ‘They would store them somewhere else. Someplace safe…’

As hope continued past the two rooms, the passage turned to the side and opened into a wide and high-ceilinged chamber. The air was still, and Hope noticed with a feeling of anxiety that she couldn’t hear a sound from outside of the tent.

‘Perhaps the tent is magically silenced from the outside?’ thought Hope.

Looking up, Hope noticed with a gulp that she couldn't see the roof of the tent. Where she would have expected to see the canvas top of the pavilion, only a black yawning pit lay. Stretched over the roof of the tent, it seemed to swallow the light from the room. Now that Hope thought about it, there were no obvious light sources within in the room, but a dim light permeated the everything.

Quickly looking about the room, Hope saw that there didn't appear to be anything in the room aside from a squat stone dais sitting in its middle. Upon which, rested 6 smooth spheres of identical shape and size. Each gleamed with an ethereal light, and seemed to be emanating the light that permeated the dark room. With awe, Hope slowly approached, completely enraptured by the legendary items before her: The Elements of Harmony.

(Song #3)

The relics of heroes, fabled  items with the power to grant their bearers whatever they desired. A power that could reset order and balance to the world in its most dire times . These very items had been the salvation of Equestria for untold generations, allowing for peace and prosperity to flourish. Their very existence was a tribute to the better qualities of all ponies, and what could be achieved through cohabitation and peace between not only ponies, but griffins, minotaurs, and even Zebras: to name but a few of the species that dotted the land. A power for the betterment of all, a power for good!

A power that had, not even half a day ago, caused the disappearance of the Crystal Empire, removing it and its people in a single blinding moment,’ thought Hope bitterly.

Hope swallowed, her brow furrowing. She knew what had to be done. She’d watched as the princesses had invoked the ancient power of these very artifacts to “save” Equestria. Such power didn’t belong in any ponies’ hooves, even those of her beloved rulers.

Hope began the arduous task of preparing the ritual she would need to complete her task. A bag of powdered chalk levitated from a hidden pocket in her robes, and she began to lay out the magical circles she would need for the great spell she would cast around the pedestal that held the Elements of Harmony. Her horn igniting with magic, Hope also magically carved the glyphs and symbols required for the spell into the ground within the smaller circles surrounding the Elements of Harmony. By using magic she didn't have to worry about affecting them through physical means.

She was careful to make sure everything was perfect, and Hope felt that she could proudly say even she had outdone herself when finished. She felt tired from the preparations, and a slight headache had begun to build in her head from all the magic she had been casting. She would have to hurry, the next part would be the hardest, but she could do it. She just had to! With a deep breath, Hope placed her two front hooves into the circles she had drawn into the ground, and her magic flared to life as she began the ritual.

The deep hues of her own blue magic washed across the room, gleaming sinisterly off the orbs. Hope felt a pressure building behind her eye sockets as she channeled magic through herself. The strain was unbearable as more and more magic was poured into the ritual through her body. Hope watched as another layer of blue magic covered her horn, and then another. Her head screamed in pain, but Hope refused to stop. Instead, Hope began to unravel the enchantments placed into her spell-silk cloak, channeling the latent magic stored in the trusty cloak to aid in the casting. It would mean she would lose the enchantments she had placed on the cloak, but she needed the magic badly if she was to succeed in her task. As she continued the channel the magic, the circles and runes within began to steadily glow brighter as more and more magic was contained.

‘Almost done, just a little bit more…’ thought Hope.

As Hope prepared to release the very last bit of magic, a weight slammed into her shoulders. She gave a gasp of pain as she was tossed to the side. Hope staggered upright into a defensive stance from her unknown assailant. A dark shape darted at her, steel glinting sharply in the glowing light of the room. Hope dove to the side, barely dodging the dagger as it swept by her. Hope began to run back towards the circle, but her attacker intercepted her. The blade dove forward again, nicking her neck as she desperately twisted her head to the side from the blade. Hope raised a hoof to block the second strike, but screamed in pain as the blade feinted upwards and dug into flesh. Her assailant gave a satisfied grunt, Hope felt sick as she felt the blood begin to trickle down her coat.

‘Can’t let it end this way', thought Hope.

Her attacker twisted a dagger a bit. “Surrender,” hissed a stallions rumbling  voice, “and I will let you live.”

Hope gave a snarl as she wrapped her impaled limb around the knife, stabilizing herself using her opponents own weapon to lock him in place as she suddenly shot her other hoof out and felt it connect solidly with her opponent. She Slammed her hoof forward again, and yet again, until her attacker jumped back, relinquishing his grip on the dagger still stuck in Hope’s foreleg. Hope stumbled to the side, igniting her horn with a burst of magic. Hope used some of her magic to light up the room, and her assailant.

One of Luna’s bat ponies stood before her. His dark armor and open-face helm shimmered oddly in the light of Hope’s spell. His nose was bleeding steadily as only a broken nose can, and Deep welts were beginning to become evident from Hope’s desperate hoof-strikes to his face. Not that it did anything to make him anymore uglier than he already was. Hope noted the lines of jagged scars marring the left side of his face from some unspeakable ancient wound, the long since healed over scars highlighted in sharp contrast to his face in the spell-light.

The bat pony sucked in a clot of blood from his nose and spat it onto the floor, reaching around and pulling out another dagger from a sheath strapped to his foreleg.

Hope knew he wouldn’t offer her quarter with his next attack, he would aim to kill. She had to end this quickly, and while she still had the strength to stand. Hope was beginning to bleed heavily, and she knew that wouldn’t mean anything good in the next minute or so. Time was against her, and her assailant knew it.

The bat-pony took a few careful steps to the side. Hope stumbled in the opposite direction, leaving bloody hoofprints as she slowly kept pace with him. Hope anxiously flicked her eyes towards the still steadily glowing circle of magic in the center of the room. She had to hurry, or else the magic would begin to dissipate.

‘If I don’t do something quickly, I’m going to bleed out,’ thought Hope warily, eyeing the dagger still stuck in her foreleg. As Hope quickly analyzed her opponent, a plan began to form. Suddenly, without warning, Hope charged forward. The bat pony looked surprised, before a small smile lit his face and he moved forward to intercept her once again.

As she ran forward, Hope’s horn glowed with a flickering light as she began to build up magic for the spell she was charging. As they neared each other, Hope lashed out with her magic in a blue wave of energy. The bat pony jumped up, avoiding Hope’s attack: snapping out his thin wings to keep himself airborne. Hope drew out the last of the magic held within the spellsilk of her cloak, using the substantial energies released to fuel her next spell. A concentrated bolt of deadly energy streamed from Hope and connected solidly with the bat-pony. To her own horror and surprise, the bat pony simply pushed through the blast towards her, the powerful magic blasting past him and punching a hole clean through the dark ceiling of the roof, revealing the starry sky above.

Suddenly the bat-pony was upon her, dive bombing into Hope and driving out her breath as he grappled her to the ground on her back.

“Is that really the best trick you could muster?” hissed the scarred bat-pony around the dagger in his mouth, his hooves working to grapple Hope to the ground.

“Actually, I think you’ll appreciate this next trick even more,” said Hope back, as her still glowing horn suddenly pulsed and the dagger imbedded in her arm removed itself with a sickening sound and sliced between the plates of the bat-ponies armor, sinking into his exposed chest.

With a quick kick, she pushed the shocked bat-pony away from her as she ran to the circle. Shakily, she re-placed her fore hooves into the circle and began to desperately pour all her remaining magic into finishing the spell.

The magic contained suddenly began to give a steady hum as the circle neared completion, with a grin of triumph Hope watched as the Elements of Harmony began to glow in response. Just as Hope began to recite the last lines of the ritual, a stabbing pain suddenly ripped into her side. With shock, Hope broke the incantation to look down at the dagger sticking out of her side. The Bat-pony, dagger hilt in his mouth, gave a savage twist with the blade. Hope shrieked as she felt the blade twist inside her guts. Hope collapsed to the ground, her magic still connected to the ritual spell, but without guidance she watched as the magic began to leak out wildly. The Elements continued to glow, and suddenly, in a blinding flash of light, the entire tent went dark except for Hope’s light spell, which began to flicker as well as Hope’s vision.

Hope lay on the ground, panting as she quietly bled to death. Her head pounded with the sheer amount of magic she had used, and she felt like she was going to black out any second as black spots swam in front of her. The bat pony stood above her, growling quietly in pain as he pinned her to the ground. Every time Hope thought she might slip into unconsciousness, though, he would twist the dagger a bit in Hope’s side, causing her to give a whimper as the pain brought her back to consciousness.

“Don’t worry, it’ll all be over soon,” whispered the bat-pony into Hope’s ear, causing her to shudder as he yet again twisted the dagger.

Suddenly, they were surrounded by the royal guards, soldiers, and even a few wizards from the camp, ‘most likely attracted by the sound of combat after I punched a hole in the ceiling,’ thought Hope to herself tiredly. The royal guards stood out in their gawdy gold armor with blue star-like jewels inlayed into the chestplate. The regular soldiers simply wore leather bardings with steel greeves over their fore-legs, and a steel skull cap upon a few of the more lucky ponies brows. The wizards were obvious in the differentiated colored robes they wore to designate status between mages.

A long elegant pair of white legs walked into view. Hope slowly rolled her eyes up to see Princess Celestia looking down at her, stone faced as she surveyed the situation. A captain of the guard, distinguished by the pure-white diamond jewel in his chest plate, squeezed his way through the royal guards sweeping the room.

“Your highness, the Elements, they’re gone!” Said the Captain.

“I can see that for myself, thank you captain,” Said Celestia, not unkindly, “Organize search parties, I want the entire camp thoroughly examined. Be sure to send word to my Sister at once.” The Captain acknowledged her orders with a salute before moving away to say something to a robed pony, and then shout orders to the other ponies milling about. The robed-pony began chanting to himself as he cast the message spell to Luna. The captain, along with a contingent of about fifteen other ponies made a ring around Hope and Celestia, keeping an eye for further trouble.

Celestia looked to the dark bat-pony on top of Hope, giving a slight inclination of her head for him to move himself away. The bat-pony tensed, but eased up on the dagger and stood up to move a respectful distance away, leaving the blade still stuck in Hope’s side as he let the Princess have her privacy with the prisoner.

“Why, why did you do it,” demanded Celestia quietly, kneeling down towards Hope. Her face was unreadable, but Hope could see uncertainty flash in those deep eyes. “Why did you do it, Hope.”

Hope swallowed, her mouth dry from adrenaline and the taste of blood in the back of her throat. “I had to… had to… s-stop, the madness… save… Equestria.” Hope shakily responded, feeling herself begin to slip into unconsciousness.

“But why,” insisted Celestia, “what did you do to the elements, where did you send them. It’s crucial that you tell me, lest they end up in the wrong hooves!”

Hope gave a princess a grimace, tears beginning to well in her eyes, but her mouth stayed stubbornly shut.

With a sudden dark flash, Princess Luna materialized nearby to Celestia. The guards tensed up, but seeing it was the other princess, quickly went back to their duties.

“Sister, the mages informed me of trouble, I came as quickly as I could.” Said Luna, looking around quickly to take stock of her surroundings. Her eyes widened as she looked towards the now empty pedestal in the middle of the room.

“The Elements of Harmony… they’re, gone?” Luna said incredulously

“yes, I’m afraid so. Fortunately, it seems one of your personal guards was able to apprehend the subject. Though, how he would have ever known to be here, is beyond me…” Said Celestia.

Luna gave a snort, “Unlike you, sister, I don’t trust that all your loving subjects have such noble intentions. I tasked Xand, here, to keep an eye on the elements and capture, or kills, any whom attempted to tamper with the relics.

Celestia listened quietly, still looking at the convulsing Hope, Luna waited a second before continuing, “Isn’t she your…”

“Yes, she is my personal advisor. Hope.” Said Celestia quietly. Luna gave a sharp intake of breath at this.

“But, why her? What would she hold against you that could have caused this?” Asked Luna.

“I don’t know,” Said Celestia uncertainly. “And she refuses to reveal anything more.”

Luna gave Hope an unreadable look, “Well, I suppose her usefulness has come to an end. Xand, kill her.” Xand gave a grunt, and began to make his way back to the dagger sticking out of Hope.

“No, stop!” Said Celestia, giving her Sister a horrified look, “Stop that pony!” said Celestia, pointing imperiously at Xand.

Xand took a few more steps before the spears of the ponies  around Celestia suddenly came to point directly at Xand. Against a few of them, he would most likely have had no problems, but with an entire squadron surrounding him, and on his own, it was unlikely he would survive the fight. Xand’s eyes snapped back and forth as he eyed the dangerous spears ringing him, a growl beginning to work its way out of the back of his throat.

“Don’t kill her,” ordered Celestia to Xand, looking to Luna, “Despite what she is done, none are to harm her.”

Luna looked to her Sister, completely calm, “Sister, I understand that you and this… thing have personal history, and that you most likely care of her as you do for all your subjects, but that doesn't change the fact she has performed high treason against you. Against us! Such an act cannot be ignored.”

“Luna, I am not saving her simply out of pity, but because, as of this moment, she is the only lead we have towards the whereabouts of the missing Elements.” Luna listened quietly to her Sister’s words. “Besides, by Equestrian law, she is to be brought back to be tried and interrogated before a court decides her fate. Until then, she is my prisoner.” Said Celestia calmly, reciting the law back to her Sister.

Luna shook her head, annoyed, “Fine, if you want to draw out her wretched life, then I see no reason to otherwise complain. It would have been a mercy to have killed her now quickly, then let her hang when she is proved guilty by trial. Besides,” said Luna, giving her sister a little smirk, “I suppose it tis your right, considering she is your royal advisor. Do as you wish, Sister.” With that, Luna called Xand to her side, and with that the two left the room together; Xand and the royal guards exchanging withering looks as the scarred bat-pony left with his princess.

“Your Highness, are you alright?” Asked the Captain from before, as he approached Celestia.

“I’m fine, Captain, but make sure that H- the prisoner, here , is treated and locked away with a double guard. I don’t want anything happening to her on the trip back home.”

The Captain gave a dutiful nod, and went to whisper to a guard to fetch a doctor for Hope.

Hope’s vision began to swim, tears beginning to drip down her cheeks. She felt guilty for her betrayal to Celestia, but more so she was sad she would most likely never see her family again. They would most likely not understand what she had done.

The last thing Hope saw before she finally lost consciousness was Princess Celestia as she looked down upon her prone form.

The Princess looked deep into Hope’s tear-stained eyes before quietly turning around to walk away.

Chapter 1 - Small Beginnings

Chapter 1: Small Beginnings“Great adventures always seem to spring up in the strangest of places“

(Song #1)

I huffed as I pulled the heavily laden cart up the hill towards our families’ large two-story barn. The wheels creaked softly as its peach-filled insides rocked back and forth slightly with the small pot-holes in the dirt path. I felt the cart begin to list heavily to one side. I slowed down to make sure the cart wouldn't tip over. Shuffling to the side, I gently pulled forward, slowly teasing the cart back into properly re-balancing itself before I continued.

I was always sure to keep the cart centered. My accident last year had been embarrassing enough, even if it wasn't entirely my fault. How could I have known that those cats would just happen to be sunning on the path, and that the cart would just happen to run over their tails, startling them and in turn me, causing the cart to tip over.

Either way, Dad didn't really care about the 'why', and result had been me missing supper. Also, I would never hear the last of it from my family if I managed to tip another cart over. Once had been enough and I didn’t plan on getting my supper taken away from me like it had last time.

Making sure the old cart was okay, I took in another huff of air and continued my ascent towards the barn, enjoying the mid-summer weather.

The cool air at least made work bearable, though. The temperature had shifted to that comfortable in-between time in the season when the air was still warm but not humid, while the cool wind blew crisply by, ruffling my strawberry red mane and the solitary pink stripe.

The perfect weather for finishing the yearly peach harvest. This year’s harvest had been good as well, ripe enough to fall off the tree with barely a poke while staying juicy but not being rotten. I admit I may have… sampled a few for consistency. Possibly a dozen. Alright, a baker’s dozen, I admit it. But, damn, they were good!

With one last huff, I strained my neck against the yoke attaching me to the cart, and pulled the cart the last little bit. When I crested the hill, I happily trotted the last fifty or so feet to the barn’s entrance. I came to a stop by the large barn doors, reaching up to unclip the yoke around my neck from the cart, gently leaning it down.

“Hey, Peach Tea!” I shouted, “I brought the last cart-full up for the day.” I shook my peach-orange coat a bit, letting my sweat fly off me so I could cool off.

The yoke rested heavily on my shoulders, but I didn’t see any point in removing it yet. 'Might need to bring something else up to the barn, never know,’ I thought.

Knowing Dad, it’d probably be the case too. Seemed like there was always something else to pull up the hill, and Dad always had me pull it up. I groaned a bit at the thought as I made my way deeper into the barn.

The sunlight streamed into the barn in ribbons of light, illuminating the barns' interior and its two permanent inhabitants, our two cows: Anne and Maybell. The cows ate quietly off to the side, giving me only fleeting glances before returning to munch on their late lunch.

Hay bales stood in the upper loft in neat stacks. Towards the back of the barn I could see the low wide shed-like building that we used to can and preserve our peaches. The door to the room was slightly agar.

'Peach Tea must be inside. But, why hadn’t she answered me when I’d called?'

“Peach Tea?” I called again, a bit uncertain. As I continued on, I began to scrutinize my surroundings. “Peach Tea, come on, stop joking around!”

As I reached the door, I put out a tentative hoof to push it open. As I reached out, a whining noise suddenly began to become louder. I tilted my head a bit to raise up an ear, confused, trying to hear it a bit better. Was it coming from above, I tilted my head up, eyes widening as I saw a red blur falling down straight for me, a huge grin plastered across its face.

“… ggggggeeeeeeeeeEEEEERRRRRONOMO!” With an ‘oof’ of expelled breath, I felt it land square on my back, knocking me down into the soft straw floor. I felt like my eyes were rolling as Blossom, my little sister, laughed. I just lay there, dazed after her sneak attack.

“Oh my gosh, Sweets, you should have seen your face! I was falling, and then you looked up at the last second, and then WHAM!” Blossom hit her forehooves together for emphasis. She seemed to try and say something else, but just rolled off of me and continued to laugh maniacally. In the meantime I decided to make sure my lungs were still working as I tried to remember how to breathe.

“Sweet Peach, are you ok?” giggled Blossom, giving me a poke.

“Blossom, I think… I think.” I said quietly, my words mumbling off. Blossom looked quizzically at me. I motioned for her to come closer as I whezzed in air. Cocking her head, she approached, her eyes widening in worry now.

“C-Closer” I said, motioning her towards me. She tilted her head down even further so I could easily whisper in her ear. With a grin, I suddenly twisted around, wrapping her up in my hooves as I rolled over to pin her in place.

Blossom gave a little screech of surprise, “Sweet Peach! You trickster, I thought you were actually hurt. How could you, you… sneaky sneak!”

“Oh? After that little stunt you just pulled? That was very dangerous, and your big brother is going to have to teach you a lesson about jumping off the second floor on unsuspecting ponies!”

Blossom’s eyes became wide as she was listening, she began to twist and wiggle as she tried to escape my grapple. Not that she could, I was possibly one of the best wrestlers in town. It also helped being such a tall, long limbed and large pony. Lots of natural advantages that made it easier to grapple with other ponies. Blossom continued to squirm anyways in an attempt to escape, knowing what would come next if she didn’t.

With an evil grin, I locked her in place with my back legs and began to tickle her with my forehooves. Blossom began to laugh uncontrollably as I continued my assault. Her squirming became desperate as she tried to cover her ticklish spots from me. I just grinned, and continued as she gave littles shrieks.

“S-Sweets,” She laughed, tears beginning to leak out her eyes as she gasped from air between laughs, “You, you gotta. Hahahahaha! S-stop! I can’t breathe!”

“ Promise me you wont sneak attack poor ponies who walk into our barn.” I say calmly,  as I stopped tickling her so she could catch a breath. She sucked in a lungful gratefully before responding,”

“I-I promise, now let me up!”

I give her a rueful grin, “Oh, but I never said I’d let you go now did I?” With that, I pounced back.

“You… you, traitor. Sweet Peach, stop. Hahahahaha!” yelled Blossom as she began to laugh against her will again. I loosened my grip around her so she could escape, and with a twist of her body she was suddenly free from my hold. Scampering up, she ran to side of the barn that led up to the loft she she tried escape me, still laughing as she looked over her shoulders to see if I was chasing her.

“Oh, you think you can escape me? I am Sweet Peach! Bringer of giggles and taker of breath! Flee while you can!” With that, I gave chase, running up the stairs after her as she scampered away, squealing excitedly.

When I topped the stairs into the loft, I looked up to see a pinkish-red leg disappearing over a hay bale above my head. The loft had always been her favorite hiding place, and she always ran up there. I decided to play around a bit; she always liked it when we played this game.

“Now where could she be?” I mused out loud. I lifted my large hooves and began stomping around the loft loudly, my hooves thonking heavily across the sturdy wooden boards. I heard a giggle from above, but ignored it.

“Fee, fi, fo fun! I smell the blood of a little one,” I said, deepening my voice as I stalked around the loft noisily. I heard Blossom give a little gasp from her hiding place, failing to keep quiet.

“I’ll smash you, and mash you, and turn you to bread!” I continued dramatically, slowly making my way towards her hiding place. I could see a bit of her pinkish-red mane peeking out from between a pair of hay bales. I smiled and began to stomp directly towards her hiding place. I could hear her barely contained giggles and gasps as she continued to fail hiding from me.

I stopped for a second below her hay-bale, and then continued to the stairs where I began making gradually softer stomping steps to give the effect I was walking back down the stairs. As I finished, I tip-hooved back towards the hay bales and waited below, poised to pounce. I knew she wouldn’t be able to resist looking, I would just have to wait a second… any second now…

The little red filly poked her head up, looking towards the deserted stairs. Her eyes relaxed as she believed she was safe, before widening as big as saucers as she looked down to see me crouched below. I gave her a wolfish grin,

“Found you, and now I’ll gobble you whole!” I pounced up and grabbed her as she gave a little yell and tried to flee once more. As I pulled her down, I gave her some playful nips and bites and made nom-nom noises with my mouth. She laughed in delight as the fear of being found vanished and was replaced by laughter once again.

“Stop that, stupid brother. You’re being silly!” giggled Blossom

I gave her one more playful nip before settling back into the hay bales, holding her loosely in my forelegs as we both just sat there and panted, enjoyed the respite from the familiar game.

I heard an impatient cough from the stairs, surprised Blossom and I looked over to see my father standing at the top of stairs; his earthy green coat and orange mane seeming to glow in the filtered light coming into the barn.

He gave Blossom and myself a long look, his face neutral, but I could tell he was displeased with our antics. My face reddened with embarrassment.

“I see you two are having fun, “He said.

“Yes sir, just finished bringing up the last cart-load for Peach Tea,” I responded quickly, try to move past the awkward moment he had caught me in with Blossom. Blossom seemed happy to just sit where she was, smiling innocently up at us.

“Well, if you two are done wasting daylight with your antics I could use your help Sweet Peach. Unless you’re still busy…?”

“No, Sir. I’m ready to get back to work if you need me,” I said, getting back up and trying to blow all the straw out of my own strawberry red and pink streaked mane from my tussle with Blossom.

“Good, cause Tea’s gotta head inta town, and I’d like you to escort her and haul the wagon to the store for her. She knows what to get, so you just need to walk.”

“Got it Sir, I’ll unload the cart into the cannery, and head out with her right after.” I tried to keep the excitement out of my voice. Any excuse to cut out in the middle of a work day sounded like a good deal to me, even if I did have to spend it with Peach Tea.

My Father gave a nod, turning to Blossom. “Blossom, I need you to return to the house and help auntie Pie with dinner tonight.”

Blossom pouted, “But I don’t WANNA go and help Auntie Pie with cooking.”

“You’ll get right back into the house and help out your Auntie if you know what’s good for you, young lady, now march!” Dad said, pointing with finality towards the stairs.

Blossom continued to pout in silence as she realized Dad wasn't in the mood for games today, and sulked down the stairs. Dad followed after her to make sure she really went to the house. I stood for a second in the loft and picked some more of the hay out of my mane as best I could before walking down myself.

It took me a while to transport the peaches to the cannery and deposit them, but I was soon rolling the empty cart out of the barn. I was met by a waiting Peach Tea, looking a bit annoyed at having had to wait for me.

Her Golden hair cascaded down in tangles around her fine face and shapely neck, complimenting her orange coat perfectly. Her cutie-mark stood out in the late afternoon light, a refreshing-looking glass pitcher of iced tea, tipped to the side in mid-pour.She gave me an irritated sigh as I came out to join her.

“Took you long enough, what, where you doing, masturbating in there or something?” Said Peach Tea.

I waggled my eyebrows in response. “Yeah, left a nice little surprise for you in the cannery.”

Peach Tea scrunched up her face. “Pfft, you would, you lech.”

“Must be a family trait. Besides,” I said, a little grin worming its way onto my face as we began walking down the road towards town, “it’s not like I've been bringing over a certain stallion late in the evening to 'inspect' the barn.”

Peach Tea visibly blushed at my reference to Bean Sprout, one of the helping hands who worked around the farm during harvest season. She cleared her throat, and began walking a little faster. She always did that when she was flustered. “T-that’s… I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Peach Tea said indignantly.

I trotted to catch up, not ready to relinquish the tease yet. I tilted my chin thoughtfully, pretending to think really hard as I continued. “Oh, but surely you must know something. I mean, just this morning I swore I could hear something weird when I was picking up the cart this morning. I think it sounded like screams… but, oddly, it sounded a little like your voice...’ I trailed off, leaving the sentence open to interpretation.

“What, you hea- I mean, how... odd.” My Sister’s responded, quickly covering her own slip as she dramatically rolled her eyes in mock ignorance.

‘And now for the finisher,’ I thought. I went into a falsetto for the last part, grinning from ear to ear as my Sister’s face went from its pink blush to a deep crimson.”Oh Bean Sprout, my only stallion, take me now you great big stud!”

My Sister sputtered, so flustered she couldn’t form words for a while. “I-I do NOT sound like that.” My Sister gave the cart a kick as she stormed ahead of me, the cart rocked a bit but she hadn’t really kicked hard enough to do any damage. Dad would have killed her if she’d actually damaged the family's only cart.

I just laughed as we finally made it into town, walking between the houses and stores that made up the central section of the little town of Haystead. Peach Tea composed herself after a little while, and I stifled my laughter to occasional giggles as she led us to the trading post.

We came up to the entrance of the trading post, a large sign over the building read: "The Fair Trade". I moved the cart over to the side of the store as Peach Tea entered. slipping off the yoke, tossed it into the cart after tethering it to the side of the building. The bell over the door jingled as I walked into the store.

“Hey, Tea, I got the cart parked around back, so we’re good to…” I came up short as my eyes adjusted to the stores dim lighting.

(Song #2)

A triplet of mean looking ponies ringed the counter facing the owner. The two closest were earth ponies, one a very massive brown earth pony stallion with a fierce white mohawk of a mane. who seemed to have his face stuck in a continual glower, which only made his cutie mark, a fractured piece of bone, that much more menacing.

The other was a much skinnier, yellow mare, with a long curly red mane, The whip cutie mark on her flanks complemented the half-uncoiled bull-whip next to her. The handle held loosely in her teeth.

The last member of their little group was a blue unicorn stallion with a complimentary blue mane. The unicorn kept talking to the owner as the two earth ponies looked back to glare at me as I walked into the shop and came to a silent stop. His cutiemark was strange, it looked like a red line with a pair of golden bits atop it.

We stared at each other for a while before both seemed to decide I wasn’t much of a threat. The yellow mare whispered something to her brutish counterpart, and he waved me towards the side of the store where Peach Tea was already waiting apprehensively, growling at me threateningly.

I took a glance at Peach Tea, who gave me a little shake of her head, a glint of worry in her eyes. I flicked my eyes back towards the two ponies, waiting a second before slowly sliding over to join my Sister. Big Boy continued to glare at us while the slim mare dismissed us altogether, returning her attention to the owner of the store and the unicorn.

The proprietor, Fair Trade, was a smallish red pegasus with a short black mane, and looked visibly intimidated by the large (or, more accurately, larger than himself) ponies facing him, as he audibly gulped and all but shook behind his counter. Peach Tea fidgeted in place as I stood solidly besides her, offering her my silent strength as we waited.

“Like I said, Fair Trade, Nothing more needs to happen. Just hand over what we want, and we’ll head on out. You pay us the protection fee, and we keep on protecting your fine wares,” said the unicorn, carelessly flipping a steel-flanged mace in his magical grip. A shattered display stand lay nearby, it and its contents scattered across the floor, a victim of Fair Trade's apparent failure to comply with the unicorn’s demands.

“I-I…I j-just don’t h-h-have what you need, Deadline. If you came b-back next week though…” Fair Trade’s voice squeaked as he saw the unicorn’s face darken.

“Listen up, you winged mule,” said Deadline, the unicorn. “You owe us five bags of your finest harvest grain. We extended the deadline, and we’re here to pick up our order along with the bonus. So cough it up, or I have Lash and Crunch here show you how they got their names and cutie marks.” Deadline tipped a hoof in the direction of his goons, Crunch and Lash. Lash, the yellow mare, went ahead and smirked as she deftly cracked the whip against the ground lightly. Crunch just stomped a brown hoof down heavily on the floorboards.

“But, we agreed on only three bags last time,” said Fair Trade meekly.

“The deal changed. Like I said, little T, we’re collecting a little bonus on top our deal. It’s only fair  that we get a little something extra for waiting so patiently, isn’t it?” Deadline asked silkily.

“B-b-b-but, those other two bags were bought by the Golden Branches, and if I don’t deliver them their order after they’ve paid then it’ll be a problem for me!”

“Tell me Little T,” said Deadline, leaning towards Fair Trade, “Do you think it would be wiser to give that grain to us, and solve one of your biggest problems. Or, give the grain to the Golden Branches, and risk an… accident, happening to your fine store.”

Fair Trade visibly paled at the insult, his eyes darting to the destroyed display nearby. Deadline smiled at him, Fair Trade flinched as Deadline give him a little pat on the shoulder. “You’re a smart pegasus, Little T. So, what’s it gonna be?”

The entire store went silent as the pegasus fought with himself internally with the decision. I looked on with disgust, my body tightening. I wanted nothing more than to launch myself at them, smash in the face of every one of these bandits, especially that smarmy unicorn fuck. I tightened my legs, getting ready to spring forwards. I suddenly felt a light bump against my side.

I looked over to see Peach Tea looking at me again. Her eyes implored me not to do anything rash as she mouthed a ‘no’ at me, shaking her head.

I grimaced as I looked back towards the counter, and watched as Fair Trade hung his head and came to some sort of whispered agreement with Deadline. Deadline gave him a wide smile, congratulating Fair Trade on his answer as the defeated merchant went into the backroom to retrieve the goods for the goons.

Deadline turned around to finally scrutinize me and my Sister, that smile still plastered on his muzzle. “Ah, the Peach family if I'm not mistaken. Come to do some late shopping I presume?” asked Deadline, as he eyed us, sizing us up. His eyes fell on Peach Tea, and he slowly rolled his eyes across her body, as if assessing her value. For all I knew, he probably was.

Everyone in town agreed that Peach Tea was quite a catch, and her golden mane was the envy of many mares in Haystead. It was fairly well known by most of the stallions in town that Tea had gotten around, and had more than a few coltfriends. She had always been a one mare/one stallion kind of gal, but it didn’t matter much in a small town like Haystead, where most people considered you a whore after sleeping with more than one stallion: no matter the circumstances.

“So, did Daddy send you over to buy some supplies for the coming winter?”

Peach Tea nodded in reply, I just continued to hold eye contact. Deadline ignored me as he moved across the store towards Peach Tea.

“My my my, girl, you are quite catch, aren't you. I can see why so many of the stallions in our fine town just love to visit your family's stall during market. I wouldn't mind sampling some of your fine goods myself, you look like you have some utterly delectable things for sale.”

Peach Tea stiffened a little, but didn't flinch back from him as he came to a stop in front of her, leaning in to leer at her.

I moved to the side, protectively next to Peach Tea. “Hey, we don’t want any trouble. Just here to buy some stuff from Fair Trade, so leave us alone and beat it.”

Deadline flicked his eyes towards me, annoyed at my interruption. Crunch took a threatening step forward, and Lash seemed to tense up. Deadline flicked a glance back towards them and then to me: trying to figure out if kicking my ass was worth his time. We all waited for the otherpony to make the first move. Crunch licked his lips in anticipation, and I just stayed passive, readying for the fight to come.

We were all spared, though, as a certain small pegasus returned from the back.

Fair Trade, grunting with exertion, pulled a a little cart behind him heaped with five sizable bags of golden grain. “Here you go Deadline, the five bags, as agreed…” Fair Trade trailed off as he finally noticed the stand-off in his store between me and bandits.

Deadline looked towards the Pegasus, and smirked back towards me as he slowly withdrew. Taking his time to remove himself, taunting me as he swished his tale at me and Peach Tea, the light glinting off the red line and two gold bits that composed the cutie mark on his flank as he turned away. I felt rage twist my gut.

“Impeccable timing, Little T. I suppose that with all our… business taken care of, there is little reason for us to stick around.” Deadline mused out loud. He motioned for Crunch to get the grain, the big brute simply turned towards Fair Trade and wrenched the cart from him.

The thugs all left the store together, Lash glaring at me as she walked past, followed by Deadline who just pointedly ignored me and smirked at my Sister. Crunch gave me a look that could break stone, and I just stared daggers back at all of them as they left, the little bell ringing lightly as they left the shop. Peach Tea let out her breath all at once, her legs visibly shaking.

I just looked over towards Fair Trade, looking embarrassed at the entire ordeal as he averted his eyes from us.

I took in a deep breath, letting fresh air cool my smoldering rage. “I can’t believe you just let them walk all over you like that, Fair Trade.”

Fair Trade looked at me, a hurt expression on his face. “Oh, come on Sweet Peach, what am I supposed to do. Fight them?” Fair Trade gave a little anxious hic-up of laughter at the idea.

“Yes! You need to stand up for yourself, you can’t keep letting them just take what they want.” I said. Wasn’t it obvious?

“ Well, unlike you, Sweet Peach, not all of us cann't be so care-free in how we deal with our problems. I can’t just fight Deadline and his cronies, you know what they’d do to me? Or to my wife, Sunset Smiles?” Fair Trade gulped as he envisioned everything horrible that could probably ever happen. He did stuff like this all the time, always had, even when we were kids. I rolled my eyes at him, I’d always needed to stick up for him when we were growing up cause he never would.

For a while, too, he’d been pretty ok when I had been watching out for him. But. I’d had to start working more and more at home as I got older and stronger. I’d stopped hanging out with Fair Trade altogether once I was thirteen. Since then, he’d pretty much just cycled back into old habits, and now ponies were walking all over him again. I just sighed at the whole hopeless situation.

The point of the matter was, though, that Deadline and his thugs were a completely different deal then the bullies of our youth. Deadline and his bandits were organized, intimidating to most ponies, and brutal at times.

Ever since they had popped into town five years ago and bribed the town's sherif, they’d effectively taken over as they implemented their own twisted laws and “protection tax" for keeping our little town safe.

Everything about the situation made me feel sick. How did we ever let it come to this? But I couldn’t shake the feeling that if the town united we could kick out Deadline and his goons once and for all, be free from his tyranny! Now if only I could convince everyone else in town, then maybe something meaningful would actually happen…

I snapped back to reality when I noticed Peach Tea talking to me.

“What?” I said, completely missing what she had just said. She gave a small sigh as she repeated herself.

“I said, help me get these bags over to the cart. If your just going to day-dream over there, then at least put your body to use and help me haul these out.” Peach Tea pointed at the stack of supplies next to her, freshly delivered by Fair Trade who looked fairly exhausted from bringing all out himself.

I grunted, and moved forward to help carry them out. I Shifted two bags of oats onto my strong back, and walked briskly out the door. Rounding the corner of the shop, I came up short when I noticed a little problem. Alright, make that a big problem. A wheel from our cart had been destroyed. It looked like something, or more likely somepony, had shattered it. The remains of the wheels broken spokes lay across the ground in splintered fragments and chunks.

The now one-wheeled cart sat lopsidedly, only half its bulk supported of its remaining wheel.

‘Deadline and his thugs, must have been,’ I cursed internally.

I heard somepony walk up besides me. Peach Tea came to a stop nearby, her eyes widening as she looked at the cart. She threw an accusatory glare at me.

“What, why are you looking at me?” I said, confused at her sudden hostility.

“Oh, you know,” said Peach Tea angirly, still glaring.

“No, I really don’t,” I said stubbornly.

“If you had just left well-enough alone, then this,” Peach Tea pointed a forehoof towards the dilapidated wagon, “would have never happened.”

“Oh, and what? Just let Deadline and his thugs walk all over you? Treat you like some sort of accessory to be bought and used.” I snorted. Now I was angry that she was angry at me for sticking up for her. What in Celestia was her problem?

“Sweet Peach, you have to learn when and when not to just keep out of it. It wasn’t any of your business, and I’m not some helpless little filly you need to protect. I can take care of myself, “huffed Peach Tea.

“Besides,” continued Sweet Peach, nearly yelling at me, “if you hadn't provoked Deadline back there, then he would have just wandered off and we wouldn't be down our one, and only, cart. Now we have to deal with an unnecessary problem that could have been avoided, entirely.”

“Well, I did. And so what? We can just fix the cart, we’re right next to a trading post if you hadn't noticed, I’m sure Fair Trade can get us something.” I said, snorting.

“Oh, and how are you going to pay for that, huh? Last time I checked, neither of us was rolling in bits here, and a new wagon wheel is going to take time to install and set, and that's if we can even find one in the right size. Bucking think for once Sweet Peach. Without that wagon, we can’t get these supplies home. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to spend the entire night hauling all these bags back to the homestead on hoof!”

My ears fell down a bit as she yelled at me. She was right, of course. It was most likely my fault that Deadline and his thugs had crippled the cart, even if my intentions had been for the best.

Peach Tea fumed next to me, dropping her bags down by the downed cart. “Just drop your bags and help me figure something out with Fair Trade. Hopefully, he can help us and we can cut some sort of deal that won’t end up with either of us indentured to him for the next few years.”

Going back into the store, we were lucky enough to find out Fair Trade had an old wheel out back that would fit our cart. Fair Trade definetly lived up to his name, giving us a very good deal in the end, despite my words at him earlier. He let us take the old wheel in exchange for a few choice jars of our first batch of preserved peaches this year. It was a hell of a good deal, and we were thankful for his help. He even let us borrow his tools so we could install it onto the cart.

By the time we were headed out again, it was getting late. Night was coming on fast, and the town and its shops had closed down. Neither Peach Tea or I talked the entire trip back, the silence stretched like a blanket over us as we marched back.

As we approached the gate that led up to the barn and house, Peach tea came to a slow stop in front of me, breaking the silence.

“Thanks,” she said quietly, not turning around to look at me.

“For what?” I said, confused at the sudden change in attitude towards me.

“For sticking up for me against Deadline. You didn’t have to do anything, and it probably would have been better if you hadn’t. But, the point is you did and I… just, thanks.” Peach Tea shuffled her feet a bit awkwardly as she glanced back at me.

“Yeah… no problem,” I said lamely, giving her a nod as I looked to the side, still feeling a bit guilty about the entire situation. She nodded back, moving forward to open the gate for me. We made our way up towards the barn to unload the cart and its brimming contents.

It was night now, and the only lights came from the lanterns mounted above the barn and from the house windows. As we approached, I made out the silhouettes of three very distinct ponies by the barn’s entrance.

I gulped, ‘crap. ’

My Dad stood stoically in the lamplight of the barn, his signature mask of neutrality on his face, awaiting our return. Bean Sprout and  Pits, my cousin, were with him. Dad scowled at us as Bean Sprout just looked on, amused. Pits looked a little sorry for us, and gave me a pitying smile from behind Dad.

Pits was a big handsome red earth pony with a blaze orange mane. He was actually a cousin to the family, and had come to live with us when his parents had passed away. He was bigger than even me, with defined muscles that just rippled under his coat. A pile of different seeds made up his cutiemark. I had always been slightly envious of the strong and silent stallion.

Pits wasn’t really his name. Pits was a nickname everyone had called him after he had developed a habit of eating peaches whole, seed and all. The nickname had just sort of… stuck after that.

Bean Sprout, on the other hand, was your average earth pony. Sure, he was strong, but the yellow coated and green maned pony wasn't nearly as large as Pits with his slab-like muscles, or even myself. While I wasn't as tall as Pits, I was pretty close, and it wasn't uncommon for me to stand a good head taller than most ponies I met.

But, for what Bean Sprout lacked in physicality, he easily made up for in dexterity. He did most of the gardening and upkeep around the house when he wasn't helping us with picking the peaches. His cutiemark showed a small sprout bursting through fertile soil.

“So,” said my Dad, “mind explaining why it’s taken so long for you two to return?”

“Just a bit of trouble at Fair Trade's, nothing major. Just held us up from getting back faster.” I said, avoiding the encounter at the trading post with the bandits.

Dad didn’t seem very convinced with my pseudo half-truth. I felt myself sweating a bit as his eyes moved from me to Peach Tea, who just stood quietly nearby. I swear Dad has a sixth sense with stuff like this, he always seemed to know when I was holding out on him.

He looked to the cart, checking the supplies loaded in the cart, and I almost felt relief before I noticed his eyes narrow dangerously at some small detail.

“Why,” said my Dad slowly, “is there a different wheel on the back of the cart? I just had them replaced last week with Pits help. Mind telling me the entire truth this time, Sweet Peach?” A scowl slowly bloomed across his face as he glared at me.

“What? Why are you immediately assuming it was my fault!” I said defensively, a little irritated he seemed to be ignoring Peach Tea. I mean, sure he might have been right in his assumption that it had been my fault, but jeaz. Rude.

Bean Sprout and Pits both gave a snicker from behind Dad as they seemed to share some inside joke between each other. I looked at them, annoyed.

“What's so funny,” I insisted.

“Oh, come on, Sweet Peach,” Chuckled Sprout, “You sort of have a habit for causing trouble. I swear it's in your nature to start problems where there are none.”

I gave Sprout my most venomous glare as he and Pits just continued to laugh to themselves. I looked back to see Dad looking at me with that neutral face of his, not sharing in Sprout and Pits mirth at the situation, but definetly sharing their sentiments. My ears flattened as I realized I had been found out. Before I could utter a response, Peach Tea stepped forward, speaking up for me.

“We ran into Deadline and two of his goons. They were harassing Fair Trade, and then turned on me when Fair Trade went to get them what they came for. Sweet Peach stood up for me, there was a bit of a stand-off, and then they just got their stuff and left. When we came outside, the wheel to the wagon was gone. Nothing serious,” said Peach Tea calmly. I thanked her for trying to downplay the entire situation, praying Dad would accept it.

“Oh, yes. You get into an argument, and the wheel to the cart just happens to disappear afterwards. Of course there wouldn't be any connection between the two events. Mind explaining where the new wheel came from then? or how you were able to afford a new one?” Dad said, continuing to scowl at us as he waited for somepony to answer.

Peach Tea explained the deal she had worked out with Fair Trade, and how we now owed him some of our preserved goods. Dad gave a deep sigh, and shook his head as he squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his head.

“Really, you two, what am I going to do with you. And you, Sweet Peach, I expect better from you. This is just ridiculous! I’ve warned you time, and time again, to not stick your muzzle where it doesn't belong.”

My Dad took a breath, before continuing, “Now, we’ve been waiting all night for you two to get home so we can finally have suppler. Your Aunt Pie has been worried sick about you two. I just was about to head into town myself along with Sprout and Pits here to look for you. Now, when you get back I find out you've been causing trouble with possibly some of the most dangerous individuals in town? Get back in the house, and be quick about it! Not you, Sweet Peach. We need to talk...”

Pits gave me another sympathetic smile as he left, not envying the tongue-lashing I was sure to receive. Peach Tea just gave me a worried look as she walked off reluctantly. Sprout smirked as he walked by, enjoying my predicament. I returned his smirk with a dirty look, making a mental note to give the jerk a good kick to the face at some point in the near future.

After they had all left, I was left alone with just Dad.

“Sweet Peach, you have to stop. This selfish behavior is getting out of hand. It was bad enough when you were fighting the Redtail’s twins in the streets as a colt. You can’t just keep fighting all your problems. Butting heads with Deadline was stupid, and nothing good will come of making yourself, and this family, enemies.”

“Oh, and what was I supposed to do? Just let Deadline and his thugs walk all over Peach Tea, let him say whatever he wants about her and just treat her like some whore?”

“Words are just that, Sweet Peach, words. Your doing nothing but escalating a problem into a hazard,” Dad said, “what if Deadline had decided to do more than just vandalize the wagon? He could have seriously hurt you, broken a leg. And then where would you be? Injured, and unable to help out the family with the harvest!”

“Oh, I’m so glad you care about my well being. Good to know that as long as I don’t break any limbs, keep the damage minimal, it won’t matter so long as I can haul the bucking wagon all day for you,” I hissed at him.

“Oh, don’t whine like some foal, Sweet Peach. This is more than that, and you know it. Deadline could have seriously hurt you, or even worse, Peach Tea. Did you even think that when you decided to provoke him?”

I just kept my eyes locked with his, refusing to relent the point. I had helped her, done what was right. Why couldn’t he see that!

“Well, somepony had to do something,” I began to yell at him,” Somepony has to stick up for this family if nopony else is. If you aren’t going to do anything, then I just will. For Celestia and Luna's sake, it’s like you don’t even care what happens to her!”

“How dare you assume I don’t care for my own daughter’s well-being, I’m her Father!”

“And I’m her Brother,” I shot back.

“Half-brother,” said Dad dryly. It was a simple pair of words, but coming from Dad it was like a verbal buck to the face. I The reminder that I wasn't a true family member to Blossom, Peach Tea, Pits, or even the pony I was arguing with. I was just the extra baggage dropped on them by an absent Mother that'd dumped me on their lives before suddenly leaving again.

I just stood there, shocked at what he had said. He just looked impassively on at me, his mask of neutrality covering his face again. I felt my anger boiling inside me as I clenched my teeth painfully. I wanted to hit him, to shatter every bone in his body.

In the end, I reached up and unhooked the cart from myself, throwing the yoke to the side. I turned around and began to walk back down the path towards the gate, and further still towards town.

Dad Called after me as I turned my back on him. “Where do you think you’re going, Sweet Peach, we aren't finished here. I’m not done with you, and you still need to unload this cart!”

“Shut up!” I shouted at him, whirling around on him as my hatred bubbled out of me.

Dad stopped dead in his tracks, looking surprised as he took a step back from me.

“Unload the cart yourself, or go get one your your true family members to help you out. You wont get any help from me,  prick.” I trotted off, leaving my step-dad flabbergasted in the lantern light of the barn as I made my way down to the gate, kicking it open.

I fumed down the dark lane towards Haystead and its Inn to drown my woes.

Chapter 2 - The Day After

Chapter 2 - Waking Up“ No, I promise. This one'll be my last for the night... ”

Everything is spring green.

I feel happy. Happier than I've felt in years. The familiar homestead seems to almost glow in the bright afternoon light.

Freshly made peach pies and cobblers rest cooling on a windowsill outside the homestead. The smell from the freshly baked goods wafts through the air enticingly, making my mouth water just to think about digging into their gooey crusts.

I've been running around all day, playing with Peach Tea and Pits. My hooves are dirty from digging, and my coat is dusty.

I feel alive as I breathe in the pure air around me, the freshness of the day intoxicating as the after-effects of adrenaline rushes through my young body.

I take a break and view our family’s lands from a small hill next to the house. From the hilltop I can see the peach orchards, the proud trees standing tall with fruit-heavy boughs. Beautiful golden-orange and red peaches bask in the sunny rays; ripe for the picking.

My own orange-yellow coat and red mane with its strawberry streaks seems to reflect the colors of the peaches, and my golden yellow eyes shined brightly in the joyous sunlight. A feeling of belonging swells inside me.

Everything is perfect and bright.

But something feels wrong.

I feel a shiver run down my spine, but I don’t know why. Something about the picturesque countryside around me seems off. Like an invisible splinter in my hoof, I can’t seem to shake the feeling that I’m missing something… something very important.

A voice faintly sings in the distance, but I can’t seem to hear the words being spoken as the notes tickle my ears enticingly. A small voice in the back of my mind seems to shrink back from those words and warns me not to listen, but I feel my own overpowering curiosity pulling me onwards.

I begin walking towards the song, Peach Tea and Pits crying out as I leave, confused as to why I’m abandoning our game.

I feel guilty as I hear them call out to me, and almost stop to return to them, but that song seems to tauntingly draw me onwards with its unintelligible tune. My hooves guide me towards the unknown singer, ignoring the pleas of my family as I’m consumed by the mystery before me.

I begin moving faster and faster, running past the house and the barn as I tear down the lane to the gate that marks the edge of our lands. The voice gets louder and louder, until its source comes into view.

A heavily hooded stranger stands on the main road just beyond our gate, as if waiting patiently for somepony.

I pant, drawing in oxygen as I try to cool my burning lungs from my sudden sprint. I feel exhausted despite the relatively short run, as if I’ve come a much longer way than I believed.

I looked at the cloaked stranger. The thick cowl of a cloak shadowed its face, but I swore that the song nonetheless seemed to softly come from within the shaded hood where the strange ponies face would have been if I could see it.

The song reflected a multitude of emotions all at once, but a constant sadness seemed to linger about it. As if the tune could have once been happy and joyous, but the weight of time and life had twisted its tune into a dirge of its former glory.

I’m enchanted by the wilting song, and feel my very blood seem to respond to its call, as if it could hum along with the mysterious tune.

That small voice in the back of my mind pleaded silently for me to leave, to run from this being. It insisted it was dangerous here, that I was not safe, but my legs refuse to move as I’m enraptured by the song.

I can feel the large shadowy pony starring at me. I can’t tell how I know, but I can feel its eyes as they seem to bore into my very soul, silently judging me for some unknown purpose.

“Who are you?” I ask the strange pony.

It opens its mouth, and a jumble of words come spilling out as it answers. A hundred different names seem to wash over me. Impossibly all trying to be heard as the words roll through my ears in a cacophony of sound.

The sounds cause my head to hurt as a dull ache begins to form as its words echo within my skull.

My eyes begin to squint with the pain.

“What? I can’t understand you,” I say, confused as the ponies words flow past me.

The strange pony seems frustrated with my lack of understanding, and begins talking louder now as it tries harder to communicate with me. The words seem to become heavier as they take on weight in response to the strange ponies frustration, pounding my brain like a meat mallet. The words continue to getlouder and more painful as I cover my ears from the mental assault.

“Stop,” I plead, trying to make the building pain subside, “Stop it. Don’t hurt me. The words, they’re hurting me!”

Just when I feel like my head is about to split in two, the sound stop. I collapse to the ground, clutching my head with my hooves, breathing heavily as I try to collect my thoughts.

Complete silence suddenly stretches around me, and I look up to see the strange pony is gone now. Only empty road left in its wake.

Suddenly, from the empty air around me, I feel the song returning. The song is soothing, but does little to remove the mounting pain in my head. As I sit there, tears beginning to mist my eyes, I hear a voice whisper in my ear silently.

“Wake up, Sweet Peach, this is only the beginning.”

* * *

I woke up with a jolt to a flat wooden wall.

I was covered in my own sweat and the king of all hangovers rested within my head, growling unhappily as I came back to consciousness.

I felt wretched and dehydrated, my breathing labored as I ran a sticky swollen tongue over my dry lips. The bitter taste of vomit stung the back of my throat, and my eyeballs felt like they were trying to escape out from the sockets. My pillow was wet, and with surprise I touched my face to discover I'd been crying in my sleep during the night.

‘What in Celestia’s name was I dreaming about, what happened last night?’

The remnants of a half-remembered dream rolled through my head; something about a cloaked pony, and a song. As I tried to remember more, a roaring pain washed through my head. I clutched my skull, the massive hangover sitting in my skull seeming to scream to life.

It took what felt like an eternity for the throbbing to finally subside again, but even after it had, it still felt like a family of mice were trying to chisel their way out of my skull.

I rolled over, grunting as I shifted my large body lazily over. The movement was slow and torturous as my world tilted crazily. As I finished flopping myself over, I took a second to compose myself before I looked around the spartan room I was resting in.

The room looked like a small hurricane had swept through it.

A simple night stand sat adjacent to the bed, a burned down candle atop it. A large dresser stood next to the nightstand, and across the room a large armoire that has been tipped over onto its side. A wooden basin filled with water with a large mirror in front of it was oddly untouched in the corner: somehow surviving the tornado that had attacked the rest of the room.

Vague images of dreams about a barn and a house flitted through my head before quickly disappearing once more into the void of my thoughts. I rubbed my forehead, returning to mystery of the messy room surrounding me as I quickly forget the hazy images.

The sheets from the bed appeared to have been thrown randomly across the room with the exception of the blanket which was currently draped over me.

I also noted that all of the dresser drawers were missing from it, and that some pony had stacked the drawers into a crude house-like fort with some blankets thrown over the top as an impromptu, and badly sagging, roof.

The rooms only other notable commodity was a large solitary window along the far wall: curtains drawn. A thin stream of light poured through the gap in the curtains covering the window, allowing the light of the bright sunny day outside to illuminate the otherwise dark room.

I groaned out loud as I realized I knew the most likely culprit for the room's condition. My head flopped back down onto the soft mattress with a deep sigh.

'What in Luna’s dark mercy happened last night?' I thought groggily, 'I was arguing with Dad, and then went to Haystead. right? Yeah. I went to Haystead, got to the Inn, ordered a drink and then I....'

With another groan, I realized I couldn't remember the night before. I must have drunk a ton of alcohol, and Taps, the town’s local bartender, was known to brew some mean hard ciders. My hangover  gave a throb of agreement.

‘Hopefully I didn't do anything too stupid last night, especially after my arguments with...'

Reflecting on my argument with Dad from the night before was sobering. I didn't especially want to return to the farm, but I knew that I couldn't very well just disappear, or stay at... wherever I currently was residing. Eventually I would have to go back to the farm, and talk to D-

'No. His name is Green Hoof,’ I forcefully reminded myself, stubbornly refusing to think of him as my father. I was still angry with him.

All things considered, it would probably be for the best if I started keeping the truth of our relationship fresh in my mind.

It was apparent that Green Hoof didn't think of me as a true son, so why should I think of him as my true Dad? I was just some bastard his wife had shown up with one day, and dumped on him before she had run off to do… whatever it was she had left to do.

I felt my anger beginning to stir up again as I just thought about it. My hangover again asserting its dominance as it back stabbed my recovering brain with a fresh bout of pain.

I closed my eyes as I gently massaged my temples with my fore hooves, cursing the alcohol for causing this. My roaring headache throbbed painfully every few seconds, causing me to wince. I just prayed to Luna to take the pain away, and either she heard me, or my likely my brain got bored of tormenting me, because the painful beats coursing through my skull subsided... slightly.

‘ Gotta get up and off this bed and figure out what to do next. Find out if I've been sold into slavery or something while I was drunk last night.'

Taking in what was meant to be a reassuring breath, (which ended up being more of a miserable wheeze), I pushed myself up and off the bed.

Now, by “up and off” the bed, what I really mean is that I gave a grunt as I ungracefully rolled off the bed, kissing the hard wooden floor with a muffled ‘oof’.

Muttering more curses, I pushed myself fully up onto my hooves, my body protesting the movement as I stretched out my stiff muscles and popped my back.

‘Well, might as well see where I am before doing anything,’ I thought.

I grumbled as I clumsily tripped on something moving across the dark room. Going to the window I pulled back the blinds to allow the afternoon light to wash into the room.

I quickly discovered how much of a mistake that was as, with a yelp, I was blinded by the raw sunlight.

Feeling like I’d just been kicked in the head with the sudden exposure of light as I stumbled back away from the light. I hit the wall and just leaned against it: thankful for its solid stability as I waited for my vision to return.

After a long while of fearfully thinking I’d somehow permanently blinded myself, my vision slowly filtered back into splotchy focus. Black dots swam before me, and I glared at the annoying little spots as they darted through my vision: always within sight, but impossible to focus upon for more than a second.

This time, the lesson of the sunlight's effects on my sight still fresh in my bleary mind, I cautiously approached the window, shading my eyes from the light as I peeked out the window down upon a bustling street of Haystead.

It quickly became apparent I was still at the Inn. I could see the smithy across the street, an obvious landmark in town that I knew sat right across from the Inn.

‘Alright, well that’s one question answered at least,’ I thought, rubbing my eyes in an attempt to clear the black spots swimming in my vision as I retreated from the bright window once more.

My ears perked as I heard a metal ratcheting sound as the door to my room was opened slowly.

Turning around, I beheld a beautiful golden-yellow mare with a green mane standing in the door with a key in her mouth.

I instantly recognized her as the serving mare for the Inn, Golden Heart.

I’d met her before in my past visits to the Inn for a drink. I’d drilled myself on her name since I'd thought she was really cute when I first met he as just a colt. I guess I still found her attractive; even if Golden Heart had never returned my affections. Then again I guess I couldn't blame her for rebuking the advances of just another drunken pony at her job.

She looked quite startled at the state of my room, and I suddenly felt embarrassed as Golden Heart regarded the whirlwind of disaster that my room had become during the night with a slightly perplexed look.

“Oh!,” Golden heart said with surprise, suddenly noticing me standing by the window while I gawked at her. ”I wasn't expecting you to be awake, especially after last night. Figured I’d have to spend hours trying to wake you up, especially after how much you drank last night...”

‘Note to self: don’t drink ridiculous amounts of alcohol in the future.’ The thought was good, but knowing myself, I’d wager I’d forget next time I went out to get a stiff drink again.

“Yeah… sorry about the mess. I’ll clean up before I head out,” I said sheepishly.

She eyeballed the room once more, lifting an eyebrow at me as she tried not to smell the offensive odor vomit, sweat, and body odor that permeated the room, “That would probably be fair, all things’s considered... did you make a fort out of the dresser drawers?”

“um… No,” I said, my mouth scrunching up with the obvious lie.

'Smooth Sweet Peach, she’ll totally not suspect you, the only inhabitant of the room. That would be too obvious.'

“Oh, and Taps wanted me to tell you to talk to him before you headed out," Golden Heart said, suddenly remembering what she’d come up to tell me. "He said you still had to settle the cost of the room.”

“No problem, I’ll be sure to swing by and chat with him,” I said, glad to change the topic away from myself. I gave a sigh as I looked at the messy room and it’s toppled furniture.

Golden heart motioned towards the water basin and the mirror to the side of the room.

“Oh, and um... I’d suggest you go ahead and wash up before you head out. You smell a little ripe, if you catch my meaning,” said Golden Heart, trying to only breathe through her mouth now so she wouldn't have to inhale the rank smell of the room.

“Yeah, I’ll be sure to do that,” I said, sheepishly rubbing my forelegs together as I realized how horrible I must smell.

With a nod, Golden Heart fled my room, leaving me to wash up and clean the mess I’d created during the night.

‘This might take a while.’

* * *

(Song #1)

After re-arranging the room as best I could, and taking a well-needed bath, I walked down into the Inn’s common room.

It was a large and wide spacious place with round tables spaced through the room ringing a massive fireplace. Some tables had been built into alcoves along the walls to give ponies more privacy if they so desired it. Along the entire back wall of the Inn stretched the true calling for which the ponies of Haystead came to frequent: the bar, Tap’s domain.

Haystead’s Inn was large for a frontier town, but it had always been a source of pride for Tap and the townsfolk. Many of the locals believed that the large building helped attract many of the traveling caravans and merchants that passed through Haystead due to its hospitality. And business for the Inn meant business for the local shops and townsfolk who resided in Haystead: everypony benefited.

Most of the ponies who frequented the Inn slept in front of the hearth. Actual rooms cost a pretty bit or two, which brought me back to my own dilemma. How in Celestia and Luna’s name was I supposed to pay for the room I’d slept in last night?

Tap, the bartender himself (and owner of the proud two-story building), was currently behind the bar; whistling to himself as he shined his already pristine counter top with a rag.

Tap was a black unicorn stallion. Had been around since before I’d been born and brought to Haystead. He was getting older now, dark gray hairs beginning to pepper his white mane, but he was still as energetic and fit as when he was younger, or so he boasted.

Getting older hadn’t done anything to diminish his talents with mixing a good stiff drink. If anything, age had only improved the older unicorn's considerable brewing talents, like a bottle of fine wine left to sit until the opportune date before opening it to take a drink.

As I was cleaning the room earlier, I’d realized something very crucial about my already bad situation. In my fury last night, I’m stomped off without grabbing my money. How I’d honestly paid for anything last night was in serious question, and I soon suspected that the cost for the room might be the least of my worries.

As I stood awkwardly at the bottom of the stairs, still nursing my annoyingly persistent hangover and mulling over some possible solutions to my mounting problems, a pair of voices caught my attention.

Two traveling ponies were talking in an alcove table nearby to me. My ears tilted to catch the conversation better as I listened in.

“I’m telling you, it’s true! I heard it from a friend of mine, who heard it from his brother, who heard it from a relative, who was there. The undead!” Said a high voice insistently from one of the two ponies.

My ears perked up at that. Undead ponies? this could be interesting. I shifted over to the side so I could hear better. Looking back, I could see the high voiced pony was a thin looking pegasus, his travelers cloak and the heavy rucksack nearby revealing him as some sort of peddler.

The large pony nearby to him gave a dismissive grunt, (possibly a traveling companion?). The large ponies voice rumbled deeply as he responded, “Just a bunch of rubbish. Ghost stories and gossip. Everypony knows that there ain't anything like a ghoul pony. Don’t exist. Never have, and never will.”

The Peddler pony looked worried, almost frantic, “That’s what I thought it was at first as well: just rumors. But I’m telling you that its true! I’ve heard rumors of abominations walking the land and attacking hapless travelers. Creatures creeping from the Hayseed Swamps. They say that the Celestial Knights themselves have been spotted organizing and sweeping the nation. If nothing was happening, do you really think the Celestial Knights would waste their time chasing a rumor?”

The big pony guffawed at his companions words.

“Please, shadow ponies, undead monstrosities, and now those hacks, the “Celestial” Knights, “Said the big pony, making quotation marks with his hooves as he rolled his eyes, “more like a bunch of self-rightous warrior wanna-bes who wouldn’t even know how to eat, let alone fart, without their vaunted “noble code” to tell them how and when.”

The big pony gave a rolling laugh at the thought, his companion scowling at him as he criticized his story.

The big pony chuckled a bit as he continued on, ”We have enough real problems plaguing the land without all of your imaginary ones also stalking in our footsteps at night. Besides, it's as you said, they’re only rumors. Now come on, finish your meal so we can get out of this dirt clod of a town and on our way…”

I stopped listening in as their conversation died down and they ate their meals. My mind whirled at the news. I realized it was unlikely to be true, but it was still exciting to think somewhere, outside of Haystead, something might be happening.

'The Celestial Knights, undead ponies, and monstrous creatures walking the land? Seems serious. And the Hayseed Swamp isn’t that far from Haystead. Heck, the town got its name from the swamp! But, if it were true, wouldn’t the military be stepping in to deal with it?

As I contemplated this new information, Taps noticed me lost in thought as I stood by the stairs. I was suddenly brought back to reality from my day dreaming as I noticed Taps beckoning me over, a little smile on his face as he saw me grimace.

‘I’m so screwed.’

I gave a deep sigh, and slowly walking over towards the black coated unicorn bartender and what I imagined to be my financial doom. Just approaching the unicorn seemed to make my hangover give a painful purr, as if it could recognize its brewer from the night before.

‘Stupid hangover. Leave me alone already,’ I thought irritably at myself. I swear it laughed at me as it began a new mental assault against me. Is that even possible?

“Huh, he lives,” Said Taps with a little smirk, “how’s the hangover, champ?”

“Ugh,” I grunted in response as I sat down on one of the many vacant bar stools ringing the counter and cradled my head. Tap gave me a knowing look as he picked up a mug from behind the counter filled with a murky liquid and placed it on the counter in front of me.

“On the house,” Said Tap, gesturing for me to drink. I gave him a questioning look, but he just looked down at the drink and back at me.

“What, never had tea before? It’s a special recipe of mine, and I promise it’ll help with your little hangover, trust me,” Said Taps.

I stared at the murky water, not very convinced by Taps reassurances.

Most ponies in Haystead scoffed at tea, me included. It was widely thought of as a prissy ponies’ drink; one for ponies too “posh” and “high-class” for us measly peasant ponies and our uncouth alcohols.

But since Taps was offering it for free, and he’d done well by me in the past, I deciding it couldn’t make me any more miserable than I currently was.

‘No point in refusing a free drink, especially from Taps. Its not like I have to drink it if I decide that I really don’t like it.’

I reached out a hoof and grabbed the mug, taking a small sip. A feeling of cool relief seemed to sweep through me. It felt like that liquid was seeping through my whole body, easing the aches and cramps within my muscles. Even the tight clamps crushing my brain seemed to subside slightly as I drank another hearty mouthful.

‘oh. My. Gosh. Has tea always been this good? Forget alcohol, I’d drink this forever!’

I took a larger gulp of the concoction, and Taps laughed as I began to gulp it down.

“See? What did I say,” Said Taps, lifting up a small ceramic tea pot and placing it on the counter nearby to me, “there’s still some more left if you need it.” I gratefully accepted more as I poured myself another cup and began to drink it slower this time, enjoying the interesting blend of spices. The distinct smell of peppermint and honey wafted from the beverage, a detail I hadn’t noticed while chugging the initial mug-full.

“Thanks,” I said, my throat feeling looser and my tongue not feeling nearly as icky as it had. Taps nodded, accepting my ‘thank-you’ stoically as he continued to clean the counter top nearby.

“I still can’t believe how much you drank last night. 12 pints of my premium cider,” Said Taps, chuckling a bit at the memory of last night.

I just looked at him, open mouthed.

“twelve pints?” I said in disbelief. No wonder I felt like death, it was probably little wonder I hadn’t died last night in my sleep.

“Twelve,” confirmed Taps, “you had a few to begin with, and then challenged some of my other customers to a drinking game. Looser paid for everyones drinks. For a while there, it was looking like you might pass out, but in the end you pulled through and won the contest. Even though, I imagine you’re paying for it now, eh?”

I just gave a grunt in response, and Taps laughed a bit.

“Speaking of which, what do I owe you for last night?” I asked, dreading the answer.

“All in all? Well, the winnings from your little contest helped to pay for your drinks from the contest, but not for the initial drinks you had before it,” Said Taps, his words wandering into silence as he tapped his chin with a hoof and mulled the prices around in his head before nodding and looking back towards me.

” five bits and four silvers.” He said, very matter-of-factly. I choked on my mouthful of tea, mouth falling open at the huge sum of coins.

“five bits and four silvers?!” I sputtered, shaken by the amount. I just looked at Taps, shocked. Taps looked at me, completely serious, as I tried to put two thoughts together as I forgot how to speak for a little while.

‘How the hell am I supposed to pay that. It’d take nearly two years of constant work to acquire that much, and even then, I might still not have enough!’

My mind reeled. I tried to formulate a plan. I even considered killing Taps! It was only a fleeting though, but I felt myself returning to it as I became increasingly desperate.

After a second, though, Taps began to laugh as I floundered before him. I looked at him, confused at his mirth at my suffering.

“I’m just kidding Sweet Peach. Jeaz, 5 bits? No pony has that much money around here. Even with your impressive record from last night, you’d have to drink a lot more than 10 pints of my booze to accumulate five bits worth of it as a tab. I imagine that if even you had bought that much alcohol you would most likely have drunk yourself to death.”

“Ugh, you asshole. I can’t believe you! You seriously had me going there,” I said, angry at the deception and my own foolishness in believing him.

Taps gave me a knowing grin.” Only because I know how gullible you can be sometimes Sweets. But, in all seriousness, you do owe me some coin from last night.”

“How much,” I groaned, quickly adding, “and the real amount this time, you old coot.” Taps just snorted at my jab, still chuckling to himself over his prank.

“1 bit and 2 silvers,” Said Tap, long since having memorized the true amount of my tab. I groaned. It was considerably less than the ridiculous amount he’d spouted at me earlier, but it was still more than the paltry amount I had squirreled away back home.

Taps, hearing my defeated groan at the news, reached over the bar and patted me on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry about it champ, I know it’s a bit above what you can pay all at once. You can just pay me back during the coming months. You’ll be off harvesting season soon, and the common room always gets a little busy with winter fast approaching since everypony wants somewhere warm to spend the night, or get a drink to warm the belly.”

At hearing that, I did feel a bit better. Working at the Inn might be a good change of pace. Who knew, if I did a good enough job, maybe I could start working here full time. It would certainly be a nice change over my grueling farm work, and possibly a necessary change if Green Hoof was still angry at me. Besides, I could spend more time with the waitress Golden Heart! Taps gave a smile as he noticed my change in mood, glad to have cheered me up as I fantasized about Golden Heart and continued to sip my tea.

“By the way, how did I end up in the room to begin with?” I asked, still confused as to how I’d ended up staying the night at the Inn, “I don’t really remember much from last night. But I don’t think even I would believe myself rich enough to rent a whole room to myself” I asked, still hazy on the details.”

“Actually, I put you up there,” Said Taps, to my surprise.

“When you came in last night, you were in a foul mood. After you got a few drinks in you, I was able to gather enough information to figure out the jist of what’d happened to you. After the drinking game, you were beginning to get a bit too rowdy with the other customers. So I had Golden Heart lead you up to one of the vacant guest rooms, and lock you inside for the night,” Said Taps.

I began to complain about him charging me for the room before Taps lifted a hoof to silence me.

“Now, I realize that I did put you there, and that it isn’t entirely fair to charge you for the room, but I did lose potential buisness in doing so. So, I did lower the cost of the room to reflect that, but I gotta charge you all the same,” Said Taps.

I thought about it, and came to the conclusion that it was a fair trade, even if I still felt a little annoyed and cheated.

“Anyways,” said Taps, continuing his tale from the night before, “ after we locked you upstairs to keep you contained for the night, we began hearing some heavy thuds and the sound of hooves stomping all around; sounded like you were dancing up there. Almost unlocked the door to check, but just as I reached your door, you went mysteriously quiet. When I listened through the keyhole, I could hear you snoring, so I just left it at that.”

As Taps finished retelling his side of what had happened last night, I felt my cheeks blushing as I thought about the room and all the trouble I’d most likely caused for Taps and Golden Heart.

I was suddenly very glad I’d taken the time to thoroughly clean the room, and I sincerely hoped Taps didn't notice the minuscule crack on the back of the armoire I’d tipped over. It was just a tiny thing, though, I doubted even Taps would notice, right?

“Thanks, that was really nice of you to do,” I said, truly grateful for Taps help. It probably would have been really bad had I wondered around Haystead in my drunken state, and I shuddered to think about what may have happened had I been free to roam.

“Figured that with you being as drunk as you were, it would be safer keeping you here the night than letting you loose on Haystead. Or worse, back to your own family.”

My mood soured as Taps words brought me back to thoughts about my my “family”,

‘Or the closest thing to one a bastard like me could hope for,’ I sullenly reflected.

I listened quietly to Taps, nodding my thanks to him once more as I took a gulp of the cool refreshing beverage and brooded in silence.

Taps quietly watched me, reading the shift in my mood as I became quiet and sipped my tea.

“You know, Sweets,” Said Taps, stopping his cleaning as he carefully chose his next words, “I know that it’s none of my business and that your Pa, Green Hoof, may not be the most forthcoming of fellas, but it doesn’t mean he hates you.”

“I don’t know, Taps,” I said quietly, “You should have heard him last night. It was just two words. Two words! But he spoke them so…. Vehemently. Like it was a curse, or something. Is that what I am to my family? Some curse they have to live with, stuck with me whether they want me or not, just because we share a bit of blood? I don’t know what to think anymore Taps. I thought I’d finally figured out what my place in the family was. And then, just when I felt like everything was finally starting to connect for me, he pulls something like that on me. It’s just so-so frustrating!” I clenched my teeth in irritation at the whole mess, wrapping my forehooves across my face.

I felt like crying, and I hoped beyond anything that I didn’t. I don’t think I could take crying in front of Taps on top of my hangover and the mounting depression over my own personal family-identity crisis.

“Listen, Sweets, you might be a bastard, but damn if you don’t earn your food and board. You’re a hard worker son, and everypony in town can see that. Or, at least I can,” Said Taps gently.

I looked up at Taps as he continued to talk. Taps was scrutinizing the polished wood of his counter top as he continued to speak to me.

“You stick by what you believe, even if you are a complete twat about it sometimes, from what I hear. But that’s a rare trait, sticking to what you say. Not many ponies like that in these parts, apart from the clergy. It’s mighty decent if you ask me.”

Taps waited a second for that to sink in. I just sat there for a second before I poured myself the remaining contents of the tea in my cup and continued to drink. Taps left me to my thoughts as I quietly contemplating his words and what they meant for me. I couldn’t come to any conclusions, but Taps words rang with some truth, and they certainly made me feel better.

A call from a pony down the bar suddenly caught our attention. One of the rooms’ tenants was hailing Taps, looking to get something to drink himself.

Taps gave me a reassuring nod, which I returned, before moving down the bar to serve the other patron.

“Sweet Peach? Sweet Peach, are you here?”

I shifted in my seat, looking over towards the door. Outlined by the light from outside stood Peach Tea, looking at me. I returned her gaze as we just starred at each other uncertainly.

“Hey,” Said Peach Tea.

“Hey,” I said back, unsure of any other response.

“Mind if I join you?” asked Peach Tea, I shrugged and motioned towards the empty stools around me. Peach Tea slid into one nearby.

As she did, Taps suddenly re-appeared, putting a glass of water on the counter in front of Peach Tea before he once again disappeared down his bar, giving us some privacy. The silence stretched out between us as we both just sat there, neither of us sure of what to say.

“You really freaked me out too, taking off like that,” Said Peach Tea quietly.

Peach Tea waited for me to respond, sighing when my silence continued.

“Dad just came back in with his stone mask on, just said you’d left and wouldn’t tell us why or where-to. Sprouts and Pits just said that you probably needed some space, or something stupid like that, but I think even they were worried a bit for you.”

Peach Tea looked at me, still waiting for me to talk to her as I continued to sip my tea and look at the counter.

“Come on, Sweet Peach, talk to me here. It’s like I’m talking to Dad again from last night,” Said Peach Tea.

It really hurt hearing that, and I just grimaced at the thought we were even slightly similar.

“I’m not like that man,” I growled back.

“Maybe, but you’re doing a pretty good job impersonating him right now,” Said Peach Tea with a scowl.

“Your Dad, not mine,” I said bitterly, angry Peach Tea would compare me to him.

“Oh, is that what this is all about? Blood relation? Sorry, I guess I missed the memo on when that actually fucking mattered to anyone,” Said Peach angrily.

“Well it fucking does,” I said, getting pretty pissed myself now. It wasn’t Peach Tea’s fault, but she was quickly becoming the target of my ire.

“No, Sweet Peach, it really doesn’t,” Said Peach Tea, “and if you’d pull your head out of your own ass, you’d realize that.”

“Oh? If it doesn’t matter then why does it seem like Dad wont get over it? I’m not his son, and it seems he’s pretty hell-bent on reminding me that at the most inopportune of times. I don’t even remember Mom, Peach. What the hell am I supposed to do? It’s just so frustrating when I try to help somepony, or stick up for myself, and then get shot down by him because I actually have the balls to stand up for whats right. Am I just supposed to curl up on the ground and die so he can forget his wife ever got pregnant with another pony’s kid.”

“Since apparently you’ve forgotten that there is more to family than just blood relation and Dad, then I guess I’ll remind you,” hissed Peach Tea at me, her eyes boring into me.

“Pits, Blossom, and I all missed you last night. We were up, worried sick! Hell, I think even Sprouts was worried, although he’d never be caught dead saying so to us. You’re still our brother, even if Dad doesn’t see you as such, we do.”

After Peach Tea had finished scolding me, she just looked away from me. Her anger sibsiding a bit as she added, “Sweet Peach… you made Blossom cry herself to sleep last night.” Said Peach Tea, her voice low and angry as she pointedly refused to look at me and took a sip of water.

I winced, hearing that last bit really stung. I’d always been very protective of Blossom, and I felt like a monster at the thought that I had caused her such grief with my absence. I hadn’t even been thinking about how my leaving might have affected the family.

I didn’t really know what to say. I tried to come up with a response that wouldn’t sound hollow, and insincere, but the words turned to ash in my mouth every time I tried to say them. So I just said the only thing that kept coming to mind as I sat next to my step-sister.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, “I didn’t mean to cause you guys to worry last night.”

“Yeah, well just don’t do it again, alright?” said Peach Tea, taking another sip of water.

“Guess I should be getting back to the house then,” I said, grimacing at the thought of facing Dad.

“Oh no, you are not going home, especially after last night,” said Peach Tea.

“Wait, what?” I said, confused now. “I thought the point of everything you just said was to get me to face my issues with Dad.”

Peach Tea rolled her eyes at me, “Well, yes you should, but at this point I think that the both of you could use a little extra space. So, in the meantime, you’re going to help me out with our stall at the market today. Dad’s back at the farm, and Pits couldn’t stay around to help me after pulling the cart over here since he had to fill in for you today because you disappeared.”

I realized that I was going to owe Pits a favor for that.

“Come on. I gotta get back out there and it’s not like the day is getting any younger with us chatting here,” Said Peach Tea, putting her glass back on the countertop with a tink of glass.

I finished off the last of the tea in one gulp, waving towards Taps as we headed out so he’d know we were leaving.

Taps replied with a curt nod towards us before going back to his patrons as Peach Tea and I strolled out into the blinding sunlight.

Chapter 3 - Market Brawl

Chapter 3 - Market Brawl

Chapter 3 - Market Brawl" Everypony has something they consider worth fighting for. The problem for some, is discovering what that "thing" is... "

(Song #1)

The sunlight was jarring as I bravely walked outside, but it didn’t sting my eyes nearly as badly as it had earlier. I still felt like I had to squint at everything with one eye closed, but at least it didn’t feel like invisible spikes were being driven through my eyes.

‘Guess that drink really helped out. I’m should ask Taps if I can get the recipe for that tea from Taps, it could be really handy to have something for hang-overs in the future.’

Haystead bustled by around us as I followed Peach Tea further into town towards the market. All around us, life continued as normal as ponies performed their trade or otherwise went about their daily business.

I saw Singed Coat, the local earth pony blacksmith, pounding a red-hot metal bar to his will: sweat covered his brow as he grunted with each powerful swing of the hammer in his sturdy grip. His apprentice, Ember, scurried to keep the bellows blowing and the fires hot as Singed methodically worked. We locked eyes for a second, and exchanged small nods of greeting towards each other as he continued at his work and I walked onwards.

A few of Haystead’s elderly inhabitants recognized Peach Tea and me and cried greetings towards Peach Tea from their rocking chairs as they worked on a massive quilt together. While they had smiles for Peach Tea, I could see the thinly veiled scowls as they saw me.

Family meant a lot in a small town like Haystead, and my status as a bastard didn't exactly make me a welcome sight to many. The gaggle of elderly mares quickly returned to the town gossip as I walked by. I pretended not to notice.

Before long, we were on the main street of Haystead, a wide dirt-packed road that cut through the town. Wagons, carts, and ponies of all types and coloration milled back and forth, enjoyed the weather with friends, or, like Peach Tea and I, headed towards the Saturday market.

The Haystead Saturday markets were always busy since they only occurred once a month during the spring and summer months. Most townsfolk would come out to buy and sell goods, enjoy the festivities and company of travelers.

The town square was, as the name entitled, a large square piece of open land that acted as the central nexus for the town and its ponies. Town hall sat within obvious view to anypony who looked. At that critical building the mayor worked and resided, and all the judicial and political decisions for the town at large were decided.

The large and open middle ground of the town square had been transformed by the merchants and local vendors of the market. Wagons, stalls, and tents had been erected all across the small town, making a small maze of goods for sale.

Haystead prided itself in its work, and it showed as we entered the town square and I eyed the fine assortment of goods on display.

The selection of goods on display around the market was predominantly the produce and hand-crafted goods that could be made, or grown, around the small farming town of Haystead. All the items up for sale were of sound quality and as reliable as the local craftsmen who had hoof-made them.

A small diversity of goods could be found in the merchants and peddlers that traveled through Haystead. Their colorful tents stood out starkly against the more drab stalls of the locals. The merchants always boasted a large selection of specialty wares from far away lands, strange clothes, and even a few weapons and armors could be seen on display as I followed Peach Tea further into the bustling market.

Ringing the outside of the large piece of open ground were many shops and stores, all open to the market as ponies yelled and called out their wares over the din to attract customers.

“Potions and elixirs for sale! Premium, and at a discount, potions and elixirs-“

“ –Greens, fresh greens! Liven your plate tonight with-“

“ Absolutely not! This basket is easily worth at least-“

“ Blades and knives, blades and knives for sale. Equip yourself today with quality steel-“

I had always loved the summer markets.

Visiting the stalls of the traveling merchants that came through Haystead and the collections of interesting trinkets and baubles they brought with them to sell was always interesting. Even though I couldn’t afford any of the things they were offering, it was still nice to browse and day-dream as I explored the exotic wares.

“Sweets!”

Ilooked at Peach Tea, thinking she was calling my name. Peach Tea looked as confused as me as we both quizzically looked around for the caller.

As I turned around, I suddenly felt a pair of forehooves wrap around my neck and wrench me to the side while another pair of hooves grabbed my hind legs: yanking me off my hooves.

I crashed to the ground in a clump as the pair of ponies pinned me down. After my eyes stopped rolling around my head with the sudden change in gravity, I looked around me to see two rusty-red colored earth ponies with black manes grinning roguishly at me.

The two earth ponies looked nearly exactly the same, the only discernible difference between the two was their eye color. The one wrapped around my head was Flare, I could tell by his sky-blue eyes, while the one wrapped around my legs was called Dare, his emerald green eyes twinkled mirthfully at me.

“The RedTail twins,” I said, spitting out a clod of dirt, “should have known I wouldn’t be able to walk around without you two assaulting me.”

The identical twins just continued to laugh, their rusty-red coats dusty and dirty.

The RedTails were the towns local wild-colts, widely regarded as horrible pranksters and troublemakers (titles they were exceedingly proud). Before I’d started working the peach orchards, I had spent much of my time hanging out with the RedTails along with Fair Trade. The twins had a habit of getting into mischief, fights, and impromptu wrestling matches, and were all too happy when they were able to pull me and Fair Trade into their shenanigans.

Initially, as just little colts, we’d all become fast friends after I’d defended Fair Trade from them when the RedTails had been bullying the poor Pegasus. After the fight, we were all black and blue with bruises, but our young combat had caused all of us to develop a respect for the other, which brought us together as friends shortly afterwards in only a way that a group of young stallions could ever justify. We’d spent the next few years getting into all kinds of trouble and adventures as we laughed our days away.

After a few years, though, Fair Trade and I would be pulled away to work our respective trades. The RedTail twins, on the other hoof, had continued right on with their mischievous ways. Nobody knew quite what the twins did for a living, or if they even worked at all. Looking at their dirty coats, I was more likely to believe it was most likely that they didn’t work at all.

It was like time had aged their bodies but left them with the minds of colts. Despite their reckless, and childish, antics I still found myself endeared to them. They, along with Fair Trade, were perhaps some of the few true friends I had ever made and kept in Haystead.

The twin wrapped around my neck, Flare, gave a little giggle, “Hey Sweets!”

The one wrapped around my legs, Dare, gave me a mock hit to the flank. “Serves you right Sweets. Should have been watching your back,” said Dare.

I Rolled my eyes, “Even if I did watch my back, you two would still attack me,” I huffed. The twins laughed in response.

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Said Flare, rubbing his chin, “But hey, can’t blame us can you? Not our fault you’re so easy to take down.”

I narrowed my eyes, getting ready to show these two just how ‘easy’ I would be when they weren’t getting the jump on me. A pony cleared her throat nearby. We all looked over towards Peach Tea, annoyed at being ignored as she waited for us to finish our little moment.

“If you three are done making out, I’d like to take my brother back,” Said Peach Tea, primly. “We actually have work to get completed today. Unlike some ponies here.”

The RedTails grumbled, and I stifled a laugh as I watched Dare mockingly mimic Peach Tea, but the two ponies slowly unhooked themselves from around me, allowing all of us to get back up to our hooves as we dusted ourselves off (or, I guess I dusted myself off. The RedTails didn't seem to really care about their coats being dirty).

Flare leaned in, whispering in my ear, “Hey, we heard about your little fiasco last night. You should have told us you’d be in town.”

I looked towards Peach Tea, but saw that she was occupied talking to the other twin, looking thoroughly confused as the other twin no-doubt twisted her mind with some insane logic of his.

“I was kind of… out of it last night Flare. Got into a fight with Da... Green Hoof, and I just needed a night to myself,” I said, looking down towards the ground, still feeling a little guilty after my conversation with Peach Tea.

Flare must have noticed, because he gave me a pitying look. It was strange to see such a morose emotion coming from the constantly perky stallion.

“You staying in town again tonight?” He asked, keeping the question neutral, but the real question bled through as Flare discreetly asked if I needed a place to stay for the night.

I shook my head. “No, I’m going home tonight. Just gonna help out Peach Tea with the market, and then I’ll head back home with her.”

Flare gave me a reassuring pat on the shoulder, “good luck buddy, I’m sure everything will work itself out in the end. But if you decide to stay, you always know that my brother and I will help you out.”

I felt Peach Tea walk up beside me, “Come on Sweets, we got to go.”

As I turned around to say good bye to Flare and Dare, I suddenly felt two ponies kiss both sides of my face simultaneously. The RedTail twins laughed as they galloped off into the crowd, yelling something about “kissing” and “sitting in a tree” as I sputtered and wiped my mouth.

I rubbed my cheeks furiously, angry and embarrassed. “You little shits!”

* * *

As we squeezed by a pair of furiously haggling ponies, we came upon the small area that Peach Tea and claimed earlier for our stall. Pits had parked the families cart in the spot before returning to the farm so nopony else would be able to claim it. As we approached, one of the stall vendors waved towards Peach Tea,

“Hey Peaches, I see you found your brother. Watched your stall, like you asked; made sure nopony tried to snag any of those goods of yours while you were away.”

Peach Tea smiled at our market neighbor, “thank you, Rose, I owe you one.”

Rose shook her hoof back and forth dismissively, “Oh, never you mind. It was my pleasure. Not like it was especially hard or anything.”

Peach Tea and I quickly went about preparing the stall for business. We removed the blanket Peach Tea had used to cover the stall and its goods, and after a bit of re-arranging, the goods on the table were presentable. Our little stall was ready for business once more.

“Um… Peach Tea, what should I do?” I asked. I’d never really helped out with the stall before. This was usually a job that Peach Tea and Pits handled, so I was a bit in the dark for what my responsibilities were.

“Just mind the money and goods, I’ll do all the advertising and haggling,” Said Peach Tea, giving me a wink as she pulled out a red bandanna from our cart and tied it around her head and over her hair. stepping up onto an overturned box she’d placed next to the stall, Peach Tea showed me why she always ran the market as her beautiful voice cut over the crowd as surely as the blaze red bandanna.

“Peaches, freshly canned peaches! Best peaches this side of the mountains. Come get some delicious peaches, or our signature peach tea! Freshly brewed this morning, and sure to put a spring in your step. You haven’t lived till you’ve tried some of our fresh peaches, and it’s sure to put a smile on your lips and fill your aching belly. Peaches for sale!”

I just sat back and watched my sister work, smiling a bit. She was so energetic! It was apparent that she loved working here, and her own enthusiasm was infectious. Other ponies soon took notice of our stall and its attractive announcer with the bright red bandanna as they moved closer, curious to see our goods.

I felt fairly clumsy and overwhelmed as I tried to fulfill all the orders of the ponies slowly beginning to crowd our stall. Everypony was yelling and screaming over each other for something or another, and I found myself beginning to panic slightly, but looking towards Peach Tea, she just smiled at me warmly as she continued to advertise for us. I took a calming breath, and dove back into the melee of barering and tongues. Soon enough, I was able to figure out a rhythm to the madness surrounding me as I got into the flow of market-life.

‘Take that stallions money, give him two jars. One jar, and two teas, alrighty, there they go. One pound of our ripest and finest for her, 2 silvers...’

Peach Tea simply glowed as we worked, her charisma seeming to shine in the crowd as she pulled more and ever-more ponies to us, all clamoring for the delicious goods she proclaimed.

Time just seemed to slip by, completely forgotten as I lost myself to the fast work at hoof. While I wasn’t the smartest of ponies when it came to prices, Peach Tea was, and would quickly interject to haggle prices or take care of disputes between other ponies. I didn’t know if the deals were fair or not, but all the ponies that left did so with a smile on their face as they trotted off happily with their bought goods.

Before long, most of the goods had been sold, and the market was beginning to wind down a little. The crowds began to thin as the afternoon sun began to shift to evening. Peach Tea wiped the sweat from her brow, and I too noticed that I’d been beginning to put up a sweat myself in the heat of the sun as we worked.

Peach Tea stepped down off the over-turned box, “whew. Let's take a break Sweets, I think that’s enough business for now.”

“Aw, closing down shop already? And here I was thinking that I could make an extra-large order,” said a silky smooth voice.

Deadline stood just in beyond our small stall. The blue unicorn gave us both a slimy smile as he stood nearby, seven of his cronies backing him up today. I could see Lash and Crunch among the other nasty looking bunch that made up Deadline’s posse.

Peach Tea looked surprised and a little worried as she looked at me uncertainly and then back to Deadline and his crew of misfits. Yesterday’s encounter was still fresh in both our minds, and I watched as she quickly adopted her best salespony face and came over to stand by me behind the counter. She cleared her throat,

“Evening distinguished customers, how can my brother and I serve you on this beautiful day.”

Deadline chuckled, “Oh, ain’t that nice. “Distinguished”, I like the sound of that one darling, you certainly know how to tickle a stallion’s fancy. Or, is it his cock? I never can remember. I get the two mixed up so often.”

Deadline’s thugs gave crude leers at the remark, eyeing Peach Tea.

I felt my blood going cold. Maybe it was something about Deadline’s stance, or the fact he’d brought more ponies with him today, but something felt sinister in his demeanor.

‘This is bad, it’s not like yesterday when he was playing with us. Today he seems different; Deadline’s up to something today…’

Peach Tea, to her credit, completely ignored Deadline’s remark, continuing on like he’d said nothing out of place.

“If you would like to, sir, we have a fine assortment of food stuffs, a quality handmade tea, and some other fresh produce from our local farm. You’re free to a sample of any that catch your fancy,” Said Peach Tea diplomatically.

“Oh, a sample would be grand little Peach, but, I believe I already know exactly what I want to purchase today for me and my boys here,” said Deadline, his horn glowing. I tightened up a little, expecting the worst as he floated out a small brown bag from the satchel hanging from his torso. With a flick of his magic, the bag dropped down to land on top of our counter, spilling open to reveal an impressive collection of golden bits that clattered down before us.

I looked down, stunned at the sheer amount of money now on our counter.

.

‘That’s enough money to pay my debt to Taps at least ten-fold, where did Deadline get this sort of money to throw around!’

Peach Tea looked equally stunned, as she looked at the money and back towards Deadline.

“Oh… um, Sir, I’m afraid that even if I emptied out the rest of the goods in our wagon, it would still not cover the amount you’ve given us. If you give me a second, I could retrieve more goods from our wagon for your purchase”

“That will not be necessary, miss Peach. What I wish to purchase is already here. In fact, you could say that it’s behind your counter top right now,”Deadline said as he leered at Peach Tea.

“What the hell? What was Deadline talking about? We didn’t have anything worth that much money,” I thought, confused at Deadline’s words.

Peach Tea froze in place, fear and realization of her situation beginning to work its way into her large golden eyes.

Peach Tea began to tremble a bit, her words coming out shaky. “S-sir. What you are trying to buy isn’t up for sale. I believe you have the wrong booth, but I’m sure I can find something else here you’d enjoy to…”

Deadline began to scowl, tiring of the game. “Listen, whore, I’ve paid you more than enough for me and my ‘friends’ here, so I expect to get my money’s worth with you. Just like every other stallion in this piss-pot of a town.”

Deadline took threatening step towards Peach Tea, “Either you’re going to accept my money or I’m taking it by force. Your choice.”

I suddenly realized the implications of Deadline’s words, and I felt rage start of burn in my chest. How dare he! If he thought he was just going to do that and I wouldn’t have a few things to say on the matter, this asshole was in for one hell of a surprise!

“Back off, scum. Nopony talks to my sister that way and simply gets away with it! If you’re gonna do anything, you’re gonna have to go through me first.” I proclaimed boldy, drawing myself up to make myself bigger as I faced down Deadline.

Deadline gave a lazy smile towards me, enjoying the entire situation far too much.

“Oh, big Peach gonna stand up for his little sister? That’s cute,” said Deadline in a fake baby voice. “Go ahead, Peach, make my day. It’ll be a mistake I’ll be happy to personally rectify for you…”

As I grappled with my rising anger, I suddenly remembered Deadline’s thugs as they inched forward towards me, just itching to rip into me on their bosses signal.

‘He didn’t bring his thugs with him just for show-and-tell. He was planning on this from the start; expecting a fight or some struggle. His thugs will probably jump me the second I so much as twitch at him funny,’

Deadline sneered at me, spitting on the ground towards me as he saw that I didn’t move to do anything against him, turning his attention back towards Peach Tea as he dismissed me.

“So… about our little… arrangement,” said Deadline dangerously, moving in closer towards Peach Tea as his goons edged in behind him. “I believe we have a bit of an understanding dear?”

Peach Tea glanced at me fearfully, panic causing her eyes to shrink as she tried to figure out a way to escape. I just watched on, hopeless.

‘Think Sweets, think! There’s got to be a way you can help, something you can do to save Peach Tea. There’s always something, think goddesses dammit think! Good lord, with an entire stall of goods and items, you’d think we’d have something better than just peaches to defend ourselves!’

Suddenly, I felt something click. A plan surfacing from the depths of my brain. It took all my self-control to not openly smile as my daring plan formed, I just hoped that Peach Tea would be ready when I put it into motion.

I took a steadying breath, and tried to wear the most dejected face I possibly could. I was going to have to swallow some pride to pull this off, but if it worked it would be worth it.

“Um… Deadline, Sir. Before you do anything else, would you and your men like some free samples?”

Deadline looked at me with an eyebrow raised, confused at my sudden change of attitude. Deadline’s thugs looked similarly confused as they all shared looks, trying to figure out my angle for why I’d be offering something like that in such a circumstance.

Peach Tea, likewise, looked at me with rising concern. This was completely unlike me, and she was flabbergasted at why I suddenly seemed so cowed by Deadline. She bit her lip, as tears began to rim her eyes, believing herself abandoned as she awaited Deadline’s verdict.

Deadline looked back towards his goons, who shrugged in response, deferring to his leadership. Deadline looked back towards and I tried to shrink down and appear deflated as he scrutinized me. A slow smile wormed its way onto his lips as he glanced towards my teary sister, enjoying his apparent power over the two of us.

“See lads, just tell these filthy peasants what’ll happen if they resist, and they’ll back right down. Even the infamous bastard here isn’t giving us any guff, are you boy?” Deadline loomed towards me, and I shrank back as he raised his voice for all to hear.

“Why not. I always did enjoy a little something sweet before some hard work, isn’t that right lads?” Deadline’s thugs chortled behind him at the comment.

Still acting weak and cowardly, I pulled one of our jars of peaches from the table, and with a deft twist of my hooves pulled the lip off: offering the jar towards Deadline. I leaned the jar towards Deadline so he could get a better look at the jars golden contents.

Deadline licked his lips as he looked at the canned peaches, his magic floated out a sticky globule of peach towards his salivating mouth. With a sudden grin, I took the jar and whipped it towards Deadline as he leaned in for the tasty morsel.

*Splat*

. . .Drip     . . .Drip    . . .Drip

Deadline just looked at me, unamused. Chunks of syrup and preserved peaches dribbling down his chest and mane. He blew a chunk of sticky hair from his face with an irritated puff.

“Really?” he said, his face flat as he just looked at me. “Was that the best you could do?”

I grinned, “ Actually, that was just for laughs.”

With a sudden heave of my forehooves, I took the jar and threw it with all my might. The glass jar sailed through the air, and with a sharp impact, broke against the unicorn’s head as he just watched wide eyes, caught unaware by the sudden attack.

Peach Tea looked on, stunned. Deadline’s thugs looked similarly dumbfounded at what had just happened to their boss as Deadline clutched at the shards of glass in his face.

I broke the silence as I grabbed Peach Tea, “RUN!”

(Song #2)

Deadline’s thugs yelled all at once, springing into action as they tried to jump over the counter and catch us. I never gave them a chance.

With a mighty buck of my legs, I kicked the table over towards them. This caused the thugs in front to curse and quickly come to a halt, stopping the others behind them. The large stall came crashing down towards them, causing the jars and our other goods toppling down towards the brutes. It bought us a few precious seconds to make our escape.

“Get them! Get the bastard. I want him brought to me alive! Break his legs, shatter his bones, but I want that mother-bucker alive!” Deadline screamed in rage as Peach Tea and I galloped for our lives from the scene, sprinting away as fast as we could before Deadline and his thugs could give proper chase.

“Sweet Peach, what do we do? We’re in a lot of trouble, how are we supposed to make it out of this!” Peach Tea yelled at me as we thundered past surprised ponies, eliciting a few reprimanding shouts from those nearby as we smashed past them.

“Get to Dad. Find him and tell him what happened, he’ll keep you safe,” I said, already knowing what I’d have to do.

‘I started this. Only fair I finish it.’

“What about you?” said Peach Tea, asking the obvious question.

My plan hadn’t exactly included me being a part of her escape. Behind us, I could already hear Deadline’s thugs shouting for ponies to make way as they cursed and shouted obscenities at my sister and I: promising far worse than I’d offered to Deadline when they finally caught up to us.

“Don’t worry about me; I’ll distract them while you get away. I’ll meet you back at the house in a bit, now go!”

As I said that, I pushed Peach Tea into the crowd, turning to break off in a different direction.

“That way, the bastard went that way!”

I quickly glanced behind me, seeing three of the seven thugs that had been with Deadline pursuing me. One of them began to push towards the already disappeared Peach Tea, while the remaining two continued after me as the small group divided itself in an attempt to catch us both.

‘Oh, please make it home Peach, “ I thought as I tore down between the market stalls with the two ponies crashing behind me.

* * *

I pushed my way through the ponies milling in front of me, yells of surprise and frustration following me as I made my way hastily past them.

Adrenaline pumped through my veins as I looked back again. Deadline’s thugs were beginning to catch up.

As I was looking back, I felt myself smash into somepony in my path. With a startled grunt I felt my legs trip over themselves as I clumsily tried to regain my balance with the surprise impact.

I reeled to regain my footing, throwing a hoof out to the side to catch myself. With a grunt I felt my hoof grab onto a nearby wooden stall before smashing into it with my body.

I groaned with the smarting pain as I rubbed the already darkening bruises forming across my chest.

‘Shit… well, that’s what I get for not looking at where I was going. But, I suppose it could have been worse.’

I scrambled up, pulling myself up, but still sprawled out on the counter of the stall. The owner of the stall, a surprised looking grey unicorn with a grubby coat and stained white mane, was staring at me. His uncertainty and confusion were evident as he said something to me, but I didn't really catch it as I tried to make the world stop rolling.

I heard an ugly mocking voice give a little chuckle from behind me. I turned around to see the Deadline’s two thugs had caught up and were now slowly advancing upon me: enjoying my helplessness.

‘Shit! Shit, shit, shit! I just had to think that, “couldn’t have been worse?” Stupid, stupid!’

“Aw, did the little birdy clip his wings? We was having such a nice little chase there too.” Said the thug on the left, a wide scar running down his lip and below his jaw. His companion, a thin stallion with a malicious grin and eyes that twinkled with a promise of horrible things to come smiled his agreement darkly.

“Yeah, I think the bastard hit his wittle head,” Said the pony with the evil twinkle in his eye.

The one with the scarred face shared in that smile, his lips turning up into a nasty little smile of his own, the scar seeming to twist grotesquely as a result.

“Oh, I’m thinking that it’ll be the least of his worries by the time were through with him,” said Scar pony.

Twinkle gave a pleased little snarl at the idea, “Yeah, the boss did say we could have a little fun before we turned him over. Just so long as he’s alive when were done.”

I felt my blood run cold. I was in a lot of trouble. After what I’d just done to Deadline, there was no way I’d be leaving here fully intact, or at least without being permanently crippled for the rest of my life.

‘Forget Deadline, these guys mean business!’

As I mulled that over, I heard the unicorn say something, turning around I look again at the dirty stallion. I didn’t recognize him, and the pungent odor of chemicals and odd outlandish ingredients clung to his hide. Must be a traveling alchemist who happened to be in town during market.

“Go away,” hissed the alchemist, “don’t bring them over to my stand. I’ve got too many fragile reactants, ingredients, and potions for you to be having a fight on top of them! Go, shoo. Shoo!”

The alchemist gave me a few pokes with his hooves as he tried to get me off his stall. As if poking me would somehow make me miraculously disappear and solve the problem I’d suddenly dropped on him.

I scowled at him and his stall of “fragile ingredients”. Ugh, it wasn't my fault that I’d happened to land nearby to his dangerous stock of…

I suddenly looked at the table closer; looking at the bubbling brews, and darkly tinted bottles filled with swirls of murky and bright colored liquids.

I looked down at them, and then back up to the unicorn. Another plan began to form in my head, and I couldn’t help but let a little mischievous grin at the thought of what I was going to do.

The alchemist raised an eyebrow, confused at my sudden smile; looking down at the counter himself to the arrangement of his goods, and then back to the advancing thugs. His pupils seemed to shrink as he put one and two together and realized my ingenious plan, doing a double-take at me and the thugs.

“No… no! oh no you don’t, don’t even think about…”

I didn't even let him finish his sentence. I grabbed the closest bottle, a smallish flask with a bright crimson tincture inside it. With a sudden yell, I turned around and threw it towards Scar. I had no idea what the bottle was, but hopefully it would do something.

Scar looked confused as the bottle sailed through the air, but his eyes widened as it made a bee line for him, my deft throw hitting him expertly in the chest. The bottle shattered (fragile product indeed!) and suddenly, to the amazement of everypony nearby, Scar combusted.

With a scream, Scar began to roll on the ground in panic, trying to put the sudden fire out that had spread across his hide in the beat of an eye. Twinkle just looked over at Scar, stunned.

I quickly grabbed another bottle, and threw it towards Twinkle. I’d been hoping to catch him unaware as he gawked at his companion, but he proved the quicker as he saw me throw the second concoction of red-liquid his way.

Twinkle quickly ducked to the side, the bottle hitting the ground and leaving a burning puddle on the ground that simply continued to burn.

I began to grab everything in hoofs reach on top of the counter, tossing it towards Twinkle. Twinkle, in the meantime, dodged to save his life. Neither Twinkle or I knew what the bottles contained as I threw bottles of liquid every color and shade of the rainbow (and in one case, literally bands of color that formed a rainbow). The bottles hit the ground harmlessly, fizzling and hissing as their contents were released to the outside and mixed with the dirt.

Before long, Twinkle began to slowly advance on me. Figuring out the timing of my throws, and slowly gained ground towards me. His eyes promised murder when he got to me, and I found myself getting continuously desperate as I lobbed more and more of the impromptu grenades at him.

As I reached behind me, I felt a rather large tub filled with something behind me, and turned around to grab it with both hooves. Suddenly, the alchemist, enraged by my blatant destruction of his property, grabbed the bucket himself. I locked eyes with him as we stubbornly began tugging at the container, neither willing to relinquish our grips on it.

“Let go!” I shouted

“You let go! I’m not letting you destroy any more of my goods, you crazy pony,” growled the Alchemist unicorn with a grunt as he strained against my powerful grip on the bucket. “Especially not my purest batch of Aqua Regalia!”

“Just. Shut. Up, and give it to me!” I said through gritted teeth as I gave the bucket a hard yank towards myself. As I did, I felt some pony’s hoof smash into my shoulder. I gave a cry of pain as I was knocked down to the ground with the blow.

I looked up into the enraged glare of Twinkle. He’d finally made it to me, and his stood over me imposingly as he took advantage of my prone position on the ground to hold me down as I struggled to get up.

The alchemist was suddenly left frantically groping at the bucket of Aqua-whatcha-ma-call-it, trying to recover it as my sudden absence left the unicorn’s grip tenuous. I wondered why he didn't just use magic, but I guess he was panicking too much to think about it.

“I’m going to bucking kill you, you bastard! For what you did to my friend, and for what you did to the boss!” screamed Twinkle, his anger making his eyes crazy as he lifted up a hoof and hit me on the shoulder again with a heavy thud. I grunted in pain.

Twinkle laughed, unaware of the alchemists floundering grip behind him. “Oh, but I’m not just going to hurt you, I’m going to destroy you! First, I’ll start with breaking your hooves, then I’ll remove your teeth. We’ll see how smart you think you are when I-“

I never did get a chance to hear the rest of Twinkle’s rant as the bucket of Aqua-whats-it poured down onto Twinkle. Twinkle’s looming body actually kept me from getting hit directly by the buckets contents as it splashed down his back and across his neck. A few of the sizzling drops fell into my mane, melting it, and my neck. I yelped in pain as it burned my skin.

It felt like somebody had taken a fiery poker fresh from a forge and jabbed me in the neck as my skin burned and sizzled. It was horrendously painful, like barbed needles being pushed into my flesh and then savagely yanked out. So, when I tell you how painful it was just to have a drop or two fall on my skin, you can imagine how Twinkle reacted when a gallon of the stuff was suddenly poured all across his back.

“aaaaAAAHHHHHHHHHH” Twinkle screamed.

Twinkle’s face contorted in pain as he stumbled back from me, the chemical chewing into his flesh. He collapsed on the ground, still screaming. The sound was grating, the sound of one who was in agonizing pain, and my eyes widened as I watched on, unable to look away from the horrifying sight unfolding before me.

Twinkle fell to his legs, his skin bubbling and melting as it slewed to the ground in a red puddle around his feet. With a strangled gasp, still trying to yell despite the lack of air in his lungs, Twinkle collapsed to the ground, looking at me wide eyed as his mouth hanged open: still screaming silently. He convulsed on the ground, and then he never moved again.

I just looked, stunned. Above me, I heard some pony whimpering, and looked up to see the alchemist starring wide eyed at the carnage before him, the now-empty bucket held loosely in front of him. He just starred at the mess before him, unable to come to grips with what had just happened.

It seemed like an eternity was spread into that single moment as we both just starred at the body in front of me. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I realized Twinkle was probably dead, and I’d assisted, if not been the direct cause for his death. Scar lay on the ground nearby, no longer on fire, but his blackened coat was smoking. I couldn’t tell if he was dead or not.

‘Oh merciful Celestia and sweet Luna, what have I done!’

I couldn’t seem to look away from it-from him! Twinkle’s empty eyes stared at me accusingly in death.

I could hear voices now. All around us, ponies began to yell, screams could be heard as I suddenly noticed that the crowd of ponies around us were talking and shouting, pointing at the bodies and towards me and the alchemist. As I sat there in my daze, one of Deadline’s thugs suddenly pushed through the crowd, looking aghast at the two bodies nearby.

“Wait, wha- YOU!” He suddenly turned on me, and as I looked over towards the stall of the alchemist, I saw that he was gone. Escaped in the confusion, most likely. I was mad for a second before I realized that I’d inadvertently dragged him into this fight. It hadn't been his choice, and I couldn't blame him for running.

I decided to take a leaf from his book as I jumped to my hooves and dived into the crowd, once again pushing through as

Deadline’s goons began the chase once more.

Tears ran down my face as I floundered forward, finally pushing my way through the knot of ponies craning to see the damage I’d helped cause. To see the ponies I’d killed.

'By Celestia's scorching sun… I killed them…. I killed them!’

To Be continued...

Chapter 4 - Sticks and Stones

Chapter 4 - Sticks and Stones" And what, pray tell, are you going to do? "

(Song #1)

My mind whirled with Twinkle’s death.

I saw the fire dancing across Scar. Twinkle’s flesh sizzling; the muscles slewing from his bones. I felt like I would vomit for a second as I stumbled my way through the thick crowd: those images chasing me as I fled.

I could hear the thug following, yelling for help as he tried to follow me. I could see one of the roads leading from the market, and I began to pelt towards it.

‘Gotta get out. Have to get away!’ My guts continued to churn; but the need to survive overpowered my instinct to curl up and cry.

Suddenly one of Deadline’s thugs ran onto the lane down the path directly in front of me, blocking my exit. I cursed, and quickly skidded to the left and continued my mad dash from my pursuers.

As I sprinted for my life, I heard a crash and looked back to see one of my pursuers had smashed into a stall trying to follow me in my tight turn. I ran on, happy for the break as I sprinted for another of the exits that would lead out of the market.

More and more ponies were being attracted by the sound of shouting and crashing resulting from our chase. No doubt, the news of Scar and Twinkle was already spreading like wildfire through the townsfolk, and soon everypony would know about what I’d done.

I felt my heart drop as I saw another of Deadline’s thugs waiting for me, again blocking the exit I was running for.

It suddenly made sense why only three of the original seven had been following me and Tea, they’d been securing the exits to keep us from escaping!

‘Shit, they’re boxing me in!’

I felt a pang of fear for Peach Tea as well, but quickly had to focus once more on the present as I continued to run deeper into the packed and claustrophobic paths of the marketplace.

With a suddenly stop, I dug my hooves into the packed dirt and cobblestones beneath my hooves. Before me stood a grinning thug, a triumphant gleam in his eyes as he brought the chase to a close.

I looked around myself, my eyes widening as fear begin to kick in.

‘Oh good Celestia, these ponies are going to kill me!’ and I couldn’t blame them. Not after what I’d just done to their friends.

The three ponies behind me, seeing me caught in their little trap, came up behind me at a slower trot and then a stopped, ringing around me.

The four ponies chortled to each other evilly, and exchanged knowing grins as they looked forward to the punishment they were planning on dealing to me.

I looked among them, their dirty coats and unkempt and manes looking lank and greasy, their eyes bright with bloodlust. I didn’t see Deadline among them, and I absently wondered where the slimy unicorn had disappeared to, but it was quickly forgotten as one of my pursuers, the one who had ultimately stopped me, piped up.

“Alright lads, you know the drill. Nothing overly permanent, boss wants him alive. Don’t mean we can’t tenderize him a bit beforehand though!” The announcement brought cheers and curses from the other four ponies, some yelling insults at me while others glowered at me.

“Please, I just want to go home. You don’t need to do this!” I pleaded.

“Gotta score to settle with you, bastard,” taunted a grimy looking earth pony with spiked hair.

“We’ll see how you like fire when I’m done with you,” spat another, metal bangles around his legs clanking as he fumed at me.

“Break his fetlocks! Let’s see how he runs when he’s a cripple.” Cried another, his crazy eyes racing as he starred at me madly.

I was shaking, standing in place as I envisioned every gruesome detail of the pain they promised to bring upon me.

I looked beyond the thugs. A small crowd of ponies had gathered around us; their faces grim as they watched the five ponies ringing me threateningly.

They knew what was going to happen, but nopony stepped forward to help me. They all knew what happened to ponies who tried resisting against Deadline’s goons, and even worse to the ponies who tried to intervene. They knew the price. I felt tears beginning to accumulate in my eyes as I realized with cold certainty I was on my own.

As the thugs continued to guffaw, one particularly big and mean looking member stepped forward. His hooves were massive, matching his large muscled chest. He silenced his comrades as he moved forward, and turned to me: spitting on the ground at my feet.

“So, this’s how et’s gonna be, bastard, “ Slurred the big hooved pony, his accent odd.

“ Despite ervy-thing you’ve done, Deadline is a merciful pony and promises that you will be un-harmed if you peacefully give yer-self up and surrender to us.”

The big pony watched me with a smirk, continuing on as I just stood there trying to figure out a way to escape my bleak situation. But there was no escape, and the big pony talking to me realized it as surely as I did.

“Give yourself up, nice and neat-like, and maybe we won’t have to be… overly violent about this entire process,”  said Hooves, giving a little stomp of his massive hooves to emphasize his point (and the nickname I’d bestowed upon him).

The snickers and little knowing glances being shared between the other goons ringing me made it abundantly clear that the likelihood me surrendering and somehow not getting the life beaten from my bones was an impossibly big hope on my part.

.

“Come on, bitch. Just give up, and we’ll be sure to treat you nicely,” crowed the Spikes, the spikey haired earth pony.

“So, whats it going to be, kid?” said Hooves, watching me.

(Song #2)

I looked at the thugs, and then at the crowd of faces starring on at me just beyond them. I knew I wasn’t going to get any help. I was probably going to die in the next few minutes, and it terrified me.

“Yeah, just get the town to rise up and fight indeed,” I muttered to myself bitterly, the foolishness of my own fantasy of united the village against Deadline revealed for the dream it was.

Beyond the thugs, I could see the Redtail twins from earlier, watching me. I didn’t blame them for doing nothing, it wasn’t their problem. They’d only get the same as me if they intervened on my part.

Singed Hoof, the blacksmith, watched me from nearby on the edge of the crowd as well; drawn to the market by the commotion. His dark eyes burrowing into me as he judged the situation and those involved. I cringed as I thought of the two ponies I’d killed.

I also saw other craftsmen from around town, ponies I’d never truly gotten to know but met in passing. Cloud Stitch, Cure All, Prancer, Bright Light, Gentle Winds; the list of names stretched out as I recognized the faces staring at me. I even recognized some of the customers that my sister and I and served earlier looking on.

Some of the ponies I looked at met my gaze, but most simply looked away, ashamed at their own cowardice or grimacing as they realized the hopelessness of my situation.

I looked back to the thugs eagerly awaiting to spill my blood. Hooves was looking pretty impatient as he waited for my answer, scowling at me.

I gulped, knowing it was over. But I’d be damned if I gave these thugs the satisfaction of thinking they could just make me roll over and play dead for them. I wasn’t going down without a fight, and I’d fight until they ripped the life from my broken shattered body!

“Fuck off,” I gulped, “I’m not going to give that bastard, Deadline, the satisfaction of surrendering. If we he wants me, he’ll have to come get me himself. I won’t give up without a fight. Even if I stand alone, I’ll fight until every bone in my body is broken!”

I screamed the last part, and the thugs and crowd seemed to quiet, stunned at my outburst. I was still surprised at how powerful the words had sounded coming out of my mouth, but I felt that my shaking legs may have taken away from the overall effect as I watched the thugs roll their eyes, and snicker at my little moment.

Hooves smiled. “I was hoping you’d say that, kid.”

They rushed forward to attack, and I darted to the side as the massive pony tackled the ground where I’d just been standing. I reared and lashed a forehoof out at the spikey haired pony as he came in to get me.

Spikes yelled out as my hoof impacted with his face, causing him to reel back as he clutched at his cheek, cursing at me.

I just kept on moving, never stopping.

If I knew anything from all the play fighting I’d done as a kid, and from wrestling with multiple ponies (thanks to the RedTails always ganging up on me growing up), it was that stopping would mean losing. If I let these ponies surround me, I’d just get beaten to a pulp as they all piled onto me. So I kept my hooves light, and kept away from them as much as possible as they scrambled to catch me.

The pony with all the jewelry on his legs (Bangles) rushed at me next, trying to sneak attack me while I was occupied with spikes.

I threw a hoof full of dirt into his eyes, the dirty tactic fulfilling its purpose as Bangles suddenly reared back as he was blinded, cursing and rubbing furiously at the bits of dirt and rocks in his eyes. Not even a second later, the crazy earth pony that had screamed about breaking my fetlocks (Mad Eyes) jumped at me to finish what his friends had started.

Mad Eyes came in, giggling crazily as he spastically launched himself at me with abandon, throwing wild punches as I barely kept him at hoofs length. As I tried to push him back, he caught one of my legs and jerked me to the side, causing me to fall down.

Mad Eyes was on top of me in the blink of an eye as I hit the ground. He slavered as he bit at me, his saliva splattering onto my face as I grunted with the effort to keep the insane pony from biting me. I could see the other ponies beginning to recover from their initial failure to attack me beginning to quickly move over to subdue me while I was occupied with Mad Eyes, and knew I had to get up and away before they could surround me.

As Mad Eyes tried to bite me again, I lashed out and smacked the side of his head. While he shook his head, dazed at my sucker punch, I grabbed his forehead between my hooves, and with all the force I could muster, slammed my forehead into his.

Now, if you’ve ever had to head-butt anypony before, you’ll know it hurts. A lot.

So, when you add that pain on top of a recent hangover, it’s fairly accurate to say my head felt like I’d split it open with a splitting maul.

Pain exploded across my head as the dull hangover still lurking in the back of my head was awakened by the sharp impact of bone on bone. I cursed, clutching at my skull, the head butt seeming not so smart in retrospect as I rubbed at my throbbing head.

I opened bleary eyes to see bangles lifting a hoof over my head, getting ready to smash my face in. I rolled to the side desperately as his hoof slammed down into the dirt. Bunching my legs up, I kicked up as hard as I could, and was rewarded with a glancing blow as I bucked Bangles across in the flank, causing him to give a frustrated growl as he stumbled to the side as I knocked his back-legs out from underneath him with my buck.

As I prepared to kick out again, a giant hoof suddenly slammed into my chest. The air was driven from me as I tried to remember how to breathe for a second. Hooves, the big hooved stallion who had tried to tackle me earlier was now standing over me. He didn’t give me a chance to take breath as he gave me another heavy blow to the gut again, my lungs aching with the lack of air.

He pulled his hoof back, sneering at me as I coughed in pain on the ground at his feet.

Just as his hoof descended, a red blur suddenly smashed into his chest. I drew in a grateful lungful of air as I realized I wasn’t going to get my ribcage crushed. I twisted my head to the side to see what the hay had happened. What I saw wasn’t what I’d expected.

One of the RedTail twins was attacking Hooves with wild abandon, hitting his as hard and fast as he could as he used his momentum and the surprise of his sudden attack to keep the much larger pony on the defensive. Hooves stepped back quickly, hopelessly trying to block the rapid vicious blows from the dark red pony attacking him.

As I gawked at the sudden aid, a dark haired hoof came into view. Following it to its owner, I saw the huge shape of Singed Hoof towering over me, giving me a little smirk as I reached out and accepted his help to get up.

“Nasty time to be taking a nap, I be thinkin, Sweets, “grumbled Singed in a rumbling voice, almost jovially.

“What are you doing… why are you helping me?” I asked, still a little shocked.

The blacksmith gave a snort, “I be thinking that it be long overdue that me an’ a few other ponies be helping.”

I just starred at Singed, shocked as I just stared at him stupidly as he smiled at me.

“Don’t think about it too hard, boy, just fight!” Said Singed, turning around and sprinting back into the melee of hooves, legs, and, in Mad Eyes case, mouths.

With a wild cry, I ran in after Singed.

I ran forward and slammed into a reeling Bangles, knocking him to the ground as one of the RedTail twins promptly used my opening to body slam the prone pony. I tried to repeat the same strategy on the next thug I met, Spikes, but he saw me coming. As I came in to slam him, he quickly stepped to the side, and I shot past him.

As I turned around, Spikes smacked me across the chest with a quick kick as I tried to move past him. The hit stung, but wasn’t disabling. I returned the hit with one of my own, lashing out with a forehoof towards his leg. Again, Spikes nimbly moved away, smiling now.

He had learned from our first encounter, and was now fighting me more defensively: nimbly jumping in and out of the fight to strike at me and then retreat. It was infuriating as he continually hit me, and I felt myself fatiguing under the blows as they built up upon eachother.

“Ha ha! Can’t catch me, Bastard. Let’s see how you like it!” Yelled Spiky Hair triumphantly as he lashed me across the face with a forehoof, cutting my check and muzzle as the sharp edge of his hoof knifed into my face. I grunted in anger, hatred burning in my eyes. A small sudden movement behind Spiky Hair caught my attention.

One of the RedTails, Flare, giving me a wink as he stalked up behind the gloating Spikes.

I darted forward, throwing an obviously clumsy and heavy-hoofed strike towards Spikes. As always, the annoyingly fast pony easily jumped back from my clumsy attack to dodge it. His mouth pulled up into a grin as he prepared to continue gloating at me.

“Aw, getting tired kid? Don’t worry, you can take a dirt knap after I’m done with ya,” sneered Spikes.

“No, you first,” I said, smiling as I saw my ally get right up behind Spikes.

“We insist,” Said Flare, as with a heavy blow he smashed both forehooves down on top of Spike, crowning him with the blow to the head.

Spikes didn’t even have a chance as his eyes rolled up into the back of his head, the hit knocking him onto his face in the dirt at my feet, completely unconscious. I gave him a kick for good measure. Hey, you never know, maybe he was pretending…

My ally stuck out a hoof which I happily bumped it, both of us grinning as we shared the moment before Flare once again hopped back into the fray. Following his example, I charged to engage the next nearest thug: Hooves. The massive stallion stood facing off against Singed as the two ponies eyed each other warily, their coats covered in nasty looking dark purple and green bruises from the blows they’d been trading with each other.

I darted forward next to Singed, the large blacksmith sparing a quick glance in my direction before returning his attention to his opponent. “How are the RedTail Twins doing? They need help?”

I looked back; I could see that Bangles and Mad Eyes were locked in combat with the Twins, and neither side seemed keen on relenting anytime soon as they snarled and lashed out at each other. But it appeared the Twins were gaining the upper-hand, slowly wearing down their opponents as they tag-teamed the pair of tiring goons.

“They’re fine,” I said to Singed. Singed gave a small nod, and then motioned towards Big Hooves. We began to advance together.

“Oh what, you think you’re both big shit now that some friends joined in?” said Hooves, looking a little panicked as he noticed his own allies being beaten back, or in Spike’s case, kissing the ground as he lay sprawled on the ground, unconscious.

“Shut it, low-life. It’s time somepony showed you your place!” Snarled Singed, rushing forward to slam into Big Hooves, I followed right behind.

Big Hooves caught Singed’s charge by slamming back, staggering both ponies. As they reeled, I darted in, and smashed a hoof into one of Hooves forelegs. He gave a grunt, and tried to return the hit, but I quickly retreated back as Singed moved forward, smashing Hooves with a strong counter. As he did, I once again came in, but this time Big Hooves was ready and lashed out at me as I moved in, clipping my shoulder: the sharp edge of his hoof digging into my skin.

I gave a yelp and pulled back.

Singed looked at me, worried at my sudden cry of pain. Big Hooves took the distraction to slam Singed with a cheap shot: smashing one of his massive hooves right into the blacksmith’s head. Singed gave a cry, and stumbled backwards dazed.

I could feel blood dribbling down my chest, but I realized Singed was in trouble as Hooves raised up a hoof to slam into the side of Singed’s face again and put him down for good. I raced forward, jumping in front of the hit.

I gave a grunt as I absorbed the blow. I lashed out with a hit of my own as Hooves looked at me in surprise. My own hit smashed into his nose, and he cursed as his eyes watered and he began to try and hit me in rage at the glancing blow I’d landed. I tried to block all of this hits, but many of them got through as he began to wildly flail at me in his rage.

“You fucking cunt! You think this is funny? I’ll show you what’s fucking funny after I break your fucking jaw!” Hooves screamed at me as blood dribbled from his nose onto the ground. I felt my gut clench as he crushed forward to destroy me.

Just as he was about to hit me, Dare smashed into his side, quickly followed by Flare. I watched in surprise as they began to mercilessly bite and kick out at him. I quickly ran forward to join them, and suddenly found singed next to me. Between the four of us, we quickly overpowered the massive stallion.

Hooves tried to escape our wall of attacks, but as he tried to block himself from one of us, another member of our four-pony attack force would slam into his unprotected side. As we continued on, I suddenly heard something.

“Get him Reds! Get him!”

“Show those bastards whose boss!”

“Yeah Singed, kick him in the shins. Give him a good shiner for me!”

The entire crowd around us was cheering us on. Perhaps they had the entire time, I hadn’t been paying attention as I’d focused on fighting for my life, but now I could hear them as they cried their support.

‘It’s happening. Sweet Celestia and Luna, it’s happening! The town is uniting, and we’re winning. We can do it. We can beat Deadline’s thugs and take back our town!’

I gave a triumphant grin as I slammed into Hooves again, who fell down hard. He tried to get up, but just twitched as he panted and lay on the ground at our hooves.

“N-no more, don’t hit me anymore. I-I don’t want to fight anymore,” whimpered Hooves as he clutched his horribly beaten legs to his chest.

Singed hawked a loogie and spat at the dirt in front of Hooves, “Then you should have thought about that before you tried to attack a member of our town.”

“Seriously, did you think we wouldn’t do anything?” Said Dare, giving a smirk as he hoof bumped his brother, Flare.

“And if you think that we’re just gonna let you guys keep on bullying us and demanding tribute from us, you’re sorely mistaken. We’re taking back our town! Once and for all!” I yelled. A cheer rippled through the crowd, and I shared a smile with my allies.

None of us even had a chance to react before the crossbow bolt slammed into Flare’s leg.

Flare’s eyes went wide as the bolt bit deeply and he stumbled and fell to the ground. It was until he pushed himself back up and saw the bolt sticking out of his own leg that he started screaming.

I watched Flare, stunned. The entire crowd went dead quiet as Flare continued to scream.

“Flare!” yelled Dare, scrambling around Hooves to skid next to his downed brother.

“Stop!” yelled a commanding voice.

“Everypony, stop,” said Deadline as he walked through the ring surrounding us. Ponies scampered to get out of his way as he strutted forward, his mace held out threateningly in the deep-blue glow of his magic.

I could see Lash behind him, reloading a light hoof-crossbow attached to her foreleg. As she snapped in the next bolt and pulled the string back, she looked up to stare death at the ponies around her. Crunch followed behind, his hooves wrapped in heavy steel plates, jury-rigged at the tips with spikes and jagged blades so as to cut when he punched and kicked.

Deadline glared at the ponies nearby, daring them to try and attack. His eyes turned to me, and I watched as they narrowed: his mane was matted against his forehead with crusty dried peach-scented syrup, and I could feel his hate for me as his eyes bored into mine.

I felt my stomach drop. ‘No, no! we were winning, we were finally making a difference!’

“Well well well, look who decided to come back,” said Deadline, his voice as smooth as a razor, “you got guts kid. Stupid as a fucking rock, but you got guts. I’ll give you that.”

Lash hefted up the crossbow, and leveled it at me, Singed, and Dare: ready to shoot the next pony that moved. Deadline nickered at her quietly, and she flicked a glance at him, nodding slightly as she kept the crossbow trained on us but didn’t shoot.

Deadline looked idly at Flare, “Oh my, did somepony get hurt?” Deadline tsked,” Well, I suppose it’s only natural that somepony would get hurt when such a nasty fight breaks out. Casualties are to be… expected.”

Dare sobbed as he tried to stop the blood dripping from his brothers leg onto the ground. “Pl-please Mr. Deadline, don’t hurt my Brother. Don’t kill Flare!” Flare feebly kicked his leg, gritting his teeth in pain as he tried to dislodge the bleeding bolt stuck fast in his leg.

Deadline rolled his eyes in disgust, “that remains to be seen, my little pony…” Deadline looked over towards Singed, still standing over the cowed Big Hooves.

Singed gave a defiant grunt, “The only brigand here, is YOU Deadline. You simply plunder our stores and businesses at your whim under the guise of legality. Everypony here knows you have the sheriff in your pocket, and that nopony will stick up for us. I aided the boy because he’s finally doing what we all should have done a long time ago. Stick up for ourselves.”

Singed gave a snort, starring at Deadline determinedly. I felt amazingly thankful for the massive blacksmith’s support. Singed carried a lot of weight around the town and it was good to know I’d have such a substantial voice backing me. I could see that influence causing many ponies in the crowd to murmur, and begin to take determined steps forward themselves: the truth of Singed’s words resonating with them.

Deadline’s mouth curled at the corners, seeming to ignore the quickly stirring angry mob “Oh, so that’s your reasoning?”

“You, Singed was it? I’m surprised Singed, you’ve always been very punctual in that past with our dealings. Even armed and armored many of my ponies without complaint in the past. In fact, I believe that crossbow my associate, lash, is using now is loaded with bolts tipped with steel crafted from your very own forge.”

I looked at Singed, shocked. The massive pony, to his credit, kept his eyes locked on Deadline but I could see his shoulders droop slightly as Deadline exposed his cooperation to the crowd. The crowd seemed to balk as well, suddenly not so sure what to make of this sudden turn in events.

Deadline moved to address the crowd, “See citizens of Haystead? See how your heroes have been brought low? These… ponies, who would have you fight their own battles for them for their own selfish purposes, are no more than liars and cheats who would spend your lives for their own nefarious purposes!”

The ponies in the crowd suddenly began to talk amongst themselves.

“But what about you? You’re no better than them,” yelled one brave pony in the crowd.

Deadline wheeled on him, “A good question! True, many of you consider me a villain and a thief, but ever have I had this town’s interests at heart. I’ve always been straight forward with you in my dealings. Your local sheriff is an incompetent buffoon, and as a pony who has taken it upon myself to safeguard, neigh, to protect this town from outside threats, it is only natural that I would respond now and fulfill my obligation to you good ponies in your time of need!”

“But, we don’t need protecting. Your thugs were just beating on that good pony, and those three ponies stepped in to prevent them from lynching him!”

“Ah, but you assume this brigand is free of guilt, that his conscious is clean!” yelled Deadline as he yelled into the crowd around him. Now he really had the crowd’s attention as they leaned in to hear his silk words.

“What did he do!” cried one pony, enraptured by Deadline’s performance.

“What indeed! This pony has committed a heinous crime, a murder most foul!” Said Deadline.

Many of the ponies in the crowd gasped, and I watched as a mare snatched her foal up, and looked at me with a terrified expression. whispers of “murderer” swept through the crowd, a wall of disbelief and confusion as ponies craned their necks to look at me.

“That’s right, good ponies, this criminal, whom tried to turn you against your fellow ponies, and against me, your guardian, is a murderer!” Said Deadline, looking at me smugly.

Shouts of anger and rage suddenly swept through the crowd as ponies began to suddenly turn against me with Deadline’s declaration.

‘What just happened’ I thought dumbly, looking at the wall of suddenly very angry ponies surrounding me.

Deadline did a loop to address the agitated crowd and our little group of misfits, “Did you know this good ponies of Haystead?  This pony, “said Deadline dramatically, pointing at me, “no, not a pony, a THING: the bastard, son of none, whom you all know as Sweet Peach, not even ten minutes ago murdered two ponies within our fair town, not even 100 feet from where we now stand?”

I stared at him dumbly. The world seemed to stand still, all sound ceasing as everypony simply looked at me in shock. Crime wasn’t unheard of in our small town, but usually it was just a malcontent drunk, or the occasional spat between families, but murder? That was a completely new avenue of crime for most in our small farming community.

I remembered Twinkle and Scar, collapsing to the ground as they melted and burned into piles of dissolved and seared flesh. I felt like I was going to puke up my guts thinking about it.

“Look at his face! It’s true, everything Deadline is saying is true!” I looked to the side to see a pony point accusingly at me, “I saw it happen. I watched him kill two good ponies in cold blood!”

I watched as the ponies nearby to that pony suddenly exploded with questions, shouting to be told the how and why of my crime. The pony in the crowd then looked directly at me, and winked. I saw a glimpse of leather armor beneath the rags of his clothes before he disappeared back into the crowd.

‘He set me up,’ I thought dumbly. ‘The bastard set me up! In the little time it took him to catch up to me, he set me up!’ I could hardly believe it, the manipulative bastard had truly fucked me in what little time it has taken him to hear the news of my afore-mentioned accident earlier. No wonder it had taken him so long to finally show himself, he’d been waiting for the opportune time to strike.

The voices around me rose in volume as the anger of the crowd began to boil.

“He murdered two ponies? How?”

“… horrible burns, as if he’d been in an inferno!”

“…skin and meat eaten away, as if by black magic…”

“Get him, get that pony! He should be strung up for what he’s done.”

“Yeah, get him! Get the Bastard. I knew he could never be trusted!”

Deadline raised a hoof for silence, “Please, good ponies, please! Calm yourselves. Yes, this traitor to our peaceful way of life deserves punishment, but these good ponies with him,” Deadline motioned to Singed, Flare, and Dare, “They are as much victims of his evil ways as you are. I beg you to spare them, and give them mercy, as they are unwilling accomplices to this murderer’s atrocious crime.”

“But can we know! How can we know they aren’t bad ponies as well!” yelled a frightened mare from within the crowd.

“How can we know a bad pony from a good pony at all, good mare!” yelled back Deadline, “The answer is: we cannot! But unlike this monster before you, we have the capabilities for mercy and forgiveness, and I beg you now to reveal that very compassion by sparing these three your wrath, for they are undeserving of it!”

Singed looked panicked, along with Dare as he tried to comfort his hurt brother.

I watched Singed about to rebuke Deadline, but the silver-tongued unicorn moved forward and whispered something to Singed quietly. I watched the big blacksmith noticeably pale, and look at the ground as he shook slightly from whatever Deadline had just said.

“Now, we may not be able to prove their complete innocence, but I believe them to have learned the error of their ways and to now be enlightened to the true nature of this creature they’ve aided, “Said Deadline, motioning towards me, “All they need do is denounce the traitor amongst us, and beg our forgiveness for their ignorance, and we shall be merciful.” Deadline put a hoof to his chest, making his words into a silent vow. The ponies in the crowd nodded their agreement, and looked at Singed and Dare expectantly, a hush once again settling over the crowd.

“Singed…” I said quietly, looking at the Blacksmith.

Singed held my gaze for a second, before slowly looking away. “I was wrong… I was fooled by Sweet Peach, and I admit my folly.”

Singed moved over to stand next to Dare, still crying as he looked at Singed, confused.

“C’mon kid, let’s get your brother some help…” Said Singed quietly to Dare, picking him back up onto his hooves.

“But, Sweet’s is…  he’s going to be…” Said Dare hesitantly, looking between Singed and me.

“Sweets will be… well…” Said Singed, He glanced over at me, and then looked away from me.

Dare looked like he was going to argue again, looking at Singed angrily.

This crowd was out for blood… and if it was mine they were going to take, then Singed and Dare didn’t need to get pulled into it as well, especially with Flare as hurt as he was.

I felt my lip trembling as I took a deep breath. I knew what I needed to do, if not for my sake then for Flare’s. He’d already taken a bolt for me, and I worried to think about what would happen if Dare spoke up for me now with the crowd backing Deadline.

“Deadline is right Dare,” I said, keeping my voice steady. “I did murder two ponies before I got here.”

Dare was rubbing at his tears, confused. “Sweets, what are you talking about? You just admitted that you-”

“Dare, just go!” I said, snapping at Dare. “Just… go… “ I looked at Flare, clutching at the bolt while he slowly continued to bleed. He was beginning to look a little pale with the shock and blood loss. They needed to get him to the town’s doctor, and quickly.

“Just go Dare, and take Flare somewhere safe with Singed.”

Dare once again moved to respond, but Singed firmly grabbed his shoulder, shaking his head.

“C’mon Dare, we need to help Flare… We’ll come back and help out Sweets later,” Said Singed, giving me a little nod. Dare looked at Singed, and then back to me and quietly let Singed direct him into hoisting Flare’s body up onto the blacksmith’s muscled back. I looked away as they slowly left, the sounds of Flare’s painful groans echoing back to me as the three ponies

Dare helped Singed hoist Flare up onto the big blacksmiths strong back, and the two quietly walked off. I felt my stomach drop, and I looked at the ground as I felt my hope vanish along with them.

Deadline slid up next to me, cooing with false sympathies into my ear, “See my boy? You never had a chance in the first place. Made a real mess for me by killing those two ponies, but I suppose I should be thanking you as well. It makes my job so much easier when there’s a seemingly a valid reason for my brutality.”

Deadline smashed the mace into my shoulder with a crunch. Deadline gave me a little smile as the mace floated back up next to him, the head rolling in the glow of his magical grip. I looked up at Deadline through the pain, scowling at him as I looked at him hatefully.

“You’ll get yours Deadline,” I said, through gritted teeth. It sounded threatening in my head, but as the words trembled from my mouth I realized I probably sounded about as threatening as a field mouse to a cat before it pounced.

Deadline motioned to the side, and suddenly Crunch moved up and placed one of his barbarically edged hoof-guard against my chest, and held it there as he growled at me threateningly. The jagged edges cut into my flesh as I grunted in pain on the ground beneath him.

“Perhaps, the future is wide and brimming with possibilities,” Whispered Deadline, hissing in my ear, “But what you really should be worried about right now, young Sweet Peach, is not my own future, but your own… and that of your sister…”

“Oh Rough Cut,” Said Deadline, motioning at another one of this thugs that’d followed in behind him, “bring our guest forward… I think she should see what first-hoof what happens to ‘heroes’.” Rough cut gave a smile, and trotted off to fulfill his orders.

I watched as a nearby goon of Deadline’s, Rough Cut apparently, disappeared into the crowd, and came back a few seconds later along with another stallion as the two of them forcefully pulled a mare between the two of them. A young golden-coated mare was led forward, looking terrified as she was jostled forward and then forced to stay still as they pointed her towards me. My fear turned to horror as I quickly recognized her.

‘Peach Tea.’

“Well,” Said Deadline, “now that we have our guest of honor present. I think it’s time to start the show in full.” Deadline threw me a wink, and turned around towards the crowd, dramatically throwing a hoof out as he addressed them.

“Ponies of Haystead, you’ve been enlightened to the truth of this malcontent. What is your verdict!”

“Guilty!” Screamed a pony nearby, other ponies quickly picking up the call as the mob around me began to quickly begin to get ramped up by the cries for vengeance and justice.”

“And so I shall give you Justice!” Screamed Deadline, smashing the mace downwards into one of my forelegs.

I screamed in pain as the rounded head cracked into my limb. Deadline adjusted the mace, slamming it into my hind leg and then my chest. I felt the air driven from my lungs with the blow, my screams cut short as I gasped for air and tried to save my fractured limbs from further damage.

“Having fun yet Peach?” Said Deadline, prancing around me, “feeling like begging for mercy now? I might just grant it, if you ask me very nicely…”

I grunted with the pain, scowling at him as tears leaked from my eyes from my prone position on the ground as I spat at him. “Buck you Deadline!!” I said, wheezing. I poured every ounce of hatred I felt for the slimy unicorn into my gaze. I twisted my body to get up, but felt Crunch press down more firmly as he growled. I gave a yelp of pain as the jagged blades cut deeper into my side.

“Defiant to the end, eh Peach?” Said Deadline, giving a dramatic shudder as he pretended to be scared. “Ooo, you’re giving me shivers with that look. If it wasn’t for our current situation, I might actually be scared… might.”

The mace slammed down again, this time into my stomach and I gave a strangled scream of pain as I threw up all over the ground and the crowd roared its approval. Deadline, egged on by the mob and his own sadistic nature, continued to beat me: slamming my face into my own vomit. The smell of sick filled my nostrils, and it mixed with the taste of blood as it leaked from my mouth.

Deadline moved back up to whisper into one of my ears, his breath hot and foul. “How do you like it, bastard? How do you like being publically humiliated. Let’s see how much strength you can muster when I’m done shattering your bones and grinding your skull into dust!”

Deadline emphasized his point by slamming the mace into my back, eliciting a squeal of pain from me as I cried into the ground in pain.

I felt my vision blurring as tears blinded me as every smack of Deadline’s mace brought on a new wave of pain for me to struggle through. My breathing began to get labored and heavy.

My eyes reeled as I tried to find some escape from the onslaught of blows. I couldn’t tell anymore if it was the roar of the crowd or my own screaming brain that was making all the noise as I felt my bones crack and flesh get pounded inwards to the symphony of Deadline’s continuously raining blows.

I screamed as Deadline continues to break my body. At some point I actually began begging him; spewing gibberish as he relentlessly ignored me and continues with his brutal assault as I tried to figure out some way to make it all end.

Suddenly the raining blows stopped, and I wheezed on the ground, feeling my body slowly shutting down. I looked up slowly to see Deadline saying something to me, but I couldn’t seem to hear him as I looked at him weakly. I knew this was it. This was the final blow, when he would crush my head like a melon across the cobbled ground beneath me.

I closed my eyes, and awaited the blow: welcoming the possibility of a swift death from the torment.

Warmth encompassed me.

‘Am I… Am I dead?’

I felt a warm liquid fall onto my face, and few rolled into my mouth. I tasted… salt?

‘Wait a second… Ghosts can’t taste… can they?’

I blearily opened my eyes, and looked around myself. Crouched over me was a golden-coated mare.

I looked at her, confused. She was crying as she gently had her hooves wrapped over my chest to shield me from Deadline’s killing blow. I saw Deadline behind her, saying something angrily as he tried to remove her. She yelled at him, and he scowled as his eyes flicked to me. I could sense his desire to finish my life as he glared at me.

Peach Tea’s mouth moved again, and I watched as Deadline looked at her with surprise. After a second, he looked above me and said something else.

I felt a weight remove itself from my chest as Crunch removed his leg restraining me. I whimpered in pain as the blades from his hoof-guard removed themselves from my side and I felt the warm-red liquid dribble down my belly.

I felt a nuzzle brush my cheek, and looked up towards Peach Tea. She smiled at me, a sad expression on her face before Crunch suddenly grabbed her and yanked her away forcefully. She didn’t scream, and she didn’t resist, as she was pulled away from me.

The Last thing I saw before darkness took me was Deadline, looming over me as he looked down at me: his cold eyes searching the remains of the broken thing of a pony I had once been. His lips moved and formed a single word as I stared at him through my tear encrusted eyes, unable to speak as I whimpered with pain and blood tricked from my muzzle as I painfully coughed more of my bodily fluids onto the ground.

“Pathetic”

Chapter 5 - Into the Night

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