Prologue
“Manehatten is one hell of a place.” Thought a grey pegasus. The sight before him was enough to send him into a downward spiral of tears. He stood in the Manehatten funeral home with his family and friends.
“I’m deeply sorry for your loss today, sir.” An earth pony in a black suit said quietly. He guessed that he worked here. He probably saw more dead ponies a day then one could deal with. The pegasus just stared onwards in a blank gaze. It had happened earlier that week; he got a phone call from the Manehatten hospital about someone close to him. By the time he got there she had already passed.
“How did she end up dyeing?” he asked
“By the looks of the reports, She was… raped.” His voice trailed off at the last word. All the grey Pegasus did was clench his teeth and eyes as he pictured the scene. She was far too young, too full of life to have suffered this kind of fate.
“Sir…are you alright?” the earth pony asked
“Does it look like I’m alright? No I’m not alright; my sister was just raped and murdered. She was only two years older than me; I’m only twenty-two.” He started crying half way through his rage. “I just want her back!” he sobbed, looking up from the ground to her casket. She just looked like she was sleeping, nothing more nothing less. He approached the soft death bed lined to the top with roses.
“Hey Silver Mane, I still don’t know why that’s your name.” she had silver coat, large green eyes, and oddly enough a thick, dark black mane. “Listen, I don’t know if you’re up there… Or if the is even such a place… I…I just want to say… want to say that…I’m gonna miss you ok. You where the sister I could talk to when I needed help. Just know that I love you and I’ll see you soon.” He said, turning away from the casket.
Back at his apartment; he was a mess, a drunken sobbing mess. His mane was tangled and matted, tear stains ran down his cheeks, and liquor bottles littered the floor. All Tex could think about was how unfair life was, how it was her that died and not some other mare with no relevance to him what so ever. Even though he himself felt horrible to have even thought that, it still crossed his mind as a better option.
“I can’t stay here.” He said to nopony in particular. The situation had grown so large over the past couple of hours, starting just as Celestia lowered her large orange ball to make way for Luna’s slightly smaller white one. He stood up and stumbled his way to the bathroom. He took one long look in the mirror; his mane was beyond messy, knotted and matted all the way to his neck. His face looked no better; having tear stains down his cheeks and eyes looking like he had rubbed them for 3 hours strait. He cupped his hooves under the facet. He splashed water on to his face several times and looked at the mirror once again. He still looked horrible but decided it was a lost cause. The more he looked at himself the more he thought of how weak he was. “Look at you” He said to the mirror “Crying like a little filly, what if she saw you now, she would sit there and laugh at you.” The sight of him was too much to take. He left the bathroom and almost galloped to the computer. He quickly typed in “available housing” and pressed enter. He searched through the results for a few minutes before he saw one that caught his eye.
It was a house with two other ponies living in it. There other roommate had left to do some marefriend problems so they were looking for a new pony to take his place. He looked at the address and saw it was in Ponyville. He did a quick search of his bank account and saw that he had enough bits and maybe just a few hundred more for some other spending.
There was an e-mail link on the bottom of the page. “If you are interested in taking our offer, please send us your name and Information.” The note said. He clicked the link; from there it brought him to a very familiar looking set up.
Name: Tex Nisalei
Age: 22
Gender: Male
Tell us a little about yourself: I have a really small temper, I like to be alone from time to time, I live on my own, and I was in Equetria's military for 4 years.
He hit send on the keyboard. Now the only thing left to do was wait.
Change of scenery
Tex awoke at his computer desk; His neck and his back ached from the awkward position. Blinking the sleep from his eyes he was staring at his e-mail. There was a new message Icon sitting in the corner of the screen. He hovered over and it and clicked. It was from a pony named “Note”. Huh, Note? That’s a strange name. He thought to himself. He opened the email and read.
Dear, Tex.
We have read your application and we would like to inform you that you have been accepted. We would like you to come to Ponyville as soon as you are able.
Note.
Tex’s eyes shot open as he finished the short response. He slammed his computer shut with a force so great he was sure the screen shattered. He flew from his chair into his room. He immediately started to pack all the things he would need for his new home. Tex pulled open, his closet and stared. What he was looking at was his military armor and crossbow. The bow was designed for a pegasus; it had a strap that would wrap around the users hoof to keep it steady and a firing mechanism that almost reacted to the mind of the shooter but not quite. His armor was a little different than most, it was a lot lighter than the other guard’s. Its plating was thinner and lighter, more meant for stealth and quick moving. His helmet had what he described as a “distance marker” over his right eye. He grabbed his helmet and breast plate and threw them into his bag. He grabbed his bow and pulled the picture out of its chamber.
The picture was of four ponies. One unicorn, two earth ponies, and a pegasus. This was his team. They all relied on each other to get a job done. He had lost contact with them after one of their members was KIA. He clutched the picture harder and put it in his bag. He grabbed his bag and slung it over his back. He walked out of his apartment and down the stairs to the front door; the early morning sun was shining through the slim window. He opened the door and took a few steps out to bathe in the warmth the sun was providing.
He left for Manehatten train station a few minutes after. When he arrived ponies were everywhere. I just had to pick the busiest day to bucking move. Tex groaned as he made his way through the crowd of ponies. He finally made it to the ticket station and bought his ticket. He trotted to a bench on the other side of the station and pulled out a pair of headphones. Putting them in his ears and turning up the music to the point where everything else was drawn out. The dubtrot was pounding his ears with the bass and that’s exactly what he wanted. This whole moving thing was starting to stress the young colt out so just living life the way he did when he was a foal was the perfect solution to his stress.
A particular group of ponies caught his eye. They were gathered around at the opposite end of where he was seated. There were six mares, two earth ponies, two unicorns, and finally two pegasi. The one that caught his eye was the orange mare in the cowpony hat. She had freckles just below her eyes, her legs where toned and sturdy, and her eyes were bright and joyful. He stared for what seemed like forever until she looked over at him. Tex quickly moved his head to the side and blushed. She looked for a few more seconds until one of her friends called to her. The last thing he remembered seeing were the three apples on her flank.
The train came ten minutes later. He pulled out his headphones and put them back in his bag. When he boarded the train he started to search for an empty car. He headed all the way to the back; every car had ponies in each one. At the last car he pulled aside the door and stepped in. About half way through the train he had put his headphones back in so he was unaware of everything around him. When he looked up he saw the four mares from the train station. One of them bounced up to him and started to say something. In his surprise he had completely forgot about the deafening music playing in his ears when she gave him a quizzical expression.
“Ummmm… Heeellooo?” The pink pony asked. Tex shook his head and looked back at her.
“Uh, Hi.” He responded.
“Who are you? What are you doing here? Oh, do you like cupcakes because I love cupcakes, I don’t think there is a pony in the world that doesn’t like-“She was cut short of her rambling when Tex put up a hoof.
“My name is Tex. I’m here because I am moving to Ponyville. And to answer your question, yes I love cupcakes.” He calmly replied. The pink pony seemed satisfied with is response and bounced back to her friends.
“My, my, my. You’re the first pony from out of Ponyville to not be bowing before us.” the white unicorn chuckled
“Um. Is there a reason I should be?” Tex asked, cocking his head to one side.
“Well no.” said the other unicorn, this one being lavender. “But we are the bearers of the elements of harmony.” She stated.
“Oh I’ve heard stories about you four. How you saved Luna from herself, how you banished discord back to stone. But I guess I saw you as still being just ponies and not some all mighty being to be worshiped.” He replied. Tex wasn’t the type of pony to get star-struck. All ponies where just ponies in his eyes. No one was above the other.
His eyes glanced back to the country pony sitting in her chair. She had an amused look on her face as she stared him down. He was starting to feel a bit uneasy and he let out a nervous cough. “Well is it alright if I ride with you girls? Every other car is full.” He asked.
“Sure ya can.” The country pony smiled. Tex grabbed his things and trotted to the back where the last open bed was. He through his things under it and sat down. The train started to move as he prepared for the day long train ride.