Chapter 1: A Birthday to Remember
Near the outskirts of the humble town of Ponyville, where the shadows of the Everfree strike terror into anypony they may touch, there lived a small family. It was a simple enough family. It had a father and a mother and two fillies. However, for the elder of these two fillies, life was going to change forever.
“Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, Coal Dust! Happy birthday to you!” sang all of the family, as a pale blue, middle-aged mare with a wispy, silver mane placed a small cake with a single lit candle on top of it in front of a small unicorn sitting near the center of the table. This unicorn was an odd shade of burgundy, with innocent, silver eyes and a coal-black mane. He blew out the candle with vigor, exited for cake and presents. A much older, red and brown unicorn with a large, muscular build sitting at the far end of the table tapped his glass with his fork.
“Now, now. Before we dig into the delicious cake your mother made for all of us, I’d like to say a few things. First, I cannot emphasize how proud your mother and I are of you, Dusty. You’re getting so big, and soon enough you’ll finally be of age. Next, I’d like to remind everypony just how momentous of an occasion this day is because in this past year, Dusty finally got her cutie mark! You’ve done so well, learning the family business, and I’m sure you and your sister will be fine when you finally take over for me. Although that’s not going to be for a long time!” he said with a laugh.
“Well, that’s the thing, dad. I don’t want to be a blacksmith like you and mom.”
The noise of the room went from a cacophony of laughing and celebrating to complete silence. Crickets could be heard chirping outside in the twilight.
“What did you just say?” asked her mother.
“I…I don’t want to be cooped up here my whole life. I want to go out and see the world! I want to adventure!” exclaimed Coal Dust.
“But…but your cutie mark! It’s your destiny!” replied her mother. “And you’re so good at it!”
Dusty looked down at her cutie mark to see the silhouette of a hammer on an anvil.
“Well maybe it’s wrong! Maybe my destiny can change! I-“
“Enough of this nonsense, Dusty. We’ll talk about this later. Right now let’s just try to enjoy ourselves today,” her father said flatly, with a disapproving glare. “Besides, you’re upsetting your sister.” Coal Dust’s younger sister, a light-gray pegasus with her mother’s mane was sitting beside her father, looking nervously between all of her family members.
Coal Dust sat back anxiously, for the sake of the celebration.
After the cake, Coal Dust opened her presents. “A hammer…thanks, dad,” muttered the unicorn, hiding her discontent. All of her presents were the same. Blacksmithing tools. A leather apron. Fate served up on a silver platter. After the last gift, Dusty thanked her family and wandered outside.
“Where are you going, honey?” asked her mother
“I…I need some fresh air,” she replied. She sat out in the cold night air, gazing up at the stars for a while until her father joined her.
“Listen, Dusty. I know you’re upset. I know you are thinking about all of these dreams of adventure. But that’s all they are, honey. Dreams. You’ll outgrow them soon enough. Everypony in our family has been a blacksmith since Celestia first became princess. Just look at your cutie mark. You were born for this. It’s a good life. Trust me…. You understand?”
Dusk sat there in silence for a while before replying solemnly, “Yes. Yes, I understand exactly what you’re trying to say.” She hung her head in sadness.
“Now, are you going to come inside? It’s getting cold out,” said her father, a bit more cheerfully.
“No. No, I’m going to stay out here for a while. I need to get my head straight.”
“Okay, darling, I’ll give you some time alone,” he said, patting her on the back and trotting back inside.
Dust wandered along the edge of the Everfree Forest, staring at her front hooves and thinking about what she would do. After a while, she felt her head bump into something soft and squishy. She looked up to find herself face to face with a young, blue mare with dreamy eyes. She looked…tired.
“Who are you?” asked the filly. The mare smiled.
“My name is Moonbeam. What’s your name?”
“I’m Coal Dust.”
“Well, what’s wrong, Coal Dust?”
“What do you mean?”
“You don’t know? You’re crying, silly filly. Now, what’s wrong? Maybe I can help.”
Dusty touched her face to find it moist and puffy. She was pouring her eyes out and she didn’t even realize it until now. “I…I…My family wants me to be a…a blacksmith like them…but I don’t want to,” she stuttered out.
Moonbeam touched a forehoof to her chin. “Well, what do you want to do?” she inquired.
“I’m not sure exactly, but I want to adventure. I want to do exciting things and meet lots of other ponies. I want to see new places. I…I just don’t want to be stuck in my family’s shop my whole life. But my family…and my…” she turned to show the mysterious blue mare her cutie mark.
“Hmm, well if that’s your cutie mark, then that’s your destiny,” muttered the mare.
Dust shrunk down, resignedly.
“However,” she said, causing Dust’s ears to perk up again. “Nopony ever said that you can;t change your destiny. Pursue your dream, little filly. Take the road less chosen. A famous poem comes to mind.
'Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.‘”
Dust stared up at Moonbeam questioningly.
“Good luck, little filly,” said the blue mare calmly, walking off into the shadows.
Coal Dust realized at that moment, what she would do.
The next morning, at dawn, the burgundy unicorn’s family awoke to find an empty bed.
Author's Note
"The Road Not Taken" (C) Robert Frost
Special thanks to DrawMe on MLPForums.com for drawing the cover artwork.
This is my first MLP Fanfiction, so please go easier on it. There isn't much action in this first chapter, but it will pick up as the story progresses. It's going to be a pretty long fanfiction.
Coal Dust trekked slowly and cautiously threw the darkness of the forest, jumping in fright at the sound of every cracking twig and rustling leaf. Her parents had warned her since she was a little filly never to venture into the Everfree Forest. She was told all sorts of horrible monsters lived there. There were wereponies who howled from deep in the forest on full moon nights. There were dragons and manticores and hydras which waited for some poor, timid little filly to wander nearby. She knew what terrible beasts lived there, but she had entered the forest anyway. It was well worth the risk just to know that her parents wouldn’t follow. Anyway, if she was going to go on an adventure, where else could be a better place to start?
Eventually she entered a vast bog. She crossed it hesitantly, seeing monsters in every little muddy bubble, rising from the murky marsh. But she was determined to keep going. Nothing would shake her resolve. She would continue. She would find her adventure. She would change her fate forever.
On the other side of the marsh, in a mossy green clearing, there was a pool of crisp, fresh water. A cool, silver mist hovered over the water, sparkling as it was hit by stray rays of light penetrating the tree-line. The water in this pond was as clear and clean as the air she breathed, and it was something more beautiful than Coal Dust had ever seen, cooped up in her father’s shop all the time. She approached edge of the water and gazed down at her reflection. She was dirty, and her mane was askew. She looked horrible, and yet, something else was different about her. She stood there, staring down into her own eyes when she realized something. For the first time in her life, she was living for herself instead of for her parents. She was finally living. She reached her forehooves down into the water and splashed some on her face.
“From this day on, I am no longer Coal Dust, the blacksmith’s apprentice,” she thought. “I am,” she began looking around at the surrounding area, “Silver Mist,” she announced proudly. “And I will choose just what kind of pony I will be!” She felt a heavy weight fall off of her shoulders, and she embraced this new sense of freedom. She stood back up and trotted off into the forest, boldly, without fear.
Eventually, she arrived in what seemed like an older, more decrepit part of the forest. Many of the trees had clearly died long ago, and broken limbs littered the ground. However, this part of the woods was better lit, and the newly reborn Silver Mist felt oddly more comfortable here. She came upon a grassy knoll, where the trees were much more spread out. Round slabs of wood with blood-red targets painted upon them were nailed upon some of them. They were all cracked and splintered with decades of wear and tear. At the center of the knoll, there was a small, dilapidated ranch house, whose paint was chipped and the wood looked aged and rotting.
There was a tree stump right in front of the house. An old silver hatchet was lodged into this ancient wooden memory of life, and Silver Mist approached it hesitantly. She grabbed onto its handle with her teeth, pulling hard. She pulled with all her might until it finally came dislodged from the old stump, and she fell backward with this sudden lack of resistance. She got back up, holding the heavy tool in her mouth, when suddenly she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned and screamed at the horrifying sight she saw.
Author's Note
This is a short chapter, but I liked leaving it on a cliffhanger.
Chapter 3: The Lone Curmudgeon
Silver Mist shrieked as two withered, blood-shot eyes stared down at her, one a deep blue, and the other, an eerie white with a large, aged scar running across it. Those eyes had a cold flame running through them that scared Silver Mist beyond all measure. His long mane was greying and spread in a wild, crazy manner, and his face was wrinkled with great age. Silver Mist swung the hatchet at this stranger, fearing for her life, but he returned this attack by swinging his heavy, wooden cane, knocking the hatchet out of her mouth, flying through the air and landing back in the log, precisely how she had found it.
“Who are you?” growled the old unicorn, in a deep, grizzly voice with an air of impatience about it. He was a large, old stallion with broad shoulders, who leaned on a makeshift cane, looking down at the little filly. His mane and tail were grey, but Silver Mist could make out traces of black hair within it, revealing his original mane color. His coat was a dark gray as well, though this seemed to be his normal color. However, even it was slowly turning lighter shades of silver and grey. His scowl revealed his teeth, which were chipped and damaged so much that he looked more like a monster than a pony. He wore a faded brown cloak, which hid his flank and back from view. Silver Mist looked up at him in fear.
“I asked you a question,” he said flatly.
“I’m…my name is…Coa-...Silver Mist,” she said timidly, correcting herself.
“Well, Silver Mist, what are you doing here?” he asked with continued impatience. He looked down at her with a little contempt, but he did not seem hostile.
“I’m…well…it’s complicated. It’s a long story.”
The old stallion looked around briefly before asking with a sigh. “Look, Silver Mist, do you have any family? Friends? Shouldn’t you be getting back to them? The Everfree is no place for a child.”
Silver Mist looked at him before stating darkly, “No, I don’t have any family. Not anymore.”
The mysterious stallion looked around some more before gesturing to the filly to follow him, heading towards the house.
“Well, come on. You’re gonna tell me this ‘long story’ of yours.”
Silver Mist hesitated. Should she follow this stallion? Was he dangerous? Could she trust him? Finally she decided to enter the house.
The old stallion opened the door and took a match off of a rickety little table. He lit a lamp, illuminating the little room as shadows danced on the walls behind them. The stallion limped over to the kitchen table and sat down in a worn wooden chair. He waved a hoof towards the other chair, motioning for Silver Mist to sit as well. She sat down, looking around the room.
In the sink, a large pile of grimy dishes piled high, and all of the counters and tables were covered in clutter and various odds and ends, none of which seemed to have been moved in a very long time. I thin layer of dust covered everything and the air inside the building was musty and stale.
“So, let’s hear it,” growled the old stallion gesturing Silver Mist. She took a deep breath and began her story.
“Well, I can see why you’re reluctant to go back home. But I can’t help you. All of that adventure-type stuff isn’t my thing anym-“ he began, ending abruptly. “I…I don’t do that.” The light began to die down in the room as the sun went down outside. He let out a heavy sigh. “It’s dangerous to go out at night. You can stay here,” he said, getting back up slowly, leaning on his cane for support. He limped over to a nearby door and tapped it with his cane. “Here’s where you’ll stay. There are some blankets in the closet.” The strange old stallion continued to limp away out of sight.
Silver Mist nervously approached the room, opening the door with a loud creak. The room was even dustier than the rest of the house. It was littered with old boxes piled along the sides of the wall. There was a closet door on the right side of the room, and there was a small, white bed on the far side of the room, under the window. Despite the dust and clutter, this room seemed a lot nicer than the rest of the house. She walked to the closet, and opened the door. There was a small pile of linens underneath a large, leather trunk. She pulled on the blanket, but the trunk was pulled down and fell on top of her. She whined in pain before pushing it off of her.
“What’s even in this stupid thing?” she thought angrily. She released the two clamps with a click and opened the trunk curiously. Her eyes grew wide at what she saw.
