A Shield Forged Broken
By Darth Quadro
Edited by Darklordtheslayer
WARNING: Does contain some adult themes and situations
My name is Shatter Shield and for as long as I can remember my life has pretty much sucked. I am a jet black pegasus colt and my mane is a midnight blue with a dark yellow streak through it, very much like a golden color without a metallic shimmer. As you can probably guess from my name, I come from a military family. Well, at least on my father's side. One would think that my father had named me in hopes that I would one day break the shields of my enemies in the heat of battle, and I have told myself this on more than one occasion but I doubt my father had any sort of hopes for me since I was born. You see, my father hated me told me I was a mistake every now and again; and given his attitude towards me, I think he meant the name to mean more literally 'Broken Shield' as in I was the weak link in the family, a shield that can’t do its job properly. My father was a part of the Royal Solar Guard and that was pretty much it for his positive qualities, other than that he was just an alcoholic that was abusive both physically and emotionally to me and my mother. I don't know why he despised me so much and frankly I don't care because he's gone now. He went missing while out on an assignment in Trottingham and we never heard from him again. I can't say for certain whether or not he's dead because the Royal Guard doesn't know either, they simply came to our door informing us that he never returned with his unit. No tears were shed that day from me as I never cared for the bastard anyway but I like to make up stories of him sacrificing his life in order save some other pony’s life and such just to give him some sort of redeeming quality so I have something to look up to even if it’s a lie.
My mother on the other hand was a loving mare who worked at some crappy bar, serving drinks to try and scrape up enough cash to feed the both of us. Luckily for us, because my father was in the military my schooling was paid for by Celestia as it is with all military families, so at least dad did something useful for us. Anyways my mother was an earth pony which is the main reason why I don't live in Cloudsdale like most pegasi. Canterlot does not have any flying camps or schools, so with the majority of the populace being that of unicorns I never got any formal flight training and so to everyone who knew me I was more like an earth pony with wings. My mother tried her best to take care of me but that’s a little difficult when you work from 8 in the morning to 10 at night nearly every day. She was always exhausted when she got home and tried to act like the mother figure when she was around but I quickly learnt to take care of myself.
Now there is one thing peculiar about me, it’s that where ever I go I always seem to attract some sort of trouble. Seriously, at eight years old I had already witnessed five stabbings, six muggings, and two robberies and this is living in a place where the crime rate is surprisingly low for a large city. This is also not to mention that I was the bull’s-eye of the target board for all the bullies in my school, it felt like everypony and their dogs were gunning for me. Whether it was because my mother is an earth mare and my father had abandoned me, the fact that I was a pegasus that couldn't fly, or that I was a blank flank while almost all my other classmates had their cutie mark. Whatever the reason was, the bullies were relentless about it. As you can imagine this led to me getting in a lot, I mean a LOT, of fights at school, which of course I lost nearly every single time either because they were bigger than me, outnumbered me or sometimes both. Which leads me to where I was taking all of this, this is the story of how I got my cutie mark.
It was a normal Wednesday morning and mother was just waking me up to get ready for school at around 7:30. "Pumpkin, it’s time to wake up; you have class in an hour so you need to get ready, alright?" After hearing this, I groaned and then quite literally rolled off of the bed, hitting the floor with a hard “smack”. “Dear Celestia! Honey, you have to stop doing that, you’re going to give me a heart attack! Also the ponies on the floor below have been complaining about you waking them up in the morning with it so please stop, for me." We lived in an apartment complex and a pretty cheap one too, so not a single wall in the entire building was sound proofed and yes, that means exactly what you think it means.
"Sorry mom, I'll stop." I muttered, pulling myself off of the floor and smiling after hearing the slight yelp from the floor below. I wasn't much of a fan of my neighbours either, not one of them. It was like a community sanctioned agreement in this apartment building to hate all forms of foals, colts and fillies alike, my mother apparently didn't get the memo.
"Alright then, well I’ve got to get to work and it's a Wednesday night so I probably won't be home till around twelve. I left some bits on the counter for you if that is the case so you can get yourself something to eat." My mother said hurriedly. I rolled my eyes at her as I passed by, heading for the restroom. "I'm sorry Shatter, but you know there's nothing I can do about it and we need the extra money this overtime gets me. I love you, Honey. I'll try to be home as soon as possible I swear."
"Love you too, mom." I replied in a bored tone.
“Don’t be late for school again and especially don't get into another fight, I don't know how many more parent- teacher conferences I can take!" She called out to me as she walked out the door.
I sighed heavily to myself as I began to brush my teeth. Today was going to be a long day, I could just tell. I finished brushing my teeth and took a quick shower so I didn't smell so bad, one less thing for the bullies to make fun of, right? After drying off, I walked over to the kitchen and grabbed an open bag of bread on the counter and made some toast. I thanked Celestia for the fact that the toaster still actually worked considering old as it was. I grabbed the toast and made ready to head out. “Just one more thing to do before I go.” I reminded myself. I went back into my bedroom and climbed on top of my bed before down and then jumping back off of the bed, slamming my hooves against the floor.
"For the love of Celestia! I swear I'm gon--" The voice from below trailed off as the shaken pony below probably went into another room. I couldn’t help but laugh a little as I ran out the door to go to school. I locked the door behind me and ran down the flights of stairs before the pony below my room came out to yell at me, as he often did, every day, for a matter of fact.
My school was only a fifteen minute trot away from my apartment if I cut through some alleyways to get there. It's no wonder that trouble is always attracted to me as I always seem to have to go through all the shadier places where, shall we say… more suspicious goings on normally take place. It didn’t take me long to learn to leave the bits mom gave me at home, lest they be stolen on my way to school. I swear criminals have no tact these days; they would just as soon mug a little filly or colt as they would a rich, upper class, full grown stallion or mare. Well, luckily today I was able to get to school without an incident so I managed to get there on time for once. Initially I did play around with the idea of skipping the first part of class but decided against it since somepony would have probably noticed that I was already there.
To my surprise, I actually found class quite interesting, we were going over history and the teacher was discussing the legend of Nightmare Moon. Everypony knew of the Legend but what was interesting was that in the particular book that the teacher was reading from, apparently Nightmare Moon was our Princess Celestia's sister before turning evil with jealousy and getting banished to her own moon. I always felt bad for the younger sister; it seemed as though no pony gave her much respect and that it was only natural to start to feel jealous towards the pony that got all the attention and recognition. It sounded like she put a lot of effort into making the night sky the way it is and with no pony giving any appreciation for it, I would be angry too. A thousand year banishment seems a bit harsh doesn't it? But then again what do I know? I'm still just a foal.
Everypony else seemed to simply pass this off as just some fictitious story and a few classmates asked the teacher what this had to do with history. The Teacher responded by explaining that it’s mandatory. Besides, everypony knew that Celestia moved both the sun and the moon. However, I've never seen the stars move. Does Celestia have any control over those? I didn't want to draw attention to myself so I didn't ask. The rest of class ended up being kind of boring but I only took two spit balls to the back of the head during the lesson, which was better than all four that were actually aimed at me.
It was now time for recess, oh most loathed hour of the day. Recess mainly consisted of me running and hiding as soon as possible as this was when all the school bullies were on the hunt. On that particular recess period I had found a nice dark corner, out of sight from mostly everypony but for whatever the wall didn't conceal, the shadow it created made for good cover given the color of my coat which thankfully allowed me to blend in easily. All I had to do was tuck back my yellow streaks and I'd be virtually invisible. It's not that I was afraid of the bullies, far from it really. I actually welcome their challenges (I'm beginning to think I might be some sort of masochist, I sure hope not) but I hide from the bullies to save my mother grief from explanations and if I got caught trading blows with another colt than mom would have to take time off work for another parent- teacher conference about my behaviour.
Anyways, as per usual I decided to take a nap until recess was over, I didn't like playing out in the sun that much anyways. I closed my eyes and began to doze off but Just as I was able to get somewhat comfortable I was awoken by the sound of three sets of hooves clopping over to my location. 'Shit. Really? Again? Today?' I thought to myself giving a slight sigh still hoping I hadn't been noticed.
"Hey, hey, guys check this out." I heard one of them whisper to another. Turns out I would experience no such luck in avoiding any bullies that day. "Hey, Blank Flank!" The middle one called out, I recognized the voice as Jet Set.
"Leave me alone Jet Set; go find some other pony to torment. I'm not in the mood." I declared.
"Alright, first though tell me how's your dad doing these days?" He asked sarcastically, snickering at the joke against my father.
"I don't know Jet." I sighed out. "You tell me; last I heard he was bucking your mom." Now given we were still in grade school comebacks such as these were pretty intense for some pony my age but as I said earlier I grew up fast.
Jet Set stormed over to me, furious at my insult. "What did you say about my mom you little punk!” He fumed picking me up off the ground. "You may have wings but you’re still just a worthless ground pounder like your prostitute of a mother. You only come to this school by the graces of Celestia because for some reason beyond me she thinks it alright to reward the family of a deserter. You have no right to be mixing with the Canterlot elite. I don't even understand why you keep coming back; it's not like you’re ever going to amount to anything anyways." Jet Set was practically seething at the mouth by that point.
"Are you done? Can I go back to sleep now? Because I really don't feel like dealing with your insecurities right now." I remarked out of boredom, it's not like I haven't heard all this before and this was the second time this week Jet Set had come after me.
"Okay yeah, sure. We're done. Just as soon as you fly away little pegasus." The two other unicorns next to him fanned out and cornered me so that I really couldn't escape unless I flew out.
"Alright, how about this, I'll fly away just as soon as you perform a shield spell okay?" I taunted, already knowing where this was going so I readied myself for the inevitable.
"Nah, I can levitate objects just fine." He replied as I lit up in a magical aura and was picked up and flipped over. "Now what was that you were saying about insecurities?" Jet Set added, leaning close to my face and grinning.
"Buck you, that's what." I snapped before spitting directly at Jet Set’s face, causing him to drop me and yelp whilst trying to wipe it off.
"Teach this nobody a lesson in respect." He commanded the two other unicorns as he wiped his face disgustedly.
I raised my hooves in a defensive position as the two unicorns began to flail their hooves down on me. I was able to deflect most of the wild blows but there was no way I was getting out of this without being bloody and bruised. Just then, I happened to notice another white unicorn colt looking over in this direction curiously. A look of realization hit his face and then he charged over to the corner where I was being assaulted. 'What's this guy doing? Another one of Jet Set's unicorn pals?' I thought pessimistically.
At that moment a pink, clear shield flashed in front of me, blocking the next set of blows as the white unicorn hoofed Jet Set hard across the face, sending him tumbling to the ground. This colt was quite large for his age, nearly twice as big as me. He had a blue mane that consisted of two different hues mixed in and blue hooves as well.
The Unicorn stopped in front of Jet Set. "What in tartarus do you think you’re doing?" Jet Set called as he tried to get up and rubbed the cheek that he was just bashed in.
"You Mad?! Come at me Bro! I'll buck you up! Three on one, I'm ready to go! Let's do this!" The white unicorn roared at my three attackers.
"H-hey dude, j-just calm down." Jet stuttered fearfully. The other two unicorns began to back away at this point to avoid a potential beating.
"Shut the Buck up, Jet! I'm all pumped now! Take your best shot! That's Right, Prison Rules!" He continued to yell. My three attackers started to make a full retreat now, not knowing how to handle the situation. "That's Right! You’d Better Run! Go get some more ponies maybe then it'll be a fair fight!" The white unicorn yelled as Jet Set’s gang galloped away.
I finally lowered my guard to see who my rescuer was. I could tell instantly by his shield and stars cutie mark that it was Shining Armor. The colt was one of the most popular ponies at the school so everypony at least knew of him. He had extended out a hoof to help me up. "You see, the trick is you gotta get the first strike in and then from there you intimidate the buck out of them until they leave. You alright there?" He enquired with a smile.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I've taken worse." I responded, taking his hoof to help me up. No pony had ever stood up for me before. This was the first time that anypony even seemed to give a buck about what was happening to me.
"I'm Shining Armor. What's your name?" He asked pulling me up. No pony had ever helped me up before, which is part of the reason that that day sticks out so much in my memories. For once, somepony was actually able to lend a hoof when they saw me in trouble.
"My name's Shatter Shield." I shyly replied. I was kind of embarrassed of my own name at that point. Shining Armor was legend at my school. It was rumored that the youngest princess, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, frequented his house and then the rumors spread further from there. What really made him so popular among the ponies was that he was the kind of pony who had seemingly found that perfect match between being a super jock and a legitimately kind pony.
"Hmmm... Military?" He asked thoughtfully.
"Yup." I answered. I felt a bit awkward being a pony that had no friends just chatting away with a pony that had every friend he could ask for.
“Same here bro, my dad is ex royal guard but now he's more into politics and such. I don't know what he does now, just seems kinda boring to be honest. What about you?" Shining sounded excited about talking to another pony that was part of a military family.
"Oh, me? My dad's gone." I stated without a hint of remorse.
"Gone? Like gone where? On an assignment or something?" Shining questioned confusedly. Deserters of the military were very uncommon in Equestria, especially ones with a family as abusive relationships weren't all that common either.
"The 'or something' would probably be the best way to describe it. I actually have no idea where he is." I replied, reflecting back a little. Remembering when my mom and I got the news that dad had gone missing.
Wait so you’re saying your dad went AWOL? I'm sorry man that has to suck." Shining said with a concerned look.
"Don't be. He wasn't much of a family stallion anyways and it happened a few years ago. I'm over it." I explained, brushing off the concern. I wasn't the type of colt who much enjoyed other ponies’ pity but I'm no pony to be rude about it either.
I could hear some fillies calling Shining's name in the distance. "Oh yeah. Hey, it was nice to meet you Shatter Shield but I gotta go, you know duty calls and all that but hey, you should hang with me and my pals at lunch. I'll introduce you to my friends alright?" He offered as he began to head back to his group of friends.
"Yeah, sure. I'll see you then." Despite my low tone of voice I was actually kind of excited about this. This had never happened to me before and things may actually have been starting to be looking up for me for once in my life.
I spent the rest of the recess napping in the shade as was my custom. No other school bullies bothered looking for me, which was good because I doubted Shining Armor would just so happen to come around to my rescue again. Which I'm surprised I even thought about because I'd never felt like I needed to be rescued by some pony before as I'd always handled things myself.
It wasn't long before recess was over and everypony went back to class. It was a good thing that my coat hid bruises and cuts really well so I didn't have to give any explanations to the teacher and Jet Set was in a different class so I don't know what happened with him. Shining Armor was a grade above me; I just hope he didn't get in trouble over what he did for me. We went over math for some time. I didn't really pay attention as I always got bored by all that stuff. I started to think back on Nightmare moon, it just seemed odd to me that such a simple emotion such as jealousy could get to a pony like a princess so much as to turn her to evil. There had to be more to that story than just that, I mean the lesson just seemed too convenient if this were a true story. I wish I could have asked Celestia herself about it but there was no way they would let a foal like me in to see the princess over such a silly question. I heard the teacher call on me to answer a question, but I ignored him. I knew he was calling on me because he knew I wasn't listening, which was a correct assumption but I still didn't feel like giving him an answer, which was forty-two I solved after I glanced at the board. The teacher didn't take long before giving up on trying to get an answer out of me.
It was now time for lunch and I remembered Shining's invitation to join him at his table but I decided it was better if I avoided it as I still didn't want to draw attention to myself. What if one of Shining's friends turned about to be one of my many bullies? That would have been awkward. So I was just going to do my best to avoid his table and sit in my usual far corner, eat quickly and leave like usual.
I went through the line and got my usual lunch of PB&J and a side salad and walked away with my tray. A few ponies tried to knock the tray out of my mouth but I dodged all of their attempts. As I made my way to my usual spot I heard some pony call out my name. It was Shining and he was waving a hoof for me to come join him. I couldn't in good conscious ignore him now. So with a little hesitance, I turned and made my way to the table. I could already feel most of the ponies’ eyes on me as I approached the table. Despite being excited at the prospect of making some actual friends, which I would be more than willing to do, becoming friends with this particular pony would not bode well for my future. As history dictates, jealousy is a powerful vice and I have no intention to add that to my current tormentors list of reasons to target me. However, it was too late now I was already at the table where Shining and a bunch of other ponies sat.
Shining had some of the ponies move over to make room for me to sit across from him. "Everypony, this is Shatter Shield." Shining declared excitedly, a few of the ponies greeted me warmly. It felt nice not being treated like an outcast like I was on most days. "Okay, everypony listen up, I got a story to tell of you about this kid." Everypony had shut up and was listening, which didn’t at all seem like a good sign to me. "So I just met this colt today actually at recess. So yeah, I was just minding my own business when I saw these three other colts from a distance round a corner, far from where every other pony was at and I was like; what's going over there? You know just some general curiosity and when I came around the corner, I saw that tool Jet Set wiping at his face for some reason while the other two unicorns closed in on the little guy. At this point, I was like this don't look good and then the two ponies just started to wail down on this here colt." Shining pointed at me, shrinking away as he did and now feeling really embarrassed. "Now I don't know what caused this fight to break out but frankly I didn't care because two on one seems awfully unfair, especially when both colts in question were twice as big as him. Jet Set was being his usual wimpy self and didn't want to get his hooves dirty. Now listen to this though everypony, what I thought was weird was that despite these two ponies beating down on him, I didn't hear the little colt cry out once for help or in pain, he was just sitting there taking it like a real stallion." Shining playfully punched me in the shoulder that wasn't bruised. While flattering I could see Jet Set only a table away glaring over at me. Shining was being pretty loud in the telling of the story. "Well anyways I charged in and nailed that bucker Jet Set right in the face and was like 'Come at me Bro!' and they were like 'whatever bro' and ran off with their tails tucked between their legs. It was legendary I swear it."
"I do say, sounds like one for the books." Another white unicorn added, except this one was extremely well groomed and dressed. His mere presence made me feel under dressed or just out of place in general. "But what about that beating you received from those ruffians, I doubt you made it out of there unscathed?"
"Well, no I didn't but I'm fine really." I answered timidly. I've taken so many bruises that I couldn't even feel these.
"Nah, Fancy Pants. Check this out, from what I saw, he should have two bruised ribs, a black eye, bruised cheek and bruised shoulder as well as small cuts here, here and here." Shining poked me in each place as he named them off, causing me to wince slightly each time. He was surprisingly accurate; and had memorized every strike as it happened, even at a bad angle. "The kids, just such a bad ass that he refuses to show the pain. He just hides it under that coat of his. Oh and by the way, Shatter this is Fancy Pants, his parents are in charge of the Canterlot treasury so while he may talk and dress like one of those elitist pricks like Jet Set, he's actually pretty cool. This is because his family has so much influence, many ponies got it in their head that whatever he says is like a declaration of Celestia herself. It's hilarious."
"Yes, quite. In fact speaking of that bloke Jet Set, just last week I told him that vegetable hats were in and the very next day he came into class with a head of cabbage as a hat, the entire class had a laugh at the poor guy’s expense. I know I shouldn't do such things, but you know some ponies just have it coming." Fancy recalled, chuckling a little at the memory. I couldn't help but feel intimidated as I was sitting next to the children of some of the most powerful and influential ponies in all of Canterlot. I thought I should probably change the subject before they ask about my parents seeing as how I only have one. Not that I was ashamed of her, I just didn't want these ponies to pity me or my mom and for ponies at such high standings it would only be natural that they would.
"Um, so Shining is it true that a princess goes to your house every day?" I asked more out of desperation than curiosity. Everypony turned to me surprised at the question; I guess no pony has bothered to actually ask yet.
"Oh yeah, that. what about it?" Everypony turned to Shining with an eye brow raised.
"What?" Fancy Pants queried.
Everypony just continued to stare at him expectantly and some started to snicker. "Oh... oh! What c'mon everypony it’s not like that! Cadance is my baby sister's foal sitter; nothing is going on between us, we barely even talk. Besides, she's kind of annoying and anyway, she's not my type, I'm more into mares like Fleur or Sapphire here at the school. I don't think I could handle a princess." ‘And here he is everypony, the only colt in Equestria that would openly refer to a princess as annoying.’ I thought quite starkly. I did notice a slight twitch from Fancy Pants at the mention of Fleur de Lis's name. He probably has a thing for her, but then again so did more than half the school.
"Whoa-whoa-whoa! Hold up. Your parents got a princess, a freaking princess... to foal-sit your little sister. How does that even happen? I mean that doesn't seem the least bit extreme to you?" I asked, surprised at the calmness of his answer to my previous question.
"Well, yeah I guess it's a little much but it makes sense though, Twily being Celestia's personal protégé and all." Shining replied nonchalantly.
I was dumbfounded, at a loss for words. My jaw had literally dropped. Who was this colt? Who were his family? This was a bit much to take in all at once. How does somepony get to be in a family like that? The pony right there across from me might as well be royalty because he was sure close enough to it. At least I wasn't the only pony that was surprised about this, others were giving him weird looks as well except for Fancy Pants, either he already knew about this or he actually didn't care. Shining was still acting as though there was nothing abnormal about all this. I hate to say it, but despite how nice the colt was he really was pretty sheltered. I couldn't blame him though, that’s just how it is when you live in the lap of luxury. At least he didn't let himself go because of it but judging by that cutie mark, he was destined for the military so it's not surprising that he keeps in shape.
"So, hey, just in case you didn’t notice, you’re still staring at me." Shining pointed out humorously.
"Oh crap sorry, yeah I guess I’m just not used to meeting such important ponies." I reacted sheepishly.
"Hey bro, don't talk like that. Everypony is important in their own right. No pony should be looked down upon, no matter where they're from or what they do." Shining reassured me. He almost sounded preachy in a way; I guess this was just something that had been drilled into his head. It was a sweet sentiment, but there were few ponies who actually believed that. However, I didn't want to be the one to burst his bubble.
"Thanks man I'll keep that in mind." I gave Shining a reassured smile.
For the rest of lunch the conversation was pretty upbeat, Shining introduced me to the rest of his friends and they all seemed really nice. A lot of them remarked on Shining’s story of me and how they thought that it was really cool. For the most part though, I refrained from talking as much as I could and just listened to the conversations around me. It was really weird listening to Fancy Pants talk as he had the speech pattern of an uptight elitist but was very kind and open minded, laughing at lude jokes and making a few of his own. With Shining Armor I'd have never been able to tell that he even came from an elite family if I hadn't already known who he was. I was glad to see that even at the top, some families still had morals and values. Maybe it was because they could afford too?
After lunch ended, I told them that it was nice meeting them and Shining bro-hoofed me, telling me to come hang out with them anytime. I wondered if the benefits of hanging out with them outweighed the consequences. While it was true gaining a group of friends would mean having some ponies to watch my back, the same fact also disturbed me as I'd never needed anypony to watch out for me and I didn't want to start dragging other ponies into my problems. Then again after today all the jealous types are going to start gunning for me, so I might need to have some pony watching my back. This argument just kept going in circles and I'd have to think more on it later. At that point though, I just had to get back to class, doubtful that any incidents would pop up immediately, though I would probably feel the effects the next day.
I returned to class and finished up with the last few lessons before the school day ended. All we went over was some geography and English, more boring subjects that I simply ignored again. The teacher didn't bother calling on me this time; I think I might have dozed off a little because class seemed shorter than usual. As I left the school, effectively avoiding any tormentors that may have been waiting for me outside of the gates by going out of the side exit. I pondered on whether or not I should take make usual route home. If I took the usual route, I ran the risk of getting mugged or some other crap like that but it would have saved me an extra thirty minutes from walking on the main streets. The main street however, was guaranteed safety with all the guards out and about so that not even the bullies would risk messing with me. On top of that I'd had a pretty damn good day and I really didn't want it to be ruined just because I wanted to save on walking time. Besides, I had no place to be at that time anyways. I decided to take the long way home and despite being as tired as I already was, I still had a little bounce in my step as I reflected on the fact that I made some friends that day. I still needed to decide whether or not I will keep these friends but I didn’t need to think about that right now and I just wanted to bask in the glow of the shred of self-confidence that forked over to me.
As soon as I got back to my apartment complex, I rushed up the stairwell in hopes of avoiding any unwanted badgering from the other residents. When I got to my door, I pulled the key from my saddlebag and unlocked it. As I turned the key, I noticed a note on the door and pulled it down. It was from our downstairs neighbor, I could tell from the volume of rude language and all the exclamation points. I threw the note in the trash as I walked into the apartment. I wasn't going to stop my morning routine, this was personal. That old pony used to smack me with different objects every time I passed him. I never understood why, guess he just hated kids. Well I didn't like him either and I have a problem with exacting my revenge on ponies that deserve it.
I noticed the sack of bits on the counter that my mother had left for dinner. It wasn't much but it was plenty for me. I counted out how much I had so I could determine where I wanted to get an evening meal from later. After that was done, I was ready to go to bed. Despite the displeasure it causes my mother, I go by a strange sleeping pattern as I prefer to sleep during the day mostly and stay up for the majority of the night. I enjoyed the night much more as it was always quieter and much more peaceful, especially when it was late into the night. The tranquillity also helped me with my school work because I could concentrate much more easily. Well, at least when I wasn't stargazing. There was something about the night sky that had always been comforting to me, like it was there to watch over me. Unlike the sun which was just one big ball of light, the stars were everywhere, looking down at every pony from every angle all over the world. Evil can never hide from the stars and the lonely can always find them. Then there was the moon. That big ball of soft silver light, bright enough to light up the streets but dim enough to never blind you. Unlike the sun, I could sit and stare at the moon and stars forever, while if I tried to stare at the sun to long I'd go blind. Every time I looked up at the moon, that big beautiful mare plastered across its surface would look back.
My love for the night sky started a few years back when Dad was still around tormenting me and Mom. I remember one night waking up to the angry pounding of a hoof on the door. When mom opened the door, I could instantly hear the drunken shouting of my father. Soon after, I heard my mother scream and hit the floor crying. I thought that was enough to prevent me from having to face my father’s mindless wrath on that night. I could hear my father starting to move towards my room, my mother pleaded for him to leave me alone. I had already jumped out of bed and opened the window. I saw the fire escape two windows away from me. ‘I may not be able to fly but maybe I can glide.’ This thought filled my head as I looked at my wings doubtfully. Just then my father slammed the door open, yelling something about me being a worthless piece of shit. He saw me standing on the window sill looking back at him and his eyes narrowed in rage. He was about to say something when I jumped from the window sill towards the fire escape. My wings spread to their full length, which wasn't very long. At first I just dropped, making me think that I was going to die and that was it was stupid of me to even try. I was too much of an earth pony; I was too heavy for my wings. As I plummeted downward, I looked up and saw the moon looking back at me, the mare looking down on the world with cold indifference. I smiled, thinking that my final sight, this canvas of black and white, didn't seem all that bad of a thing to be my final memory.
At that particular moment, I could have sworn that I saw the tiniest twinkle come from the eye of the mare in the moon right before my wings caught a slight updraft suddenly, halting my fall a mere two stories from the ground before allowing me to glide gently down to the cobblestone path below. I needed to get out of there. My father might have been on his way down. I started to fully gallop through the Canterlot streets, heading up in the direction of the castle. I needed to hide somewhere, somewhere where he would never think to look. I ran and ran and did not stop running until I had made it to the Canterlot statue garden. I had never been there before but maybe it would provide a suitable hiding place for me to lay low.
As I wandered through the garden looking for a place to lie down, I came across this one statue that looked quite odd. It was the strangest thing and didn't even remotely resemble a pony, well except for the head a little I guess. It looked like It was made of a bunch of mismatched creatures hastily thrown together to create whatever this was and it looked as though it was singing. However, the most peculiar thing about this statue was that it seemed like it was watching me, more so than the other statues of ponies and other various creatures. Except that didn't seem right as this statue’s eyes were closed, it wasn't looking at me at all. Yet still, I got the foreboding sense that this statue in particular was literally keeping watch over me.
After a few seconds, I quickly made my way past the statue as it was beginning to creep me out. After a little bit of walking, I found a nice spot that would allow me to lie down and be out of sight. It was circle of shrubs with a patch of grass to lie on in the middle, not perfect cover but then again, my dad had probably already given up looking for me a while ago. At this point it more felt like I was trying to hide from the world than my dad. I felt awful about leaving my mom at home, Celestia knows what he must be doing to her now. That brought a thought to my attention, should Celestia know? Did Celestia know? I looked up to the mare on the moon. 'You know, don't you?' I thought, looking up at that big mysterious face in the sky. 'Not much you can do about it though, huh?' I gave a sad chuckle as I thought about it. Not much I could do about it either.
I lied on my back in the middle of the shrub circle so I could look up at the stars. That night, the stars seemed particularly bright. Now that I was really looking at it, the sight was absolutely stunning. The Stars were everywhere, the sky was completely clear and there were more stars dotting it than I had ever seen before. I could even see the cosmic dust blanketing itself across the stars and creating a beautiful sheen of blue and green against the dark abyss that surrounded it. The moon was full as well, as I could see the entirety of the mares face and horn as she shined down on top of me as if to say that she was there to protect me this night. Tears began to well up in my eyes as I looked up at the beautiful night sky. I wanted to ask her; ‘why this was happening to me? Why can't you protect me every night like you did this one?’ The stars twinkled in response.
I could hear nothing and then a response to my question came to my head. 'You can, simply look to me every night the sky is clear and I will be there to comfort you. Do not fret my little pony, for good things have yet to come and so they will.‘ The voice in my head was not my own but I felt strangely at ease. I still cried softly but felt like it was safe to do so. It felt like the night was cradling me in ethereal hooves, rocking me like a new born foal, a sensation I could all but remember. I curled up in the grass, tucking my head under my tail with tears still softly rolling down my cheeks. My eyes were shut and consciousness began to fade and before I fell deep into my slumber, hearing a voice telling me that everything was going to be alright.
I was laying in my bed now, eyes turning damp as I recalled the memories of so long ago. I could still hear her voice from time to time but it would only come on the nights my emotions ran strongest. I did not understand why some nights she would talk to me and other nights she wouldn't, but I decided that it was better not to ask and let her soothe my pain away. In a way, I guess she could be considered my first friend though I couldn't say of whether or not she's real. Even though she can't talk to me every night, I talk to her every night. I would always spend an hour or so every night sitting on the roof of the apartment complex just laying on my back and talking to the moon. Ponies had walked in on me doing this before and thusly a few of the tenants here believe that I'm crazy, and who knows? Maybe I was. Even if I was crazy, I still didn't care because she was the only thing that made my pain go away and I knew that I needed her.
I woke up around ten o'clock like usual as I stay up for most of the night and then sleep again at four or five o'clock. I was starving, remembering that I didn't actually eat my entire lunch as I spent most of it talking with Shining and his friends. It was time to get some dinner but the only question was “where?” While there were not that many places open that late except for bars and such, doing this regularly let me learn which places stayed open past this hour. As I was still pretty proud of making some friends earlier on, I thought I should reward myself with some sweets. First off, let me just say that although I was just a kid I actually did not go out and get sweets every night and although my mother often did this, usually I would prefer to eat something healthy as too much sugar had a tendency to just hurt my stomach. I was always seen as freakish for that.
Anyways, I had just the place in mind. Pony Joe's Donut Shack was a pretty affordable place to get some sweets and was always open late. It was also the only place that both sold sweets and was within my price range, although it was quite a bit of a walk away. It was nearly an hour's walk from my apartment but I didn't care, I was feeling good as I was having a good day, the sky was clear and I could see all the stars. So I knew that the mare in the moon was watching over me.
I made my way down the stairs to leave the building as some older pony yelled at me saying that I should be in bed. I ignored him because I simply didn't care. He did that every night I passed him but at least I knew him to be a harmless pony, unlike the bastard below my apartment. I trotted out of the complex, heading down the main street. The only route I knew of to the donut shop was luckily through main streets so it was less likely that I would be assaulted in any matter. Though that didn't mean it wasn’t impossible as I have witnessed ponies pulled off the streets as there were less guards out on the streets during this time and instead of stationary placement, they are put on a patrol pattern. So my best bet would be to stick to the shadows and not advertise myself as some lone kid walking through the streets in the middle of the night. Most ponies would think that staying in the light of the lamps is the safest. That was not true; at least not for a kid like me. The fewer ponies see me; the better was the rule of thumb that I always followed. You can't jump what you don't know is there, I just wish I didn't have that yellow streak in my hair as I could hide much easier without it. For a pony my age, it's also better to stay out of sight from guards because a lot of the time they try making me go back home and saying stuff about how I shouldn't be up so late, which to be fair is pretty understandable on their part and technically I shouldn't be out so late but that's my problem.
On my way down to the Pony Joe's store I did pass by a few patrols that I ducked away from and I spotted a few ponies loitering in the shadows that were probably waiting to see if they could score a victim. Luckily they did not see me. I know I mentioned this before, but I still found it strange that I kept running into all this crime in the city with one of the lowest crime rates in Equestria. While not nearly as low as small towns like Ponyville, it still boasts one of the lowest for a city. I'm beginning to question these statistics but then again I've never been outside Canterlot so I couldn't guess what it must be like in places like Manehattan and Las Pegasus.
Besides seeing all these potential muggers and such, I felt alright looking up at the night sky. It was particularly beautiful that night, almost as much so as that fateful night around two years ago. The walk actually felt nice, especially with the air outside feeling crisp and warm as it was the middle of spring. Everything just felt right. Eventually after give or take thirty to 40 minutes I finally reached Pony Joe’s.
As I entered the shop, I noticed that I was the only pony there besides Pony Joe who was messing with some stuff behind the counter. "Hey Joe, how's it goin?" I greeted Pony Joe, getting his attention. I may not have gone there that often, but I did come often enough to be considered a regular.
"Huh? Oh, it's you. Isn't tonight a school night, kid?" Pony Joe replied, giving a slight smirk.
"Joe, you ask that every time I come here." I rolled my eyes at him. He also remembers me in particular because I have the habit of only showing up late at night.
"And it always is, isn't it? Sheesh! Kid, you’re gonna give your mother heart attack one of these days." Joe laughed at me. Up until now, I'd have to say that Pony Joe was the closest thing I had to a friend, even if he was more than twice my age. He was from Manehattan and grew up in not so different conditions from me. So he was the only pony I felt that I could actually talk too.
"So she says, anyways some pony's got to give you a reason to stay open late. So, are you going to ask me what I want or what?" I retorted back to him whilst sporting my own slight grin.
"Yeah, sure. Whaddya want kid?" He replied in a snarky tone.
"Get me a Hoofston crème and two chocolate glaze donuts, Joe." I announced as I pulled myself up to the counter top seats.
"Comin right up. You know I haven't seen you up here for a while now, what's been goin on kid?" Joe asked as he went back to the kitchen to grab the donuts that were already made. You had to come early in the morning to get them fresh, fat chance of that though.
"Oh, you know the usual; shitty neighbors--"
"Hey! Watch your language kid. I may not be your mother but we still don't talk like that around here." Joe interrupted, scolding me for my rude language. "Sheesh! Kids today, I swear."
"Sorry Joe, just kinda slipped out. Anyways as I was saying; crappy neighbors, worse bullies, and muggers as far as the eyes can see." I explained, making a show of waving my hoof across the air, causing Pony Joe to laugh a little. "However, something interesting did happen to me."
"Oh? And what’s that kid? You actually win your fight this time?" Joe chipped in with a mocking tone.
I rolled my eyes at him as he came back with my donuts. "Nah, I'm serious about this. I think I may have made some friends today. I mean it's still too early to say for certain but it certainly does look that way."
"Took ya long enough, kid. Maybe now you'll leave me alone." Joe responded with a grin. "Nah, but I am actually proud of you kid. It's been a long time coming and Celestia knows you need somepony lookin out for ya."
"Yeah thanks. But Joe that's the thing I don't want anypony looking out for me, I don't want to drag any other pony into my problems." I moaned. He grabbed me a glass of milk and put in front of me before I nodded a thank you.
"Kid... 'Sigh' you need to learn that that’s what friends are for. You look out for each other; it's not a one way deal. But anyways what's this friend of yours name?" Joe inquired, grabbing his own cup of coffee.
"Surprisingly enough he's one of those rich ponies. You know like the 'Canterlot Elite' except he doesn't act like them. His name's Shining Armor, you heard of him?"
Joe looked up at me with a little bit of surprise in his face. "Shining Armor. Yeah, I know the kid. Comes in here with his little sister sometimes. Nice kid, good sense of morals and values that I can appreciate. A little sheltered though for a kid looking to join the military. You weren't kidding though saying your new friend was Canterlot elite. His family's practically at the top. That's a powerful friend you got there I tell you that much."
I finished up my first donut and sighed. "I know and because of that being his friend may cause more trouble than it’s worth. I mean c'mon you know how trouble just seems to flock to me. This guy has an entire successful future set up for him and I’m liable to mess all that up for him just by being around him. I mean, even today I might have gotten him in trouble already." I groaned and banged my head against the counter.
"Hey! I don't want to hear you talkin like that, ya hear? Any friends you make you deserve a hundred per cent and how exactly could you have already gotten him in trouble?" He glared at me.
"Well I got in another fight today," Joe rolled his eyes at me. "No I didn't start this one, it was that colt Jet. He sought me out with some jerks that beat me up. Anyways the two other colts were beating me up when Shining came out of nowhere and just decked Jet and started yelling at him. I mean that was really nice of him but I know Jet's not the kind of pony to let that stuff go. He probably went and told one of the teachers right after the event." I answered, looking down ashamedly at my glass of milk.
"Kid, if there's one thing you should know about Shining, it seems to me that he is the kind of pony that will do the right thing no matter the consequences. You could learn a thing or two from a pony like him. Besides, I wouldn't worry too much about him. I doubt the school can afford to let him get in trouble and not to mention that they would believe Shining's story any day over that punk Jet's." Joe reassured.
"I guess you’re right Joe." I agreed with a smile on my face.
"You’re damn straight I'm right." He returned with a grin.
"Hey, you said no language." I gave him a mock glare.
"Yeah? Well you ain't an adult. Now get out of here before your mother calls the guards on me or somethin." Joe said waving a hoof towards the exit and shooing me away.
"Relax, she's still at work, she doesn't even know I'm here." I replied nonchalantly, finishing off another donut and my glass of milk.
Pony Joe face hoofed and sighed. "Kid, I swear you’re gonna be the death of me."
"Alright, alright, what do I owe you anyway?" I queried whilst giving him a grin and pulling out my bit bag.
"Don't worry about it kid. I got ya covered. Now git!" He told me pointing at the door again.
I looked at him surprised. "Wow, um, thanks Joe. That's really nice of you." I commented as I got down from the stool. This really was something he didn't do often. While his business wasn't exactly struggling, it wasn't like he was well off either and couldn't afford to waste produce liberally.
"Yeah, yeah. Don't go getting used to it, kid. You’re payin next time. Now you be careful on your way home, alright kid?" He added as I was making my way out with my last donut in my mouth.
I took the donut out of my mouth as I pushed the door open. "Always am. Goodnight Joe." I spoke over my shoulder.
"Goodnight kid. Good luck with the new friends." He restated as I started out the door.
I raised a hoof in farewell and put the donut back in my mouth. It always felt nice to visit Joe. 'I should probably start going by there more often' I thought wistfully as I munched on my donut and made my way down the street. I know I should talk about these things with mom but she's always so busy at work. Speaking of which, I hoped I would get home before she did, didn’t want her freaking out over me again. That wouldn't end well. I still had around a thirty minute walk ahead of me so maybe if I picked up the pace a little, I could have cut that down to twenty. I started to walk faster down the street. I still kept to the shadows of course for the obvious reasons and I didn't feel comfortable having a couple of guards escort me home so I still avoided them as well.
While I walked, I admired the night sky in all of its glory. The stars were shining bright and the mare in the moon had a clear view of the entire city. I began to reflect on the events that transpired over the course of the day, mostly lingering on Shining's selfless act of protecting me. Me, a pony he had never met before. Why would he do that? He could have gotten hurt. I mean, there was no reason to interfere, he had nothing to do with the whole thing and could have just walked away. I wouldn't have blamed him if he walked away, it was my problem right? Could he have actually developed such a strong sense of justice at such a young age? Pony Joe did say I could learn some things from him; maybe this is what he was referring to. Shining did want to join the Royal Guard but my only experience with them was well… my dad. I guess he doesn't really make a very good example. Maybe I should start fighting for something other than myself. I'm always fighting just to keep ponies away from me and nothing has changed. Maybe if I fight for somepony else, things may change for the better. I think I've been in enough fights by now to have at least some experience in defending myself, so it can't be that much harder defending somepony else or at least stand up for myself. I had already planned on joining the military, but I didn't have to end up like my father, a broken wreck of a stallion.
I was busy having my revelation as I was passing some random bar on my way home when I heard a muffled scream. "Shit!" I mumbled to myself. That noise was all too familiar as I already knew what was going on. I turned my head to across the street and in the alley way just as I had guessed; I saw a mare being forced up against the wall by some punk stallion. There were no guards in sight; the patrol must be on another end of their loop. I stopped. Why did I stop? I've always just ducked my head away and moved on hoping not to be seen. I kept looking at the mare that was being cornered and I saw me. That was my life being shoved against the wall and mugged. Do I want to live out the rest of my life like that; beaten, taken advantage of.... broken? No! If Shining Armor could do it, then so could I.
‘NO FEAR!’ I galloped towards the mugger. ‘NO REGRET!’ I spread my wings in attack position. ‘NO WEAKNESS!’ I jumped into the air, catching some airtime with my wings increasing my jump height and distance. The mugger turned toward me with a look of annoyance and then surprise as I smashed into his face with my rear hooves after I had thrown them out in front of me. The mare had the same look of surprise with the exception of not having had her face smashed in.
The mugger stumbled back a few steps holding his face in pain. "AGH! What the Buck! You little bastard! I'll bucking kill you for that!" The mugger screamed, still holding his face in his hoof. I noticed that he had a switch blade in one of his hooves. ‘Shit! Well no turning back now.’ He had already taken her saddle bag, but by the looks of the scene earlier he was after more than just her bag. I couldn't let that happen.
"Give the lady her bag back and leave her alone!" I yelled at him. ‘No fear.’
"Kid run away! Please, you’re going to get hurt!" The mare pleaded to me.
"Get out of here lady, and get the guards!" I called back not turning around and keeping my eyes on the enemy. ‘No regret.’
The mare didn't bother arguing and ran to get help. The mugger began to approach me. "Kid, you’re in for a world of hurt for what you did to me. You should ‘a ran away when you had the chance." He said manically, twirling the knife.
This is bad; I'm in way over my head! No! I can do this! Just keep him busy till the guards get here. "Why would I run from a bitch like you?" I spat back. ‘No weakness.’
I crouched low in a full defence position; I thought I should refrain from striking as my legs were too short and I got lucky with the first hit. "Kid, somepony needs to teach you some manners." He taunted as he was now closing the gap between us. For a few seconds, we just stared at each other; I remained in my defensive stance. He grinned at me. "Or you can just die!" He made for a straight thrust to the head. I dodged it easily. He switched to cross slash from the position he was in. I ducked under the attack no problem.
This was easy! All those fights I'd been in were really paying off now. I could see where he was attacking and the path that his next strike was going to follow. He drew the blade upward, next he would attempt overhead stab. Dodge right. He fell forward with the attack and entered my range of attack; I had a clear shot at his head. I connected with a left cross. He yelled in frustration, my attack didn't have much effect except to further anger him. Now he is stabbing wildly. I can barely dodge these attacks as they’re too fast. ‘Just hold on a bit longer.’
The blade sliced across the side of my head. "AGH!" I cried out in pain. ‘Shit! I didn't even see that attack. How could I have been so careless? The pain on my face is distracting, I can't follow his moves as well. Damn it! I lost track of the attack what was his next movement?’
Everything then stopped. I could feel cold steel enter my left side just above the tip of my wing. My eyes went wide with fear. Next I felt the blade slide through my flesh, moving up towards my shoulder blades. The knife was withdrawn from my body. It hurt. It hurt so much. More than anything I'd ever experienced. I wanted to scream and cry from the pain but I couldn’t move as my entire body locked up. I felt a warm liquid spill over the side of my body and wing. ‘That must be my blood.’ I thought in realisation.
My knees buckled and I crumpled to the ground, falling on my uninjured side. "Should'a stayed out of it, kid." I heard the mugger speak but I didn't understand what he was saying, my mind was in a jumble and the pain wouldn't let me think straight as the mugger strolled away.
I laid there on the ground bleeding and I just about managed to hold onto consciousness. I looked up. The night sky was so beautiful. I could see thousands upon thousands of stars cascading in an endless waterfall of light across the sky. I could even make out the cosmic dust blanketing itself across the sky, adding hues of blue and green on top of the void of the night. I saw the moon, full and in all of its glowing glory. The mare in the moon looking down on all of equestria, watching over the city of Canterlot. She'd always been there for me. Even then. "It's okay. I don't blame you. This was my own decision. Thank you... for being there." I whispered to the moon.
I noticed the tiniest flash go off from the direction of my flank. I strained to lift my head to see what it was. I saw it, there on my flank, my cutie mark appeared. It was a dark blue shield, but not just any shield, this shield was battered and torn, decaying slightly from rust, the shield was broken. I noticed something else; there was a sigil on the shield. The sigil was a depiction of a crescent moon crossed by a sword and surrounded by small stars. My cutie mark was a broken shield. A grin twitched onto my face. "Heh." I began to laugh. "Heh-heh-heh." A little bit more. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" I burst out into laughter, which made everything hurt worse but I didn't care. My destiny was to fail. Apparently my special talent was losing, getting beaten, bruised, and now stabbed as well. I guess I was pretty good at it. I mean it did seem to happen a lot.
I stopped laughing. Couldn't do it anymore because it hurt too much. I couldn't tell if it was tears or blood streaming down my face, probably both. "Dear Celestia! What happened?!" I heard a voice, a male voice. I didn't bother looking. My eyes were still open, but my vision was getting blurry.
"Oh no! No no no no no! Is he okay? Will he be alright?" A mares voice now. I could still see the moon and the mare that resided upon it.
"Will I die tonight?" I asked the moon in barely even a whisper. My vision was going in and out. The mare from earlier was now standing over me. She's said something but I couldn’t tell what, although she seemed frantic.
'Do not be afraid, I am here for you.' I heard a reassuring voice in my head that sounded crestfallen.
"But I am scared. I can't stop being scared." I replied to the voice. The pain had begun to dull and I felt cold.
'Everything will be okay, I'll be right here for you. I've got you.' The voice sounded on the verge of tears. I felt a warmth wash over my body going from the inside out.
"Please don't cry, I don't want to cause you pain. I don't think I can stay awake much longer. Before that, I wanted to say........ I love you." I stated. By now, my vision was gone and my consciousness fading. There were more voices around me; frantic and rushed, but I couldn't hear them. All I heard was the sound of a mare crying. My beautiful Mare in the Moon.
End
