Soda Pop Shop

Name's Caps, or Bottle Cap if you wanna be formal. I'm a unicorn who grew up in Manehattan with my mother in a shared house with an old pony who we tried to ignore or avoid if possible. He would wander around the house muttering unintelligible things under his breath, but we weren't sure if they were directed at us or not so we came to the unspoken agreement of "You leave us alone and we'll do the same". My father died when I was young and we still don't know what happened, he just, died. I never had any siblings and mother tried to support me the best she could, but it wasn't enough. I got a job working as a newspaper printer downtown. It was dangerous and worried my mother. She didn't talk to me much. She was always either working or sleeping so I just assumed that she was.

One day when I was practicing basic levitation while drinking some apple juice, I mixed around the juice I was holding in the air and it began to bubble. Shocked, I dropped the orb and it landed with a splat on the wood floor in my room. It bubbled on the floor and made a sizzling sound, but no steam. Curious, I prodded it with a hoof and it was just as cold as when it was in the glass. It tasted the same too. I levitated another orb of juice and tried to repeat what I had done before. Success. I pulled the hissing ball over my mouth and dropped it in. It tasted great and was fun to drink, too. I began doing this with all of my beverages, mastering it to the point that I could make the bubbles while it stayed in the glass.

One day as I sat at a small cafe, a stallion approached me and asked about the bubbles in my drink. He seemed shocked, curious, and afraid. I answered him the best I could by telling him that it was just a little something I had been doing for awhile. I was only a teenage colt at the time and thought he was leaving in disgust when he excused himself. I returned to my glass. A few minutes later, he returned with a glass of water and asked me to do the same to his as I did to mine. I concentrated on the glass until it made the sizzling sound. He cautiously took a sip and after only one gulp, replaced the glass on the table and looked at me with a raised eyebrow and asked "How would you like to make some money?" How could I say no?

...

The next day, I walked to the address written on the envelope the stallion had given me. As I walked, I studied the envelope. There were no stamps, nor was there anything inside it. Written on the front was 1126 Mulberry Ln.. I had to use a global positioning spell to find it. I left a small note on the counter in the kitchen to let mother know where I was going. Whether or not she would agree to letting me go, I left. The line on the ground turned left, right, and left again as it led me through the downtown and into the run-down part of the town. Only I could see the line so there were no worries of anyone following me even if anyone had been around. To my relief, the line led out into a more colorful part of the  sorry town. I passed by a shop with a few letters missing in a title that read "Ham's Sh_e R_ep_ai_". the windows of the store were boarded up and appeared to be out of business. Saddened at the thought of how the owner is supporting himself without his shop, I turned away and continued down a very cracked side walk to  the end of the line which ended at a very familiar stallion. He greeted me with a kind smile, but something was wrong with him.

He was not as I previously perceived his personality to be. I had thought that he was a serious man who wanted to conduct business and aid others in the process, but he stood, legs partially spread with parts of his grey coat glistening with sweat in the twilight of the day. As he gestured me inside, his orange mane also reflected the sun's rays as if it were wet. Maybe it was or maybe it wasn't. I didn't get any more time to study the pony for a foreign hoof settled on my shoulder and began to pressure me forward. I looked up to see who it was and was surprised to see a mare. She wasn't that old, but she towered over my head. We appeared to be heading into a rundown warehouse. The global positioning spell was long gone, but I knew which building we were going into.

It was well lit with fluorescent bulbs and was surprisingly empty except for some bits of paper pinned to a billboard on the wall near the door. the space in the room was only big enough to hold maybe two carriages, but not with much lee-way to move about. I tried to stop and investigate the billboard as it was the only item in the room other than the three ponies and me, but I was almost lifted of my hooves as the mare continued to push me towards the pony in the center with a steel blue coat, a silvery mane that draped down to his chest, and a adding machine cutie mark. he held his chin high and looked at me disapprovingly, but also with a hint of interest. I plopped my bottom down and look at the other two ponies in the room. the mare stood a few feet behind me looking serious as ever and the stallion had backed into the corner. The steel blue pony in front of me looked as if he were about to speak, but the mare was the one who broke the silence.

"I believe Rich has something for you, sir," said the mare in an almost accusatory voice.

"Whether or not he will present it is my question," answered the old pony who seemed to be the one in charge.

"Y-yes, sir, of course I will," the glistening stallion replied, "This colt I found at a cafe in the city and I thought he might be of use to us"

"How could this ankle-biter ever help us in any way?" he replied doubtfully. I was beginning to regret coming here. I wasn't sure if I was in trouble of if I was about to be.

"He can make bubbles!" Rich replied and as he heard what he had said, he groaned under his breath and restarted, "He is able to make these fizzy bubble in drinks. Sorta' like apple cider, but he can do it with any drink."

The old one answered with a look of disgust and more disapproval.

"I believe we can make some money with this. See, if we open up shop, we can just take normal drinks and fix 'em up so they fizz and sell them for 50% profit!"

More disapproval, but now he showed interest

"It's fun to drink and it's easy to make, right kid?" he looked at me pleadingly.

I nodded my head and tried to say "Yes, sir", but all that came out was a squeak. I had no idea how dry my mouth had become.

"Mag, get on it." he said as he turned toward the mare I now knew as Mag.

"Yes, sir, Mister Sir," with that, she tuned and trotted out the door.

...

I woke with a start and found the sheets around me soaked with sweat as well as myself. I rolled over, careful not to wake Lily, and sat up. Lily stirred slightly and squirmed until she was laying facing the wall to her right.

Another dream of that damned night, I thought, They all pushed me up until I was riding high and my outlook on life was great, but one day, they come here and screw up all I had made for myself. They took all the money and left me with nothing. If it weren't for them, Ma might still be alive.

Pulling myself out, I look to my right at Lily, still asleep. Her mint green mane running gorgeously over her shoulder and onto the pillow. If it weren't for her, I don't know if I would be here now. I got out of bed and began preparing a breakfast for us. A bagel and some orange juice would be nice. I toasted the bagel over some still hot coals and poured the juice into a glass from its pitcher. I left the juice plain and spread some cream cheese on the bagel. The fizz got old after you've been doing it for 14 years.

...

After breakfast, we began our daily cycle. Lily is taking care of the customers and usually I would be preparing stock for sale, but today, I need to go down to a cherry orchard to make a deal to have a new flavor to sell. Currently, the only flavors we have are apple, orange, and raspberry. Business is good and the majority of our customers are regulars who occasionally bring friends. A new flavor is just what we need to get a little boost in funds. If we are successful in our deal, both us and Cherry Jubilee will benefit greatly.

I step outside the shop after bidding farewell and begin the trot down to the train station. The sky is overcast and not many other ponies are out. I pass five or six ponies on the road but no more than that. As I near the station, more and more ponies start appearing and when the station comes into view, it is overrun and I can hear angry chatter coming from many of the ponies who seem to really need to get somewhere. When I reach it, a pony on a small stand big enough to rise above the others begins to speak.

"Quiet, quiet now, everypony," he said over the crowd.

"What's going on?!"

"I have a job interview that started twenty minutes ago!"

"What are we all yelling about?!"

"Please be quiet so I can explain!" the crowd's yelling slowed as he continued, "There's been a terrible malfunction in the engine of the train and has melted a few vital parts that it can't run without."

"Well, then, fix the darn thing!" yelled the pony to my right.

"We are in the process of doing so," he gestured at mechanics on top of the engine, "but it's going to take longer than expected to repair it."

"Why can't y'all just pull it? Isn't that what y'all always do anyway?"

"The engine pulls most of the weight of the train and the main thing the pullers do is direct it. Even if they were to pull it on solely pony power, its would take about two days just to get to Canterlot."

"Well, how am I supposed to get anywhere?" another pony yelled.

"You have four hooves, do you not?" the pony on the pedestal said looking down at the questioner.

"Yeah, but how am I supposed to get anywhere with only my hooves to carry me?" the voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't place a name on it.

"Do you need a lesson on trotting?" this absolutely set the crowd off.

His voice was well heard even with the commotion, "Why don't you shut your motherbucking plothole of a muzzle before I come up there and rip your head right off of your neck?!" The crowd blew up into a flurry of egging, insults, and profanities at this statement.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I make somepony angry?" he said as he looked down at the stallion with a mocking face.

"Hey! We don't need a fight, we just want to go home," spoke a mare between the two and then turned to the pony on the pedestal, "What do you suggest we do?"

"Honestly, I don't know." he replied with an apologetic countenance, "You may be able to find a coach, but depending on the distance you wish to go, it might cost more than a few bits."

At this final statement, the crowd began to disperse. I scanned over the crowd for the familiar-sounding instigator. I worked my way through the crowd for a better view until I heard the voice again behind me. I turned and saw the pony talking again to the station conductor. Once I had gotten a good viewpoint, I found the source of the voice. A brown stallion with a tan mane. I knew him from somewhere, but I couldn't place it. His face held an expression of contained fury.The voices of the others made it very difficult to understand what was being siad, but I was focusing less on the speech, and more on this pony. he had saddlebags on and a very rigid frame. His hooves were spread with aggression and appeared ready to fight. Unable to discern who he was, I began to saunter back to the shop to wait a few hours until coming back to the station. I turned my thoughts from the mystery pony and focused back on the reason I had come down in the first place.

Maybe I could find a stagecoach to take me to the cherry orchard, I thought, I ought to go check the map back at the station.

I turned back around and rounded the corner of a building so I had a strait shot to the station.

BOOM

A storm of birds emerged from their hiding places in the trees followed by scattered screams and the sound of many hooves hitting stone. Everypony in the crowd had fled except for some stragglers. They moved to reveal the familiar pony from earlier and the stage conductor about fifty yards from my position. They stood, foreheads pressed together and with the tan pony's foreleg to the conductor's chest. The conductor's face was filled with fear and shock. The tan pony's face with malice. I took a step closer and immediately noticed the iron tube that I had mistaken for a foreleg and the blood and bone sticking from the back of the conductor. He tilted and fell over, twitching, and began creating a pool of blood on the stone of the station as the tan pony replaced the weapon into his saddlebag with a satisfied smile. He then turned back to the fallen station conductor and spat. Clearly happy with what he had done, he turned and faced down the street I was standing on. We made eye contact. The smile vanished from his face and he turned towards a different street and began galloping away. I stood, frozen. I did know him.

...

The walk home was slow and full of thought. When I arrived back at the store, I still hadn't processed what had just happened. Lily was just finishing up a customer's order when I approached.

"Have a nice trip?" she asked still occupied with the customer. She turned to face me and her smile faded as she saw my face, "Oh, no. Did she refuse?"

"I didn't get the chance to talk to her," I told her.

"What happened?"

"We need to leave. Today."

She turned to the customer, handed her the small bag, and muttered "Free of charge". she turned back to me, terrified, "Is it them?"

I sighed. "Yes."

We went into the storage room so that no pony could hear our conversation. "Oh, Celestia," she muttered to herself then looked at me again, " Did anypony follow you?"

"Not that I know of."

"Then why do we need to leave?"

"You don't know them like I do!" I yelled with a quaver in my voice that I was trying desperately to hide.

"Maybe we don't need to leave, maybe we can stay quiet for a while." I could tell that she was panicking.

"Maybe, but I don't know how much they know, but I do know that they know where we are and that they have connections all over town and can easily find anypony that they want."

Ears flat, she paced the small room. Her ears propped up again when she heard some chatter from the opposite side of the door.

"We'll have to discuss this later though. We still have a business to run."

"Alright," I consented.

...

At dinner, I told Lily what had happened. I didn't omit anything from the story and told her all that I could remember. When I was done, she pushed away her salad and walked into the bedroom. I followed. She got under the covers and faced the wall. I did the same and Quietly whispered "'night" without a response. The rest of the night was filled with stress dreams and anxiety that repeatedly woke me.

After another attempt at sleep, I woke again. This time was different. A rough scent pierced my nostrils and I snapped awake and looked around to see flames licking up the walls and encroaching on the bed. I turned to Lily and tried to shake her awake. Nothing. I dug my head under her and lifted her onto my back and scanned the room for an escape. The door was the only exit, but fire was burning all around it. I hesitated for a couple seconds until a falling board convinced me to ram the door. The hinges snapped off and Lily slid forward and her weight pressed my face into a burning piece a carpet. I exclaimed as my fur burned away and my skin boiled. I swung Lily back up and continued passed the dining room into the main part of the store where the words "Pay-Day" were spray painted on the walls. The door was chained and the window boarded. The smoke filled my lungs and made me cough and hyperventilate. Panicked, I turned to look for another way out, but to no avail. I decided in a snap decision to try to break the window and boards. I laid Lily down in a safe spot and started pressing on the window, but it wouldn't budge. I rammed the window a couple times and only make a crack. I started feeling weaker and my vision began to fade, but I continued my efforts. The room swirled as I lost balance and fell against the window. My eyelids slid closed and everything faded into black.

"I'm sorry." I whispered as my last breath escaped my lips. And I truly was.