THE RIOTS OF BALTIMARE

SECOND VERSE

“The riots in Baltimare grew steadily worse as supplies dwindled further. The Whitegold pirates in the Gulf of Manehatten began to raid rival ships going to and from Baltimare almost indiscriminately. The ships that would have been able to carry refugees across the Sea of Harmony stopped coming for fear of pirate activity, removing any hope the refugees still had for salvation. The refugees were consumed with bitterness, and as the outrage of the citizens continued, so to did the resentment of the refugees. The riots became more frequent, and more violent, with more pony blood spilling on the streets of Baltimare, more pony souls going to Tartarus, giving in to their hate…

However, despite the large number of understandable factors contributing to the violence, the actual levels of said violence were strange when compared to historical examples in ancient pony times. Port cities with a refugee population locked in and an already present citizenry during a food crisis are not many in pony history, however what few other examples there are have riots on a far less frequent and widespread level than Baltimare did. They also tended to be less violent, even back in the fabled days before Celestia and Luna…

The main difference between the city riots of distant pony past, and the Baltimare riots of the unfortunately recent past, became painfully obvious upon a closer look at the Baltimare Riots, specifically their aftermaths. Shortly after the rioting in Baltimare turned violent, the bodies of ponies killed during riots disappeared, and sometimes rioters as well, only to appear later back on the streets. After a brief moment of examination of the known classifications of units in the Equestria Divided war, the true cause of the Baltimare riots became painfully clear. The Cult of Laughter.

The Cult of Laughter is responsible for encouraging, and perhaps even orchestrating entirely, the riots within Baltimare. The reasoning behind their manipulation of events is a simple one. Like a virus, the Cult of Laughter infects a host with the hopes of reproducing, and in the process damages or even kills the host. The riots within Baltimare filled ponies with fear and misery, and the streets with the dead. The Cult of Laughter thrived in dark times due to their immense effectiveness in luring and converting emotionally and mentally unstable ponies. The Cult was able to attract far greater quantities of ponies to their cause as Baltimare became more, and more terrifying a place to live in, and every dead pony on the streets was additional fodder for the Laughing Mare’s armies.

The notable oddity in this behavior that makes it at first seem unlikely or at least improbable is that the Cult’s influence in Baltimare was beyond immense even before the riots. The formation of the Baltimare Jesters, a sub-sect of the Cult responsible for assassinating the Cult’s enemies occured within Baltimare, and it was there still that they had their most important training temple. Baltimare was filled with churches and shrines to the Laughing Mare, hidden but very much present, and many Baltimare ponies were in fact members of the Cult before the riots. However the Cult of Laughter, despite their tactical stake in Baltimare, can be truly said to just not care what happened to the city. The Cult was after the hearts and minds of ponies, not territory, one of the major differences between it and the traitor Houses. They wouldn’t rest until every pony in every part of Equestria worshiped the Laughing Mare, alive or dead, and if an entire city had to bleed for the ponies within it to serve their beloved deity… then so be it.”

From The Scholars Notes

SPLASH!

DRIP!

SPLOSH!

The mop made streaks of soapy suds and water on the stone. The dried red of the blood began to pull up from the stone and melt into the water and soap mixture. Bubbles rose up from the suddy water as a dozen ponies wiped away at the signs of the former night’s brawl left on the bridge, the dried blood seeping into the soapy mixtures…

On both sides of the bridge small wooden barricades had been erected. Small mobile barricades, easily moved and primarily there to inform the ponies of Baltimare that official business was taking place and they were not to disturb it… The white laminated signs across the barricades with the words “RESTRICTED” printed in red upon them over and over again was a helpful hint. The large armed ponies standing behind the barricades, two to each on both sides, was another.

Ponies of the Baltimare Militia wore studded hard leather armor covering their backs and sides, with leather straps fastened tight beneath their stomachs, keeping the armor in place. Their hooves were covered with steel guards, and their heads with steel helms, their manes hidden beneath the helms. They stood strong, at attention, mostly stallions, with their hooves clutched around sharp steel spears with wooden shafts, the tips of the spears glinting in the light of the sun… The guarding militiaponies kept a watch on both sides of the street as the cleaners removed the blood from the bridge, though on the Derelict’s side it appeared unneeded… the street within The Derelict’s district was empty, not a hoof or a sound coming from it, only silence from the abandoned buildings, as though no refugee wanted to be anywhere near the bridge and the ponies guarding it…

One of the cleaning ponies on the center of the bridge was a young Earth Pony stallion, with a dull white coat, short messy black mane and shorter black tail, light brown eyes, as well as a Cutie-Mark on his flank showing a pink bar of soap with soapwater beneath it and bubbles coming up from it. He wore a white uniform upon the front-half of his body, made out of a slightly reflective and non-stick material, stopping half-way to the flank and with two sleeves going down to just above the hooves on his two front legs. The uniform stopped at the neck in a collar, no buttons, and upon the top of his head he wore what looked like a small white baseball cap, made of the same material.

He gripped the shaft of the mop in his teeth, as he plunged it down onto the stone, and wiped in big wide circles, before pulling it up off of the stone and dunking it into the large yellow rolling bucket at his side, filled with a mixture of soaps combined with water that would hopefully remove the blood… the mixture turning red as the substance it was designed to get rid of.

The pony stretched his neck up a bit, eyes closed, gritting his teeth a bit as he stretched, then letting out a sigh, rolling his head side to side, then bringing his right hoof up to his cap, removing it from his head for a moment to bring his left hoof up to wipe his brow. He turned his head as he did so, and opened his eyes, looking from where he stood across the bridge towards The Derelicts… no ponies upon the street, houses illuminated in the light of the day, dilapidated messes, ruins made up with spare scraps and pieces, nothing but ruin and oppression all around…

The young stallion continued to look at The Derelict’s for a few more moments, a soft sorrow in his eyes… then he lowered his head and sighed, closing his eyes again as he brought the hat back to his head with his right hoof, then brought his hooves down to the stone as he leaned over to his mop, and grasped it with his teeth. He pulled the mop forth once more, some soapy cleaning water splashing, as he brought the mop back down, and continued to scrub in big circles, getting the blood out of the stone as best they could… for the third time this week…

As the young stallion and the other cleaners worked, a pair of figures stood back on the street on the Citizen’s side of the city, the city proper and while aged, unruined. They stood in the middle of the street between the buildings that were nowhere near as dilapidated as those of The Derelicts, though perhaps the ponies within them soon as destitute as those in The Derelicts…

One of these ponies was a tall Pegasus mare with a dark red coat and sharp golden eyes. Although not bulky she was larger than a usual mare, more muscular than most, and definitely more intimidating, even just standing still. A brutal scar went down from the edge of her left cheek down her neck to her shoulder, and her mane and tale were a bright yellow, her mane cut short in a stripe along her head, and her tale worn thin and long. A hint of her Cutie-Mark, a steel helm bathed in a light beam, could be seen upon her flank, though partially covered by her armor.

She wore the armor of a Baltimare Militia pony, minus the helm. Then in addition to the normal armaments she wore a leather belt circling beneath her armor over the armor straps, with a leather sheathe hanging from the belt at her left side, a leather-wrapped steel handle sticking out from the sheathe, belonging to the steel long-sword that was nestled firmly within it. As an extra precaution her tail was braided down its length with small strips of brown leather, and at the very end of said tail was a small black iron ball, a little larger in width than the tail, held by the braid, a weapon ever-ready to be used…

To her right, stood an older Earth Pony stallion, thought not yet elder, with a well-groomed light grey coat, and a black mane, grown long and luxurious, with a few choice streaks of dark grey running through it. His eyes were a cold hard grey, his tail was about medium length and brushed to be as luxurious as his mane, and his Cutie Mark was that of a raven, perched on top of a small arching stone bridge. He wore a fine black dress jacket on the front-half of his body, with a high-collar turned up at the back and the jacket open. With the front open the white silken dress shirt he wore, buttoned up the front with white buttons up to a collar just above the base of his neck, shorter than the high-collar of his dress jacket. In the center of the collar was a silver pendant with an oval green gem, the pendant positioned just-so. Black silken ruffles stretched out beneath the pendant just a couple of inches, covering a small portion of the top of his white dress shirt.

Both ponies stood looking towards the bridge and the work being done upon it… The Pegasus’s brows furrowed, and the Earth Pony with a grim look upon his face, mixed with eyes that looked tiredly unsurprised. The street was mostly empty, however the occasional citizen or Militia pony passed by on the sidewalk or further up the street as they stood watching… and then black-maned Stallion spoke his voice straightforward and calm.

“My great great grandfather built that bridge. He made that bridge with his own four hooves. Mined and sculpted the stone to do it to. He worked hard on that bridge, often having to start over when he made a mistake that would ruin the whole bridge. And with constant work, trial and error, and an almost irrational attention to detail, he finally created that bridge there, that has stood there for generations. It took him over a decade to make it, and after spending all that time and all that energy on that one project do you know what he charged travelers to use the bridge for which he’d worked so hard and so long? What he charged the workers, and the guards, and the people of Baltimare to use it? Nothing. Because he’d built the bridge for the love of building, and not the profit to be gained.” Spoke the Stallion, quiet for a moment… before continuing.

“I can’t help but wonder… if he could have seen into the future, see what ponies would do upon it, upon his beloved bridge which he put so much hard work and toil into, would he have torn it down? Would he have felt that that was better than to let it be so desecrated?” Asked the stallion calmly, quietly, looking to the stone…

The Pegasus Mare besides him cleared her throat, looking down for a moment and pawing at the cobblestone with her front right hoof, before straightening up again, and speaking in a gruff, somewhat awkward, trying to be polite voice.

“Do you think that Mayor Morning Mist?” Asked the Pegasus, her right eyebrow arching slightly.

“No Captain Sun Prancer I do not.” Spoke the mayor, turning away from the bridge curtly and walking down the street calmly in a steady gait, away from the bridge, the Pegasus captain turning to follow after him at the same gait.

“I take after my great grandfather, who made a claim for the land of houses and business that rose up around aforementioned bridge in the Equestrian courts after his father’s passing and acquired the right to charge them rent.” Spoke Morning Mist calmly, continuing his calm steady gait as he spoke.

“I am a pragmatist Captain. I look at things from a practical standpoint, weighing their worth against their cost.” Stated the Mayor simply, before turning his head back to look over his shoulder towards the captain, his eyes narrowed.

“For example, I’m weighing your worth Captain against the cost of employing you. Considering that you and your militia are unable to keep the peace your employment could be considered to be wasted bits.” He spoke, agitation obvious in his voice, as the captain met his gaze with a steely-eyed look of her own.

“With all due respect Mayor Mist I haven’t received those “Bits” in over three months… and with an understaffed garrison, militiaponies who haven’t been paid either in said months, and nine injuries in the last week alone dealing with an increasingly hostile population, I think that you’re lucky to have a Militia at all much less somepony willing to be it’s Captain. Practically speaking.” Spoke Sun Prancer, not missing a beat. The mayor made a light huffing sound in response, before looking back forward down the street.

“Your point is taken Captain… and you are right. The troubles plaguing our city are so numerous and severe that a breakdown of the city government is almost assured… The city is facing the greatest crisis since its formation… And that’s just the start.” Spoke the mayor, eyes still narrowed as he walked down the street.

“A letter from our Rebel allies arrived in my office this morning captain. It stated that we would have to forgive them for not sending us the promised aid package, primarily because the ponies who were going to deliver it were killed, and the package was stolen.” Spoke the mayor bluntly, Sun Prancer’s brows furrowing as the Mayor continued.

“Every chest of bits, every barrel of food, every blanket and every last scrap of lumber… all gone. The rebels suspect bandits due to the evidence of low-quality clubs and hatchets having been used. However the aid package was stored next to a counting house at the time of the theft, which still had a great deal of bits within that required sorting. That resources appears to have been left untouched, even though said counting house was relatively unguarded, and the supplies were taken so quietly, the ponies lives ended so effectively, that nopony knew what had happened until a day later.” Spoke the mayor, a dry tone entering his voice.

“To take our relief and leave a counting house untouched, slip in as quiet as the night itself, and leave with every scrap without being caught, that doesn’t sound like the work of bandits…”

“No. It sounds like House Whitegold.” Stated Captain Sun Prancer, firmly, with no hesitation or doubt in her voice. The mayor nodded calmly, still looking ahead as he spoke once more.

“It matches their methods. Denying us resources to force reliance on them is an old trick of theirs by now, and the timing is too coincidental. Without that shipment we won’t be able to meet the minimum debt payments to the House this month. They’ll have the right to claim our ports, and if we refuse to hand them over, they’ll have a very legitimate reason to attack… Based on business and not militaristic expansion. Easily justified to the other Houses and unlikely to harm their trade relations…” Spoke Morning Mist, before lowering his head and sighing out in aggravation.

As the Mayor lifted his head back up again he stopped short, blinking in surprise as a spinning pink Frisbee passed in front of his eyes. A little Unicorn colt with a light blue coat, dark blue mane and tail, golden eyes, and blank flank, passed in front of him, seemingly not even noticing the mayor giggling excitedly as he galloped forward on his little legs after the Frisbee. Right on his heels was a little Pegasus filly with a pink coat, bright red mane and tale, green eyes, and blank flank of her own, laughing lightly as she ran after him, or possibly after the Frisbee.

The little colt turned his head, puffing up his cheeks, his horn glowing a light gold for a moment. A tiny gold aura formed around the little filly’s front-left hoof for a moment and the little filly tripped falling to the cobblestone with an “Oomph!”

The filly got back up, tiny golden circle around her hoof gone as she shook herself off and some dirt out of her mane. Even as she stood, the colt reached the Frisbee, leaning down to grip it in his mouth and pulling it up, jumping up and down excitedly with the Frisbee in his mouth.

“I gwot et, I gwot et!” He shouted excitedly his mouth around the Frisbee, as the filly looked after him with wide eyes and a wide mouth, shocked and appalled, before shouting out.

“Hey! No fair! You tripped me!” Running forward towards him as the colt shook his head.

“Dwid nwot!”

“Did to!” Shouted the filly reaching him.

“Dwid nwot!”

“Did to you cheater! Give it back!”

“Nwo!” Replied the colt, shaking his head and turning to run down the sidewalk, away from the bridge towards the corner, attempting to keep the ill-gotten Frisbee.

“Hey! Come back! Give it back!” Shouted the filly, running after the colt as he rounded the street corner, in front of a militiapony, the filly hot on his heels as the militiapony stood there, letting himself have a slight smile beneath a pair of tired eyes, before looking hard and official once more.

The Mayor and the Captain both stood in the street for a few moments longer, looking after where the children had gone, the Mayor with a tired look on his face, and the Captain with a… saddened one… her eyes narrowed lightly and head bowed slightly, her entire figure seeming to droop somewhat.

“… It appears even our foals are not free from conflict.” Spoke the Mayor simply, continuing to watch that one little spot as he spoke in a tired, even exhausted voice.

“I’ve often wondered if the practical thing to do in this situation would be to hand over Baltimare to Whitegold. Just let them take over as they desire. They have the money, the connections, the resources, and the arms to keep bleeding us dry, or even take our home directly if they so choose…” Spoke the Mayor, closing his eyes.

“… But I know how they treat those in their own city. The impoverished there are as bad off as those here, perhaps worse… They would not save this city. They’d simply find another way to exploit it… And the ponies who live here would just be tools for their use.” Spoke the Mayor, before bringing his head back up, eyes opened in a glare.

“And they don’t even have the decency to claim otherwise… Damn them to Tartarus.” Spoke the Mayor harshly, before stepping back into his slow gait down the street, Captain Sun Prancer blinking, then shaking off the gloom that seemed to have settled on her, refocusing her eyes, looking to the Mayor and following his hoofsteps, as he continued to speak, his voice bitter.

“Unfortunately I do not have the luxury of treating the enemies of our city as such. I have to look them in the eyes and ask them for handouts. The amused looks in their eyes, the condescending tones… the arrogant backstabbers they send never fail to fill me with rage…” Muttered the Mayor, narrowing his eyes once more.

“A new one is coming though. A representative of Manehatten’s Merchant District and that bit-snatching mule Diamond Tiara. One of the House’s nobility, a Lady Glitterstone.” Spoke the mayor, spitting out the name as though it was a poison.

“The rumors surrounding her are unwholesome to say the least… She’s known for being a ruthless businesspony as decadent as she is rich, and she’s coming here to discuss our debt to her House and renegotiate our payment plan. I’ve had to call an emergency meeting of the City Council to receive her, seeing as she’s arriving this afternoon.” Spoke the Mayor as they reached the end of the street, the Baltimare militaponies keeping a watch at the corners.

Captain Sun Prancer stopped short, falling back behind the Morning Mist as she was informed of this event, eyes going wide and an angry curve gathering at her brow.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this?! We have to arrange security measures fo-” She started to speak, before the Mayor cut her off curtly.

“No you won’t Captain.” Spoke the Mayor, turning his hard gaze to meet Sunprancer’s angered one.

“The Lady Glitterstone didn’t deign to inform us of her arrival until this morning. Her stated reason was to reduce the risk of attempted rebel assassinations. Realizing that Baltimare is going through hard times, and not wishing to be a burden upon our Militia, she has taken the liberty of bringing her own security… And hopes we won’t mind if they occupy the safehouses set aside for Whitegold visitors, as negotiated in previous contracts.” Spoke the mayor, a sarcastic bitter tone to his voice as he looked into the captain’s eyes. The captain’s eyes went from anger to realization, and then a cold hard gaze graced her features, her expression turning grim.

“They’re going to occupy the city.” She spoke, making a statement of fact as she looked to the mayor.

“Yes, they are. And if they choose to attempt a takeover, our Militia will not be able to stop them in its current state. It’s highly probable that many of our beloved militiaponies would join them.” Spoke Morning Mist, a dry tone to his voice.

“However House Whitegold despises direct confrontation, and they have a comparatively small army with which to enforce their claim. On top of that they are still in conflict with various Diamond Dog tribes for control of their gem mines. They won’t risk an attack on the city unless they’re certain they can take it with minimal losses. They’ll resort to their more familiar tactics of trickery, bargaining, bribery, blackmail, and outright extortion, to take Baltimare.” Continued the mayor, before turning back to look across the street, the sound of quickly pounding hooves and rolling wheels against the cobblestone starting to sound from down the street around the corner.

“First they’ll attempt to force the hooves of the Council into passing a bill that declares Baltimare a vassal-city of Whitegold, using the aforementioned tactics and the simple fact that we are indebted to them. During this process, Whitegold will attempt to bribe me, blackmail me, or extort me, into signing the Bill into law. And when that fails, they’ll simply assassinate me before I can veto it. Without my signature they’ll have to wait three months for it to become law, but it will become so…” He spoke dryly, as a carriage rounded the corner.

The carriage was pulled by two Baltimare militiaponies, strong stallion Earth Ponies, one to the left with a dark brown coat, blue eyes and short white tail, and one to the right with a soft blue coat, magenta eyes, and short black tail. The carriage came screeching to a halt as the ponies stopped short in front of the mayor and stood, calmly, at attention, waiting for Mayor Morning Mist to mount the carriage.

The carriage itself was made from a dark wood, and crafted to be sturdy and durable while slightly artistic, with some carvings of, ships, ravens, and the stone bridge of Baltimare on each side. It was open at the front and top with a seat cushioned by green cushions, the four wheels of the carriage reinforced with steel studs, and the militiapony harnesses made from a mixture of arching wood, boards back to the carriage, and studded leather reins.

The mayor calmly leapt up onto the padded seating of the carriage, turning to look forward and taking a seat on the cushioning, before speaking calmly once more his voice still dry.

“I’ll be in my office in the Council Hall should you have need of me Captain. Later tonight after the Council Session ends I will be in my mansion, awaiting the machinations of the Lady Glitterstone.” He spoke simply, before turning his head back down to look towards Sun Prancer.

“I trust that in the meantime you’ll make things as difficult for Whitegold as possible, without causing a scene preferably… and take careful note of who you trust Captain. Ponies become very open to suggestion when bits are shoved in front of their noses…” He looking with meaning into Sun Prancer’s eyes… before looking forward to the stallions in front of his carriage, and giving them a nod of his head.

The militiapony stallions began to gallop at the nod, pulling the carriage away and the Mayor with it, down the street, around the other corner, and out of sight…

Sun Prancer stood there, in the street for a few moments just looking where the carriage had disappeared from. Before lowering her head and sighing, closing her eyes…

“Trust… Yeah. Cause there’s got to somepony left in this town who wouldn’t lynch me for ten bits and a bite from a sandwich… Or maybe just the sandwich…” She muttered, sarcasm mixing with tired aggravation… Then something twitched at the back of her skull, in the shadows of her mind, like an itch she’d never be able to reach.

She snapped her head up quickly, eyes going wide, before narrowing, and sharply moving all across the buildings and over the street, searching rapidly for something, something that she knew she’d find. Her eyes came to a stop as they reached the opening of an alleyway between a pair of houses, a little down the opposite street from her… She leaned forward a bit, peering deep into the shadows of the alley… And then something seemed to move in the shadow, a shrouded figure turned, cloth from a cape or cloak fluttering into the light of the street, a hint of red, before the figure vanished into the alleyway.

Sun Prancer gritted her teeth, growling in her throat, and then drew her head back, raising herself up and turning her gaze sharply to the nearest Militiapony.

“You!” She spoke, addressing the surprised pony who quickly stood to attention.

“Go to the bridge and tell the cleaning crew to wrap it up, quickly! I want them off the bridge within the next ten minutes!” She spoke, and the militiapony nodded quickly, turning, and bringing his spear up to his mouth, clenching it in-between his teeth as he galloped quickly over towards the bridge.

“And you!” Spoke Sun Prancer, turning her gaze to the militapony opposite of him, standing at attention.

“Go back to the barracks and tell the Lieutenant that I’ll need a roster of all active Militia squads and their patrol schedules drawn up and ready for me upon arrival! Quickly!” She spoke, and the second militiapony nodded, brought his spear up to his teeth as well and quickly began to gallop away, around the corner and down a street, disappearing from Sun Prancer’s sight…

She waited a few moments as the audible galloping of steel hooves against cobblestone faded… And then turned her eyes glaring to the alleyway where she’d seen the figure disappear into. She growled low, a look of rage in her eyes as she spread her wings, and with a couple of flaps rose into the air, before darting through the street, and into the alleyway…

…

Sun Prancer’s steel-clad hooves touched the dirt and grime of the cobblestones upon the alleyway. She tucked her wings to her sides, eyes glaring ahead into the shadows. She walked forward keeping a steady gate as she moved down the long stretch of alleyway that ran behind several houses, dirt and grime covering the cobblestones…

She kept her slow steady gait up as she moved down the alleyway, the houses on either side shielding the alley from the rays of the still rising sun, casting shadows from the houses, darkening sections where the light from the streets didn’t funnel in…

Sun Prancer breathed in deep and out lightly, keeping her gait steady as the feeling at the back of her skull, scratching behind her mind increased… She moved her eyes rapidly all over the alleyway, her breathing getting faster, sweat beginning to form on her brows, eyes zipping all over the dark and-

She squeezed her eyes shut, taking a deep breathe in, and slowly breathed out again, then took another deep breathe in… She calmed her heart down, calmed her body down, and whispered softly to herself.

“Keep it together Sun Prancer. You’re a captain damnit. Act like one.” She muttered, before shaking her head slightly, and opening her eyes once more… And then blinking, and narrowing her eyes as she saw what might have been a glint in the darkened shadow of a boarded up building.

WHOOSH!

Sun Prancer’s eyes snapped open and she leapt back, opening her wings and flapping backwards as a chain snapped through the air, attached to a large flying steel double-bladed axe head with a spike sticking out from the top, the blade slamming down into the ground where Sun Prancer had been standing with a-

CHINK!!!

The axehead lodging itself in the cobblestone… Sun Prancer flew backwards into the alleyway, landing on her hooves and bringing her body low to the ground, ready to pounce, looking to the axehead and chain, and the figure that emerged from the shadows behind them…

Thud, thud, thud, thud…

The heavy hoofbeats of a large pony could be heard, each step making an audible thud against the cobblestone ad the figure at the end of the chain emerged from the shadows, walking into the sunlight, long steel chain gone slack, clasped in his mouth between the teeth, his happy, grinning mouth…

The pony was a huge, muscular stallion… with a shabby, raggedy bright yellow coat, and a short-cut bright orange mane that looked as though it had been hacked at with the scissors, and could serve as a small rat’s nest if the rats were willing to lower their standards. His bright orange tail had been cut into a tiny little tuft on his flank, and just as hastily and clumsily as his mane. His mouth was grinning wide with big powerful teeth, drool dripping over his pearly whites and onto the steel chain, then down over his bottom lip and chin, before falling in little droplets of drool and spittle onto the ground.

Like Sun Prancer the figure had a scar, one that sliced down over his left eye-socket, ugly and vicious to look at. The eye in that socket, a bright blue orb, appeared to be fine save for some red tendrils spreading out in the whites of the eye around the iris. The eye in his right socket on the other hoof was a bright green with no sign of red within it.

Another scar that graced his features was upon his forehead. An ugly mass of scar tissue bloated and jagged, as though something had been viciously and ruthlessly cut from the spot the marks of the event still evident. Then, upon his flank, what could be seen of it, was a complete lack of a Cutie-Mark… instead, a patch of dark-green coat looked to have been sewn onto his flank, over where his Cutie-Mark should have been. Other scars were smaller and on his body proper and legs, just here and there, cuts and nicks from who knew how many battles.

He wore what looked like a rough red cloth upon his neck, going up to below his chin, and down to his body, where a brown hard leather covering, with steel plates sewn along the top and a red rimming around the bottom of the leather covering, went all the way along the top half of his body back to his flank, the tip of his tail just barely sticking out beneath it. The hard-leather cover bent down further near the front-half of his body to cover the tops of the pony’s legs, and a poofy red cloth circled around the tops of the legs, over the leather. A hardened white cloth, stitched together along the sides with clear seems running down, went down from the poofy red cloth to just above the pony’s hooves, where it stopped with a red lining running around it’s bottom for each leg.

Aside from the lack of a hood he was dressed as one of the Cult of Laughter’s Revelers, with a much longer chain than the majority of them used… and from the grin on his face, the glint in his eyes, the drool running down his chin, and the chain clutched between his teeth, he was very much looking forward to doing some reveling.

Sun Prancer gritted her teeth as she looked with rage into the mad pony’s eyes… the itching at the back of her head got worse. She shook it off, and then lowered her head further, growling audibly as she turned her head to the handle of her sword, and gripped it with her teeth.

CRACK!!!

The sound of the axe tearing up from the cobblestone filled the air as the Reveler whipped his head back, pulling the axe loose in a shower of stone and dust, before whipping his head around and sending the chain in an arch through the air towards Sun Prancer.

SCHLIK!

The sword left Sun Prancer’s scabbard, clutched in her teeth as her wings opened up and flapped hard, pushing a gust of air against the stone, kicking up dust as she took off, up above the chain as it passed by beneath her, axe-blades glinting viciously as they shot through the air.

Sun Prancer lifted herself up on another powerful flap, and then turned in the air and with another mighty flap of her wings, shot herself towards the Reveler. The Reveler pulled back quickly on his chain, stepping back as he did so, the chain flying back hard towards him.

Sun Prancer’s eyes widened as she judged the speeds and distances of herself and the chain by instinct alone, and quickly flipped back and spread her wings, breaking her momentum just as the axe-head passed underneath her once more, the Reveler rising up to his hind legs, mouth opening, and catching the chain by his teeth once more, just beneath the axe-blade…

He hit the ground again with a thud as he brought his hooves back to the ground, and Sun Prancer, growling around her sword in frustration, turned her body back down to face towards the Reveler, and moved down towards him, striking at him with her sword from the air.

CHIK!

Sparks flew as metal met metal, the Reveler blocking the strike with the axe-head, held taught and firm against the strike by the chain in his mouth. He backed up, as Sun Prancer, eyes narrowed and enraged, struck down again towards the Reveler, again and again, pushing himself back into the shadow that he’d hidden in from the start.

CLINK!

The sparks near the end of the shadow.

CLASH!

The Reveler still backing up, Sun Prancer in the air.

CHANG!

Near the center of the shadow, another swipe and another blocked strike.

CHIK!

A top strike down barely blocked by the Reveler, forcing him back further.

TING!

A strike near the other end of the shadow, blocked by the Reveler, forced to stand on his hind legs.

WHAM!

The Reveler stumbled back out of the shadow on his hind legs, nose bursting out blood, as he fell onto his back in the alleyway, hitting the ground with a heavy-

THUD

Dust rising up from around his massive form as Sun Prancer flew out of the shadow, sword in mouth, blood dripping from the iron ball at the end of her tail…

The Reveler started to sit back up, but Sun Prancer flew down hard into his chest, forcing him back down and knocking the air out of the Reveler with an-

“Oomph!” Sounding from his body. Sun Prancer brought her blade down to the Reveler’s neck, the mad pony still grinning wide, looking at her with excitement in his eyes, as though the fact that he was the one on the ground with a bleeding, probably broken nose didn’t make this any less fun for him.

Sun Prancer narrowed her eyes and crinkled her nose. His smell was atrocious, his unwashed form stank to the clouds. And he made the scratching at the back of her head worse, much worse, and he was so repugnant, it all made her so angry!

She growled around the handle of her sword, and turned her head, the point of her sword gleaming as it rose up towards the rising sun, and her eyes flashing as she snapped her head back, bringing the sword singing down to-

ZAP!

Sun Prancer flew off of the Reveler’s body as a bolt of pink energy struck her, sword flying form her mouth and clattering onto the cobblestones of the alley. She hit the alleyway on her back, wings spread, and blinked her eyes, dazed, as she started to roll over onto her hooves.

WHOOM!

Suddenly she felt herself lifted into the air, blinking, turning her head rapidly trying to her move her hooves and failing, trying to flap her wings but her wings held in place, her entire body engulfed in pink energy…

“Awwwww, now why are you two playing so rough? After all, Heheheheh, we’re all part of the same family…” Came the low voice of a young stallion as hoofbeats sounded against the cobblestones, and a pony came into view from out of a shadow Sun Prancer hadn’t even seen before… A shadow that wasn’t there anymore as the pony moved closer grinning wide…

The pony was thin and lanky, almost skeletal, with a shabby coat colored a pale deathly blue. His eyes were a bright, intense pink, and his mane was a wispy long white, hanging down long past his head and down his neck in an unkempt, overgrown mess of long hanging strands. His tail was about medium in length, thin, and as shabbily and messily kept as his mane. There were however far more interesting physical characteristics of the pony than his lack of hygiene which very much stood out against the norm…

One such characteristic was the long, brutal slits in his cheeks, cut open from either side of the mouth, giving him a brutal and ugly permanent smile, the coat peeling back a bit to show flesh around the slits. These slits had been crudely sewn up with what looked like tiny leather strips, crisscrossing down the lengths of the slits, pulling them together as they looped through the skin, the strips stretching to accommodate the jaw whenever the pony spoke or changed expressions…

Another noticeable characteristic was the presence of a bright pink horn, jutting out of his head with a sharp pointed end, completely mismatched against his coat, glowing a light pink as he used his magic. Red scars snaked from the horn around his head, going only a few centimeters out from it, like tiny little veins sprouting from the spot, with a circle of red scarring immediately around the horn, slightly inflamed up against the bright pink Unicorn horn…

A final characteristic that drew stares and comments and whispers, was the Cutie-Mark upon his flank, the one that told his true self according to all known legend. His Cutie-Mark consisted of a red and white jester hat with three bells at the end of three protrusions from the hat, and a white smile beneath it… The symbol of the Cult of Laughter, emblazoned there upon his flank for everypony to see…

The young starved stallion wore a simple red and white patched cloak… The cloak was made from sturdy tarp-like cloth pieces, roughly stitched together with needle and thread. It covered the top of his body and some of the sides down to a bit past the flank, occasionally covering and revealing his Cutie-Mark as it shifted. The cloak was made up of one big white cloth square at the upper-left, one big red cloth square at the upper-right, one big red cloth square at the lower-left, and one-big white-cloth square at the lower-right. All stitched together into one big cloak covering his body, with a small red hood stitched into the cloak near the neck from rough cloth, not pulled up, with several strands of his mane falling about it.

The figure continued to walk forward with a slow steady gait, his hooves tapping against the cobblestone lightly as he moved.

“The Laughing Mare calls to each of us, in her own, heheheheh, special way…” He spoke, grinning, before lowering his head and coughing lightly, his body stumbling forward a bit, before he raised his head again, grinning wide with his ugly grin, the leather threads across his cheek-slits stretching as he moved.

“And siblings shouldn’t, hahah, fight, no matter how fun, heheheheh, it might be…” Spoke the macabre figure, a spark in his eyes as he stopped next to the Reveler, who slowly pulled himself up to his four hooves.

“Isn’t that right, Peppy?” Asked the pony innocently, turning his gaze over to the Reveler.

The Reveler, opened his mouth, letting the chain drop out, panting hard with the blood spilling down from his nose, and over his lips, mixing mucus and blood with his saliva as he breathed, eyes wide and wild.

“Oooohhh…I can never stay mad at you Peppy, heheheh, but you simply must learn a little restraint one of these days, hahahahah…” Spoke the figure, reaching up with an affectionate hoof to Peppy’s hair, rubbing the orange would-be rat’s nest with his hoof, Peppy lowering himself and giggling lightly, tongue hanging out of his lips, happy for the attention… The thin pony turned his attention back up to the floating captain, Sun Prancer with her eyes glaring, sweat on her brow, a lump in her throat, and her lips shut tight. The feeling at the back of her mind, the scratching, the itching, was getting worse and worse, it was practically unbearable, and she hated that he was the one causing it, that out of all of them it had to be HIM who was here and doing this to her! Her greatest source of shame…

The figure lowered his hoof back down from Peppy’s mane onto the ground, looking up to Sun Prancer with a wide smile and a spark in his eyes.

“My dear, dear Sun Prancer… it’s been a little while…” He spoke, and then pitched forward slightly, coughing and hacking, his body shaking as he wheezed… … He stopped coughing and just stood there for a few moments, head hanging down, messy mane hanging all about, obscuring his features as he breathed in and out heavily, chest rising noticeably with each intake and outtake of breathe… and then… he chuckled.

“Heheheheheh…” the sound was soft, his shoulders starting to shake lightly as he chuckled… and then he began to laugh, his shoulders shaking harder as he flung his head up, eyes wide and bright, his mouth stretching wide in an expression of joy.

“Hahahahahaha!!! Hahahahaha! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” He laughed out, and then lowered his head again for a few more moments, taking in deep breathes… then slowly raising his head up to look to Sun Prancer again, a glint in his eyes. The aura around Sun Prancer dissipated suddenly, and she fell to the ground, hitting it on all hooves, ready to move… but unable to. Her body wouldn’t respond, and she looked down into the eyes of the unnaturally famished creature in front of her, as he leaned up with a grin, inches away from her face, and looked into her eyes, his own bright pink orbs seeming to glow from the energy that dwelled inside of them…

“And we my dear, heheheheh… have a LOT of catching up to do…” He spoke, chuckling softly once more, horn glowing brighter… as Sun Prancer felt her heart drop to the pit of her stomach and-

FLASH!!!

… And the sun rose up higher in the sky… shining it’s light down into an alleyway, clearing out the shadows, showing a bit of blood and drool, a crack in the cobblestone where it had been ripped up, and three slightly smoking spots on the cobblestone, where three ponies had been standing… now just black marks in the stone, to show they were ever there at all…

Author's Note

I actually have no idea if anypony else sees this. Maybe it's meant for just me... I'll have to check on that. In any event, I hope this came out alright, and that it doth entertain appropriately.