Chapter 1: "Bad Luck" Hide
“Cutie marks are the ultimate expression of a pony’s true self, and place in life,” lectured Princess Twilight Sparkle. She looked around the classroom, trying to gauge the students interest. The usual culprits in the back were off in their won little world, but at least the front few rows seemed interested.
“As you know, once a pony has discovered their cutie mark, it is permanently marked on their flank for all to see so that society can better understand that pony’s favorite activities, goals, and specialties. Take my childhood friend Rainbow Dash, for example," Twilight continued, hoping to stir a little interest by bringing up "The coolest and fastest stunt flyer in Equestria."
A few pegasi ears perked up.
Her cutie mark includes many different elements. First, the ever famous lightning bolt: this symbolizes her love for speed and her goal to join the prestigious stunt flying group, the Wonderbolts. Second, we have the rainbow coloring of said lightning bolt: this is representative of her wild rainbow colored mane and tail, and her job as a weather control pegasus for Ponyville. And finally we have the cloud, which once again represents her job as a weather Pegasus, as well as her personality, which anypony who knows her can tell you, definitely resembles the wild thunderstorm,”
“That explains all the trouble Hide gets in huh?” snickered Sapphire Tiara, hoof-bumping Golden Sheen. Sapphire Tiara's family had ahistory of being one of the richest, and snobbiest, in ponyville. Sheen was one of Sapphire’s cronies, who followed her around. She almost a mirror of her mother Silver Spoon who had played accomplice Sapphire's mother's similarly snide comments.
Hide, a small blue and green earth pony colt, looked down ashamed. It was true that he had an uncommon amount of bad luck, which went hand in hand with his cutie mark, a broken horseshoe.
“Oh, shut up Sapphire, Hide is a better pony than you will ever be” replied Lucky Chance.
Chance was the daughter of Shining Armor and Princess Cadence, a stunning white unicorn with a golden mane. Members of the Nobility had made remarks about how she ought-not be associating with somepony as far below her station as Hide, but she just stuck out her tongue and told them to mind their own business.
Chance tossed her eraser, grinning as it sailed through the air, expertly, hitting the offending filly directly on the snout.
“HOW DARE YOU!” shouted the irate filly, her horn glowing with a hint of unicorn magic.
“Children please! Classmates shouldn’t fight like this!” Twilight pleaded. It took every bit of her own willpower not to blow up at Sapphire Tiara, however. "A teacher should never let her own experiences or emotions affect how she deals with her class," she had read in one of the manuals on teaching she had studied before taking the position as Ponyville's sole educator.
Sapphire Tiara wasn’t listening however and furrowed her brow in concentration as she lifted the eraser in an attempt to shoot it back. Her horn began to spark however and she was thrown out of her seat in a flash of failed spellcraft. The ceiling groaned, attempting to hold itself up, but the stress was too great, and a section of ceiling broke off, plummeting down towards Hide, who could only look on, frozen in fear.
“NO!” shouted the teacher, her horn pulsing with power. The falling chunk of ceiling stopped in place, suspended by a purple aura. In a small flash, the piece vaporized and the ceiling stabilized itself.
A brief sigh of relief rose from the classroom, but it was drowned out by the roar of thunder from the storm that had brewing all morning. Rain started pouring through the hole in the ceiling. The unlucky colt was drenched by the time Twilight had sealed the leak. Once rain stopped, the stunned silence was broken by one of the ponies in the back row.
“Bad Luck Hide got soaked!” they taunted, causing the whole class to erupt in laughter. “Bad luck! Bad luck!” jeered the class in chorus.
“Shut up! Why can’t y’all leave me alone?” cried Hide, getting up so quickly that he threw his desk to the floor. Hide blushed a bright purple and galloped out of the classroom, knocking a few more tables over in the process.
“Children! For Celestia’s sake, what has gotten into you?” berated Twilight, barely holding back her temper. “Why would you ever treat somepony like that?”
Twilight made a mental note to seek out Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon and give them a stern lecture on how they should not let their children behave in the same fashion they had as foals.
“He’s asking for it, always messing things up like that,” replied Sapphire Tiara, still trying to stifle a giggle.
“You all should be ashamed, that colt goes through things that would give you nightmares, and he goes through them every day!" Twilight ranted. "And speaking of nightmares, I'm going to have a word with your mothers, let them decide your punishment!"
At this, both ponies paled and curled defensively in their seats, swallowing audibly.
“Miss Sparkle, may I be excused?” asked Lucky Chance, with a concerned look on her face.
“Yes my little filly, go find your friend.” Twilight replied with a look of understanding.
Lucky Chance got out of her seat, galloping after her friend, her horn glowing as she righted all of the tables that Hide had knocked over.
“Hide!” Chance gasped, “Wait up!” Chance came galloping up, barely fazed by the entrance to the, still menacing, Everfree forest.
“Don’t follow me!” sulked the Earth Pony. “Ah'm gunna run away!”
“Why?” replied Chance, concerned, as she fell in step next to her closest friend.
“Ah'm tired'a bein' made fun of by everypony else.” Hide replied.
“But what about the Apple family? They love you, and they need your help with the harvest!” countered Chance. "Are you really going to leave Applebloom just like that?
Hide was an adopted pony. He had never met or seen his parents, and indeed, the only pony around with a similar pattern was the old zebra shaman, Zecora. Besides the stripes, however, he displayed no other zebra characteristics. He had been abandoned in the orchards of Sweet Apple Acres when he was very young. Applebloom found him trying to reach a relatively low lying apple, which promptly fell on him, hitting him in the forehead and causing a bout of tears. She took him back to the house and, after weeks of trying to find his parents, decided to adopt him as her own child.
Life with the Apple family was full of hard work,which would have been no trouble if it had not been compounded by Hide’s penchant for accidents. The colt’s bad luck caused many accidents, but he was rarely seriously hurt. Aunt Applejack named him Hide because nothing ever seemed to get through his thick skin.
The two friends walked for a little while in silence. Chance couldn’t think of any way to break the mood, so she resigned herself to watching for dangerous beasts. Even after Princess Twilight and her friends banished most of the darkness in the Everfree forest, some of the violent creatures were still spotted every so often.
“Ah jus' cause problems for them too! Yesterday Ah bucked a tree, and instead'a apples, a beehive fell down… “ Hide finally replied, breaking the silence. “Ah'm tired'a bein' made fun of, Ah'm tired'a bein' avoided all the time, and most of all, Ah'm sick-n-tired of all of this bad-”
As if predicting what he would say next, the forest floor collapsed under him, sending him tumbling into the darkness.
Chapter 2: Applebloom in a Panic.
Twilight groaned as she trudged through the door of her favorite pub. It had been a long and frustrating argument With Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon over an acceptable punishment for their daughters, and she wasn’t proud of the fact that she had to use the Royal Canterlot voice to get the two to finally see that it was no trivial matter that their daughters almost seriously injured a classmate. Even if it had been an accident, it was not acceptable for the two to get off with a light scolding and a stern look.
The Fox and The Hound was one of the more laid-back bars in town and offered a quiet and comfortable atmosphere for mares and stallions to relax after a long day of working.
Twilight scanned the bar and finally found the ponies she was looking for.
“Hey guys,” she sighed as she shambled over to a table occupied by a shy yellow Pegasus and a large red stallion.
Big Macintosh and Fluttershy had been married for a couple of years, and in all honesty, it had just made so much sense that no one had been surprised. A night with them offered the calm relaxed atmosphere that Twilight needed after a long day herding the over energetic foals of Ponyville.
“Even’n Miss Twilight” Replied Big Mac, taking a sip of his ale. “Been a long day?”
“If you want to talk about it, I don’t mind listening… but you don’t have to if you don’t want to…” said Fluttershy, her statement getting quieter and quieter as her nervousness took over.
“Sapphire Tiara bullying Hide again,” Twilight began with an exasperated sigh. “Things went a little overboard and he almost got hurt.”
“Oh no!” gasped Fluttershy, “Is he ok?”
“Yeah, everything is intact but his pride, a piece of the ceiling was dislodged when Sapphire attempted to use magic to throw an eraser back at my niece. Luckily, I caught the rocks, and all that got hide was a bit of rain from that shower,” Twilight explained, taking the drink that the bartender handed her. She came to The Fox and The Hound often enough that the tenders knew exactly what she wanted.
“Those two!”growled Big Mac in one of his rare moments of anger. “Somepony aught’ta give them a lickin’.”
“I talked to Diamond and Silver, but it was everything I could do just to get them to realize that this wasn’t just a harmless accident.” Twilight replied.
The three friends sat in a comfortable silence for a little while drinking and contemplating the situation.
“How’s he doing Mac?” Twilight said, breaking the silence. “He ran out of my class crying.”
“Ah’ was out in the far orchard most of the day, Ah’ never saw’m get home. Ah’m sure he’s in the barn hidin’ from his lil’ friend.” Mac replied, “What about your lil’ niece? If Ah’ know her, she followed him out. Sure glad that boy got ‘imself a good friend like that.”
“Yeah, she’s good for the colt, that’s for sure, but I hope she doesn’t break his heart someday,” Twilight commented wistfully.
The three friends chatted about this and that for a while. Big Mac complained about the bee stings he had gotten the day before. Fluttershy whispered about wanting a foal of her own, which made the two girls giggle while Mac attempted to hide his massive self out of embarrassment. Everything showed signs of it being another relaxing evening, until the heard the doors swing violently open.
“TWILIGHT!” Applebloom shouted in relief after seeing the purple alicorn over the top of one of the booths, “Have you seen mah’ colt? He never came home from school t’day.”
A look of worry began to creep over her face as the three ponies at the table adopted a look of confusion and then shock.
“He never came home?” Twilight replied finally, “He ran out of my class around midday!” A look of panic seized the alicorns features, “Have you seen my niece? I just assumed she was at Sweet Apple Acres!”
“Neither a’ them are there… Ah’ checked everywhere: the house, the barn, the pond, and all of the orchards,” replied the yellow mare, stomping her hooves in agitation.
“We gotta split up,” Big Mac decided, stepping away from the table and dropping a couple bits to pay for the drinks. “Ah’ll check their usual hangouts. Twilight, you’n Bloom ask around town, see if anypony’s seen ‘em. Shy,” he turned to his wife,
“Can you go find Rainbow Dash? We could use ‘er help lookin’.”
“Understood,” confirmed Twilight, grabbing the panicking Mare and pushing her towards the door. “Meet back at the library once you’ve either found them, or ran out of places to look,” she finished, following Applebloom out.
It was dark by the time Applebloom could force herself to meet the others at the library. She was exhausted from running around town, hoarse from calling out, and worst of all, she hadn’t found anything.
“Mah’ Big Brother’s probably found them already,” she kept telling herself, though it hardly helped.
But what if he hadn’t? She may not have given birth to him, but he was still her foal! No one but the doctor knew the he would probably be the only one she had… But that didn’t matter, She would find her Colt no matter what it took, and she would not sleep until she did.
Applebloom trotted into the library, tired but hopeful. Her brother and sister were whispering worriedly, Twilight was furiously tearing through about something called “Scrying” whatever that meant, Fluttershy was sitting in the corner, looking as worried as Bloom felt, and Rarity and Sweetie Belle were sitting awkwardly, trying their best to mask the concern on their faces.
“Anypony got any news?” Applebloom asked, though she already knew the answer.
“I’m sorry Sugarcube” Applejack replied, resting her head on her little sister’s, “The only people left to come back are Pinkie, Rainbow, and Scootaloo.
“We’re here…” came a sad voice from the doorway. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie stepped into the room sullenly. All of the frizz was gone from pinkies mane and tail, and that was all they needed to say about the success of their search.
“Well then what’m Ah’ doin’ here?!” Shouted Applebloom, a little more angrily than she had meant to. “Ah’ gotta get out there’n find my colt!”
Before she could push her way out the door however, she felt two strong pairs of hooves pull her back.
“I’m sorry Sugarcube, but it’s too dangerous to be running around at night,” explained Applejack, holding her sister down as she struggled to bolt out of the door.
“Lemme go! Ah’ve gotta find ‘im, Ah don’t care if it’s dangerous!” Applebloom said, struggling even harder.
“He may be accident prone, but he’s a strong kid Bloom.” Big Mac replied holding on to his sister, “He’ll be alright for one night alone.”
When Applebloom tried to buck them off of her, Mac slammed his forehead into hers. “Now listen here Bloom, Ah’m not about to let you get lost or hurt trying to find him in the dark! We don’t even know where to start lookin’!”
Big Mac turned towards the rest of the group and put on his most serious face.
“Ah’d like to thank everypony fer lookin’ fer mah’ little nephew. If y’all wanna help us keep lookin’, come to the town center in the morn’n and we’ll start over. No use gettin’ anypony hurt in the dark.”
Slowly, the crowd made their way out of the library and back to their respective houses. Each one had a little bit of encouragement for Applebloom, but she barely even heard them. She couldn’t believe it, how could they give up? She understood what her brother had said, and on some level, it made sense, but she couldn’t give up, she had to find her colt!
Big Mac slipped off with his wife, and Applejack left soon after, but not before making Sweetie belle Pinkie Promise to stay with Applebloom until she got home
Finally, it was only Applebloom, Twilight, and Sweetie Belle left in the library. After the two thanked the alicorn and said their goodbye’s, they stepped out the door and started to head towards Sweet Apple Acres.
“Wait guys!!” came a familiar voice, “Also, LOOK OOUUUT!”
Before the two could turn around, an orange Pegasus on a scooter smashed into them, sending the whole group tumbling in a flurry of hooves.
“Oh no, oh no, are you two ok?” Scootaloo asked worriedly as she extracted herself, and her scooter, from the pile of childhood friends.
“Oww….. You really need to learn to slow down Scoot…” replied Sweetie Belle. “I’m ok but you could hurt somepony someday.”
The pegasus’ apology was cut off before she could even start.
“Scoot! Have you seen Hide? Have you seen mah’ Colt? Please tell me you know somethin’!?” Applebloom begged desperately.
“That’s what I was going to tell you before I….. uhhhhh ran you over….” Scootaloo admitted sheepishly. Seeing the hopeful expectation in her friends face, she continued. “I was riding over by the Everfree forest, looking around, and I saw a couple hoof-prints in the mud, I don’t know if they were Hide’s, but since he obviously wasn’t found in town, it’s only clue we’ve got.”
“Thank you so much Scootaloo!” shouted Applebloom, already running off towards the forest.
Sweetie Belle looked at the pegasus and pointed the direction their friend had gone, “I guess this is a job for the Cutie Mark Crusaders?”
