Chapter 5: The First Sign
I hear the train a comin'
It's rollin' 'round the bend,
And I ain't seen the sunshine,
Since, I don't know when.
I'm stuck in Foalsom Prison,
And time keeps draggin' there,
But that train keeps a-rollin',
On down to Baltimare.
Prairie Tune took to begging on the streets of Canterlot to help make money for the family, and was particularly good at it with his musical abilities. Taking his guitar out on the street corners, he found this to be an opportunity to write his pains into songs while still making the money his family needed.
Artsy types were really starting to get into Prairie Tune’s bluesy music, which helped him get small gigs in seedy bars. Thanks to these gigs, he’d become an underground sensation amongst pub crawlers, art house enthusiasts, and beatnik music lovers alike. Of course, this crowd also introduced him to several other things, many of which were not wholesome or healthy for him. But who could resist the free rounds of cider, advances from loose women, and other recreational treats those artsy types were giving him in exchange for the sound of his smooth baritone voice, especially if you could drown your sorrows at the end of a long day of begging.
Being a more wholesome boy than his older brother, Happy Trails took on two jobs. His first job was with the Equestrian Army as a field guard. Equestria was in a peace time, so after basic training was completed he was assigned guard duty on the streets at night.
His second job was a day shift at a courier business. Seeing as how he was a strong young man, and a nice one to boot, he became quite popular at this job. It didn’t take him very long to become the most requested pony in the company by several repeat clients. On top of the opportunities presented to him by becoming Most Requested Pony that quarter, he also gained the opportunity to become social in town. And seeing as how the Canterlot elite were beginning to ask for him by name so often, he specialized not only in the excellent customer service they came to expect, but also became a messenger pony for extra tips. Before he knew it, Happy Trails had begun building himself a nice network.
Happy Trails was dedicated to shrewdly saving whatever money he could to put towards paying off his father’s debts. Due to his father's incarceration, the amount due had tripled due to legal fees. Often he and Prairie Tune would fight over work ethics and money use due to the differences in their professions. He became accustomed to coming home exhausted after his long work days, and on the rare days he didn’t have any work to do he often just slept. For him, there was no time for fun and games. One of the few distractions he allowed himself was watching his little sister playing with his army helmet.
Unlike her sons, Sew n’ Sow didn’t make her money in any exciting way. She was a waitress in a local restaurant known as the Calla Lilly Cafe, grateful that the owner allowed Smithy to wash dishes in the back in exchange for some of her tip money. On top of doing the dishes, Smithy’s job for her family was to pack up a big bag full of table scraps for their dinner. It wasn’t much of a life, but it helped the family not have to worry about what to eat for dinner every night. During that time, the Seed Family lived like street urchins in their wagon at the edge of Canterlot for the next eight months as they waited for their opportunity to have an audience with Princess Celestia to appeal Pokey Oaks’s case.
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Looking over one of the restaurant’s menus that she had saved for her scrapbook, Granny Smith smiled longingly as she thought about being up to her elbows in suds at such a young age. “Why, I used to love it when Mr. Fry had too much pie at the end of the night,” she mused, licking her lips as she pawed at a few stains on the menu and realizing just how hungry she was from missing dinner. “Takin’ home half a pie felt like a real accomplishment back in them days. Mah favorite was always apple pie, ‘specially with freezer burned ice cream. In fact, that's how I earned mah cutie mark!”
Big Macintosh and his sisters watched Granny Smith mumble to herself about pie, waiting for her to get on with the stories in her scrapbook. To break the incoherent mumbling, Big Macintosh waved the photo of the zebras in front of her face. “Uh, Granny?” he said, handing her the photo. “What 'bout these here folks?”
Snapping back into reality, Granny Smith took the photo from her grandson. “Oh, these folks,” she said with a big smile. “Well, I ain’t up to them just yet, though I did meet this lil’ one’s daddy while working at the restaurant. I met him the night of the Grand Gallopin’ Gala…”
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Sew n’ Sow was working a double shift that night, waiting on patrons from the Grand Galloping Gala as they stopped in for a bite to eat after the big party. Hors d’oeuvres only filled ponies up so much after all, so a late night pick me up was just the ticket for those hungry elites, especially the Wonderbolts. They sure loved a good slice of pie and a pretty waitress to tease. Sew n’ Sow put up with the drunken flirting the Wonderbolts doted upon her after hearing that they were good tippers. She hated behaving like this with her daughter so close by, but if she didn't put on a flirty smile, she was afraid she wouldn't get tipped.
Smithy could see her mother batting her eyelashes at the table full of Wonderbolts, thinking to herself how much she missed her father. She imagined that he wouldn't let those fast flying ponies talk to her mother like they were, especially since he used to tell her that boys should behave like gentleman so that a girl could be a lady.
She hadn’t seen her father since his incarceration, but she thought about him everyday. Every load of dirty dishes made her think about how her life had been turned upside down by the Dodge City Building and Loan, and how much she hated the Rich Family. She wished she could just wash them all away like a glob of ketchup smeared on a dirtied plate. If it was only that easy, she wouldn't have to watch her mama pretend to like the Wonderbolts advances for money.
Smithy sighed exhaustedly as she was up passed her head in dirty dishes. She was so tired from the extra work she had to put in, and was suffering from a severe case of pruney dish water hooves. She decided that it was high time for a well deserved break, especially after she saw a drunk Wonderbolt try to kiss her mother. Taking a glass of sweet iced tea out to the back porch, she sat on the bottom step and took in the night air behind the restaurant.
Absentmindedly staring out into the alleyway while enjoying her beverage, Smithy caught sight of what looked like a shadow sneaking up the alley. She could hear the sound of chains clanking gently across the pavement stones as the shadow crept slowly around. The sight of it made her think it was a ghost. She dropped her glass of tea as she let out a loud gasp, the sound of the breaking glass making the shadow stop in its tracks. It stared up at her with terrified eyes from under the hood of a black cloak. It quickly backed into a trashcan as it tried to get away from her.
As the shadow tripped over its chains and into a pool of light given off by a lightning bug street lamp, Smithy realized that it wasn’t a ghost at all. The creature’s hood fell away from its face, revealing what Smithy thought to be the strangest looking pony she had ever seen. She’d never seen a pony with its face and legs covered in stripes before. The thing that surprised her the most was that it was a young thing, a little colt about her age.
They froze in each other’s gaze, the look on the striped colt’s face full of terror in spite of the curiosity on Smithy’s. Breaking the silence, Smithy put on her brightest smile and said a cheerful “Hey there!”
The friendly gesture did not go as she had hoped. The striped colt creature threw his hood back over his head before scrambling to his feet to run. “Hey!” Smithy hollered as she got up from the step on the back porch. “Where ya goin’ in such a hurry? And where’d them chains come from? Did ya run away from Foalsom Prison or somethin’? Hey! Come back here!”
Abandoning her restaurant responsibilities, Smithy took off in hot pursuit of the mysterious striped colt. Having a hard time maneuvering with those chains around his ankles, the striped creature did his best to knock things over to trip his chaser. He ran full tilt toward the mountainous wilderness at the edge of Canterlot, trying to escape the persistent filly hollering pointless questions about her father at him. He suddenly stopped as his chain got caught on a gate.
Catching up to him, Smithy watched the young colt fumbling with the chain. “Now that’s more like it,” she exclaimed as she began to catch her breath. “Iff'n ya don’t mind, can ya tell me what in all…”
Before Smithy could mutter any more, the striped colt put his hoof over her mouth to keep her quiet. “Please be hushed!” he whispered in a terrified tone. “You will have me caught with your noise! Please…”
Smithy could see the pure panic in his eyes as he fussed to free the chain from the gate. “Here, I'll help ya,” she said softly, taking the chain in her mouth and giving it a good hard yank. She knew that look on the striped creature’s face all too well. It was the same feeling she had been feeling since her father became a felon.
As soon as she was able to yank the chain free, she saw relief pour over the colt’s face. “Now ya tell me what’s goin' on,” she said with the chain still in her mouth.
The colt’s jaw dropped as he saw the filly’s jaw tighten stubbornly. He’d been freed, only to be held again thanks to this pony’s stubbornness. “The mountains,” he said quickly with frustration. “You will know when we are safe in the mountains. Hurry!”
Before they could even make a move, they saw a bright light shine upon them. The light of a unicorn’s horn blinded them in place, causing them to shield their eyes. As their eyes adjusted, they saw a group of burley palace guards standing before them, one of the guards being Happy Trails. “You there!” Happy Trails loudly accused, pointing a hoof at the striped colt in the dark cloak.
The striped creature ran for his life, dragging Smithy behind him as she held onto the chain in her mouth. “Let go!” he cried out in fear. "I do not want to hurt you, but I must escape! Please! Let go!"
Doing as she was told, Smithy let go of the chain and watched the striped creature run. So he was an escapee, but what could his crime be? Her gaze and questions were cut short as guards whizzed passed her, making her cover her head as they rushed past her in pursuit of their target. “Get that zebra!” a pegasus guard shouted. “Don’t let him get away!”
Smithy had no idea what a zebra was, or what those guards wanted with him. All she knew is that one of the unicorn guards surrounded the striped colt with a magic spell and used that magic to detain him. She watched the helpless zebra thrash around in the magical orb that contained him, screaming out in pain as the guard performed a stinging spell on his captive that he seemed to enjoy doing.
Smithy cowered helplessly as the zebra tried in vain to reach out for her as he hung magically in midair. “You!” he screamed helplessly, streams of frustrated tears pouring down his cheeks as he failed to hit her. “You did this! You foolish little pony!”
One of the pegasus guards wrapped a protective front leg around the petrified filly. “Don’t let that nasty zebra scare you,” he smiled proudly as he watched the captive creature get thrown into a patty wagon. “You did your nation a great service tonight by catching that striped little monster. If you hadn’t stopped him, he would have gotten away. Princess Celestia will surely smile down upon you for your good deed.”
The princess! Smiling upon her?!? Would this mean her family would finally get an audience with the royal pony? Surely she would show some mercy for her father in exchange for the deed she had done. But what exactly had she done, and was it worth it to see her father freed in exchange for another prisoner to be kept captive? “Hey, Mr. Guard?” Smithy asked. “What’d that zebra pony do that made y’all so mad at him?”
The guard let out a big bellowing laugh. “Now don’t waste your worries on that zebra, little one,” he said, tussling Smithy’s hair far too roughly for her liking. “Besides, he’s no pony, that’s for sure. Zebra’s are too wild to be ponies. Anyway, we’ve got to get you home. I’m sure your mother wouldn’t want to get too worried about her little hero.”