Day and Rime
The dark night was all but silent. Hoofsteps echoed around the forest as a small pony ran for his life. He dodged rocks and sidestepped around trees. His legs and hooves were sore and heavy with fatigue, but he kept pushing it. If he slipped up for just a second, the flame of his life could be extinguished in the blink of an eye. He looked back, hoping to see that he had lost his pursuer. It was nowhere to be seen. The young colt slowed his pace, but didn’t completely stop. He strained his ears through the darkness, trying to hear the faintest sound. He didn’t hear a thing.
“I didn’t lose it”, he said in between heavy breaths. “Where is it?”
He continued to jog through the black forest until a blood freezing howl broke the silence. The colt didn’t waste another second. He took off in a dead sprint. That howl was way too close for comfort. Not long after he began to run again, did he hear heavy panting and thunderous steps booming behind him. Another rush of adrenaline further quickened his pace. But it was useless, the monster was too fast.
The creature was right on his tail, almost within reach. It swung a massive arm at its prey. The attack landed on the pony’s right flank. The colt yelped in pain and spun out of control. His hooves slipped from under him and he came to a crashing stop against a tree. The stunned pony struggled to move, but the pain planted him to the spot. He picked his head up just enough to see the predator slowly creeping its way towards him. It licked its lips hungrily. He gulped; his fate had been sealed. He tried to move his legs again, only to find them petrified and useless. He could only gulp again as he saw his reflection in the beast’s red eyes.
“RRRAAARRR!” It bellowed. It lunged with bared fangs.
“AAAAAAHHHHHH!”
The scream echoed throughout the valley, scaring a few Phoenixes from their nests. The pony behind the outburst shot out of his sleep. He looked around him, taking in his bearings. He tried to slow his breathing, but a brief flash of the nightmare sped it back up. His cold sweat dripped to the ground, along with his tears.
He glanced at the calendar he nailed to the nearest tree. Twenty-five “X”’s crossed out the month’s days. He sighed upon seeing the date. “It’s not time yet”, he sighed. “Not yet…”
The sky started to turn away from its dark purple color to a light gray. Princess Celestia was raising the sun for another glorious day in Equestria. “Sunlight”, the young colt whispered, “My only friend. Welcome back.” He relaxed completely at the sight of the new day. The purity of the sun washed his fears away. He gazed at his tiny camp of two items. The saddlebag he had used as a pillow bore the name “Daylight”. He stooped and slid it onto his back, ready to travel another day. He took the calendar down and stuffed it into his bag. With a deep sigh, he set off into the sunrise.
“You shouldn’t be so quick to disown your friends”, said a voice from his saddlebag. “The sun isn’t your only comrade.”
“I could never disown you, Rime”, said Daylight. “The world wouldn’t be able to handle how annoying you are.”
“I resent that!” A small, ice blue, two-tailed fox jumped out of his pocket on the saddlebag and landed on Day’s head.
“Calm down, it was just a joke”, Day said flatly.
“Oh, I forgot you don’t joke”, Rime said. “Or smile much.”
“Only around you.”
“Where are we headed now?” The kitsune asked.
“You ask that question every morning.” Day kept walking without answering his friend’s question.
“Yeah, so?” Rime whined, “Where are we going?”
“We’re running out of food, so we’re going to the nearest town to pick some up.”
“Do we even have any money?” Rime flopped down on his back, and started rummaging through Day’s saddlebag.
“We should. If not, I can always make some”, Day replied. “There’s bound to be somepony that needs help with something somewhere.”
Rime looked into the last pocket and found it to be as empty as the valley they were walking through. “Captain”, he said nervously.
“What is it, Rime?”
“We’re broke.”
Day snapped his head around to see that the fox had a serious expression molded to his face. “No joke?”
“I swear it”, Rime replied, “No money whatsoever.”
“Perfect. We must have lost what we had left. I could have bet my tail we had at least twenty-four bits. Did you check the back pocket?”
“I checked’em all.”
“Looks like you’ll have to wait for your midday snack”, Day observed. “At least until we have ten bits in our hooves and paws.”
“Awwww!” Rime complained. “I can’t survive a single day without my cakes!”
“You’ll live”, Day complained right back.
Despite what Day said, Rime decided to go for the dramatic approach. He stood on his hind legs and started to fake a slow death. “Limbs going weak, vision fading, can’t go on. Tell my wife…I love her!” With that, he fell over on his back with his tongue hanging out.
Day chuckled. “Will a sponge-cake bring you back to the living?”
Rime opened an eye. “What flavor?”
Day smiled as widely as he could. “Strawberry.”
“Ewww!” Rime gagged, “Nope, I think I’ma stay dead.”
“Works for me”, Day said, “At least I won’t have to listen to you.”
Rime played dead for about another two minutes. Then, he just couldn’t take it anymore. “Ugh! Being dead is boring! Day, entertain me!”
The Earth Pony shook his head with a roll of his eyes. “Okay…I’m thinking of something blue…” Day started, bringing on his best friend’s favorite game.
“The sky!” Rime screamed.
“Nope.”
“The pond water!”
“Not even close.” Day loved to play this joke on the kitsune. It never got old.
“Your saddlebag!”
“Negative.”
“That bird!” Rime jumped on Day’s head, and pointed to a blue jay that was flying above them.
“Would you like a hint?” Day asked with a smirk.
“Please!”
“It has four feet”, Day stated.
Rime considered the clue. “Hmmm…Is it an Ice Kitsune?”
“Yes, but I’m thinking of one specifically.”
“Yeah, but how many of those do we know?” Rime asked honestly.
“I can think of one.”
Rime strained his thoughts trying to think of one. “Oh, I give up!”
“It’s you”, laughed Day.
Instantly, Rime became annoyed. In retaliation to Day’s laughing, the fox used his shape shifting ability and transformed into an almost exact replica of the pony. He hopped down in front of his friend.
“Hahahahahaha!” Rime laughed in a high pitched tone.
“You got my tail wrong again”, Day snickered.
The Day-shaped Rime looked at his flank and saw that instead of a yellow and red short tail, he had messed up and forgot to form Day’s tail at all. He still had his dual, blue fox tails. “Oh, charcoal!” he cursed. Instead of correcting his mistake, Rime just reverted back to his old self.
“Hop on, I wouldn’t want you to get lost”, Day said.
Rime grumbled, but did as he was told. He knew better than to disobey Daylight.
The fox’s sadness made Day feel bad. He knew this time Rime was brought down by the lack of sweets, instead of the shifting mistake. “Don’t worry, Rime. I promise I’ll get you a chocolate cake when I get the bits for it”, Day said in an attempt to cheer his companion up.
“Really!?” Rime asked ecstatically.
“Of course! You know I don’t break a promise”, Day reassured.
“Wooohooo!” Rime cheered.
“Okay, settle down, we’re almost there.” Day smiled. The little kitsune was like a brother to him, and Day hated to see him sad.
“But where are we going?”
“Our next destination is a small town. We’ll be there in a few minutes”, Day answered.
“What’s the name of this so-called ‘town’?” Rime asked suspiciously.
Day chuckled at Rime’s childishness. He looked back at the Kitsune, and then turned his eyes to the sky.
“Ponyville. The town’s name is Ponyville.”