//------------------------------//
// HUMANS! 
// Story: Is this how it ends? 
// by Slick Dash 
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As the day passed on, the sky became darker. In Manehatton that would mean the streets would become quieter, but here they seemed to become even more crowded as the night wore on! I was jostled about, buffeted from shoulder to shoulder of every passing human. I felt enclosed, I had never suffered from claustrophobia but this must have been what it felt like.

I saw an opening to an alleyway, so I bolted for it! desperate to escape the dreaded confines of the crowds. I Stumbled into the sudden quiet and dark of the pathway and it felt as though someone had flicked on a mute button. There was nothing but quiet. I let out a sigh of relief at the absence of the noise from before. 

I wandered through the maze of alleyways taking my time, trying to find a place to sleep. An alley behind a restauraunt would be ideal! That way I could steal whatever scraps were left at the end of the day. After all, I had no money from this world, Or Equestria. I still held the coat close to me, it was still sopping wet and I was sure it would soon be ruined if I didn’t find a way to dry off the mud before it seeped in and stained the fabric. 

I turned a corner, and a beautiful sight welcomed me. Warmth! There was a large metal bin, inside it someone had lit a fire. Without thought, I ran towards the beautiful flames. When I approached them waves of ecstasy washed over me as my water and mud soaked clothes began to bake under the heat. It was wonderful. 

My sight dropped down to the black coat in my hand and a memory flashed across my mind. Would it still work here? I was torn, either I let it get ruined forever, or I can risk losing it forever for the chance of restoring it to its former glory. I weighed the options, would Twilights spell still hold on the coat, could it resist fire still? If so the mud would dry and crumble away! It would be just like the day I got it! But if it didn’t work, and I lost it... I couldn’t risk it.

I heard steps from behind me, soft ones. They weren’t the kind of soft steps from a delicate being like Fluttershy, they were secretive and deceitful. I slowly turned to see a kid, not much younger than me. When he saw me he began to laugh! “Guy’s its fine! I told you it wasn’t a cop; it’s just a fucking tramp!” He began to laugh harder, his friends slowly emerged from the shadowy areas of the alley. They seemed timid to begin with, but as they realised their friend was right they began to laugh.

I felt awkward, they were obviously laughing at ME as well as their own situation. I smiled sheepishly, begin to laugh with them, trying not to step on anyone’s toes and simply stay out of trouble. The first boy realised I was laughing, and he stopped abruptly. “Think that’s funny do you?! Enjoy trying to scare the shit out of people for fun do you?!” Why such strong language? No matter the anger you felt, there was never a need to curse. Yet another lesson from ponnyville.

The young man began to approach me. “Think you’re funny? Think you’re better than us? Well sorry to say mate, but we aint the ones covered in shit!” He cast a disapproving eye over my filthy clothes and coat still clutched in my hands. He smiled horribly and his eyes gleamed. He began to approach me quickly. One of his friends piped up.
“Come on Joe leave the guy alone!” but his plea went unanswered by his friend. The first boy was now right against my face, his breath stank of alcohol, so much so I actually retched slightly. My moment of weakness didn’t go unnoticed. 

He pushed my chest back, and by rear collided with the bin behind me. A few flames caught my back, they didn’t set anything alight but they were still uncomfortable to say the least! “What’s the matter?!” The youth yelled at me. “cold? Well then how about we warm up those clothes of yours hey?!” He grabbed hold of the coat in my hand, and began to pull at it hard. I panicked for a moment as I feared the fabric would tear, but it stayed intact. 

I breathed a sigh of relief, but it was cut short to the feeling of a huge weight being thrown into my stomach! It was the youths knee and it ploughed into my centre so hard that I lost grip on reality for a moment. My grip slackened, and I felt my beloved coat slip from my grasp.

I slumped to the ground in pain, all I could do was watch as the youth stood over me laughing as he cast the coat, my coat, DASH’S COAT! Into the fiery inferno in the metal container. I reached up, as if I could summon the fabric into my hand. But my before my fingers got anywhere near the rim of the metal bin. The boys foot ploughed into my side. I coughed loudly out of both surprise and a sudden shooting pain the kick had sent through my chest.

His friends stood around, not joining in, but also not helping me. They simply stood there. HUMANS! I began to cry, the pain in both my body and soul reached it’s peak. Loud bursts escaped me with every thundering blow from the attackers foot, which only seemed to antagonize him! He continued with pride, his foot slowly travelling up towards my head with each terrible kick! I closed my eyes, ready to feel my head slowly caving in.

Nothing came, for as the attacker finished his last strike. A loud voice echoed from the end of the alleyway. “OI! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING! GET AWAY FROM HIM!” The voice was another male, angry and loud! I opened my eyes to see the three young men running to the open street behind them. I looked back in the direction of my saviour’s voice to see him running towards me. He crouched over me and pushed the sweat and mud coated hair out of my face. “Oh my god! You’re only a fucking kid!” he threw his arms under my shoulders and hoisted me up. “Come on, you’re not that badly hurt are yah boy? You need a hospital? Or just a place to stay?” His questions drifted over me, I was almost unconscious, I was tired, I was beaten and I was miserable. 

“No!” I had realized what was missing! I turned, finding some untapped reserve of strength. I pull myself away from my hero, and stagger towards the fire. “My coat!” 
“It’s just a coat kid!”
“NO! My, my baby’s coat! Dash...It’s dash’s coat! It’s...It...” my feet stumbled and I fell to the ground. I reached out with all my might, somehow the tips of my fingers curled around the rim of the bin and pulled it down with me as I fell. I heard the mysterious man shout out in surprise and hurry over. I felt his hands trying to pull me back to my feet but I swiped his hand away. The contents of the bins spread out across the floor, most of it was powdered ash. But pieces of it the old items still remained.

No coat! I scraped away at the white powder speckling it with dark circles as my tears fell down upon it. It can’t have burned that quickly! Something soft! I cried out with joy, and pulled out a half burnt teddy bear. “NO!” I dive back into the refuse, I must look crazy but yet the man stayed there behind me. 
“Uhhh, kid?” I ignored him.
“My baby’s coat, where is it! Come on baby help me!” I prayed for an unseen Rainbow Dash to help, but she never flew in triumphantly holding the coat in her teeth. 
“KID!” I whirled around, tears streaming from my eyes. I glared at the man who had saved me, why was he interrupting? 

He merely looked at me, and with a cold voice he said “By your feet.” I shuffled backwards across the floor, releasing clouds of ash into my eyes. Soft material! He was right! I brushed away all the flakes of ash, and there it lay. There were no longer any dark patches of mud and water across it, I could hardly even recognise it. It was pristine, as faultless as the day I had first seen it! The fire had burnt all of the mud and water away, but the coat had remained untarnished. 

I held it close to myself, the scent of berries emitted from the inside and it reminded me of home, of the meadows and orchards in ponyville, of the near complete vegetarian meals I had live on for the last year. Home, Equestria, Ponyville...Dash. They were all with me in that moment! That dark alley on earth was now the shining realm of Celestia’s rule for a few short seconds. 

The stranger cleared his throat. “So, you’ve got your coat back. You still want that place to sleep?” I looked up into the face, it looked familiar in some way but it was too dark to be sure. I beamed like a little child, and nodded joyfully. Then with that last bit of effort, my body shut down. My legs shook under my weight. Though I kept the coat close to my chest, the arms that held it grew heavy. My vision began to blur...then fade.....then black out entirely.