//------------------------------//
// Orientation day 
// Story: Nights light 
// by soulyman 
//------------------------------//

He pulled his red hood over his droopy eyes as the chariot descended into the small village. The early morning sun glowed red over the hills in the distance painting the sky in a magenta haze. Buildings basked in the warmth of daylight as their shadows appeared like bruises on the landscape. As the sun had still just risen the town was utterly silent. Not a single pony could be seen wandering the long dirt roads.  
 
Turning his attention away from the beautiful sunrise and quiet town  the hooded stallion tapped one of the flying pegasi that was pulling his white and gold ride. “Sorry, but do you know the name of this town?” He asked as the chariot made a graceful descent, landing gently onto the ground without a bump.
 
“I believe this is Ponyville, sir. It is a small town that receives much of its funding from supplying apples to Canterlot,” The white pegasus informed as he slowed to a halt.
“Thank you. We’ll be fine from here on out,” He assured, exiting the chariot carefully.
 
“Umm, sir?” The other brown pegasus enquired. “Didn't you bring any luggage?” he asked noticing no saddle bags or other was to be seen.
 
“Don’t worry about that, we’ve got all we need,”
 
“If you say so,” he replied before taking nudging his partner who gave the assertive nod to take off.
 
As a glow from his horn emerged, so did a dark hole in the ground in which he reached into, pulling a small note out. Removing the glow from his horn caused the spell and therefore the hole to disappear from sight. He walked up to what seemed likely to be the town hall where a three story dome roofed building stood. With the streets still empty in the early hours, he took the opportunity to read the note.
 *******
Dearest Night, 
I hope you have arrived safely in Ponyville, I can only hope you make the most of your time there. You know why I have sent you there, thus I shall not bother repeating myself in this letter. Please, understand that this is a necessity, for studying and staying indoors is not a true life, even for someone such as you. 
Know that I do this for your benefit. Stay safe and worry not about your job. You are on leave for now, but will still be kept up to date if  the need arises. 
Sincerely, 
        Your teacher in the dark arts,
                                     Luna
*******	
 
As he quizzed himself as to how Luna had such brilliant writing after so many years of imprisonment before a voice called out to him from above. 
 
“Good morning Zecora!” The enthusiastic grey mare called from an open window. Her blond mane waving in the wind along with her.
 
As the mare grabbed his attention, he was unsure of how to respond. “Is she talking to me? No, must be someone else.”
 
He walked away from the awkward scene to travel around town, attempting to memorize the buildings and shop names that appeared.
 
“Hello Zecora,” A stallion greeted as he passed by, tipping his hat as he did.
 
Are they mistaking me for somepony else, or is this Some kind of large scale joke? 

He moved on through the town until he reached a park. Obviously it was, with its no dog signs and long wooden benches it was as plain as a cutie mark on an exposed flank, that it was used for recreation. Taking a seat he rested on his haunches, tucking his note under his cloak. 

The stallion sat there in thought.

With his new life right in front of him how should he spend his time? Sitting around and doing nothing until the next gala was going to be difficult. He had never done nothing before. The thought of free time was scary, not having a schedule to stick to. Such freedom was a pipe dream long ago, but now that he had it, it he didn’t know how to use it. He thought about jobs he could take, but most would suggest having to meet other ponies, which wasn’t something he needed or wanted to do. 

He began to wonder about where he would be staying is such a small town. There had to be an inn or something nearby. Spending nights under the stars sounded familiar and pleasant, but it was probably considered weird amongst the townsfolk. It was best to blend into his new home, if that were even possible for him. His dark coat and mane weren't exactly the colourful norm that most other ponies walked around with. 
 
His thoughts were distracted as the morning sun rose slowly over the horizon. He pulled his hood further over his eyes as the glaring sunlight intensified forcing him to squint. Closing his tired eyes, he took a few deep breaths to appreciate what would be his last restful moments before his new life came running full pelt at him.
 
And as if irony herself stood there, two little fillies rushed up to him in frenzy. “ZECORA! ZECORA!” They yelled, halting in a dust storm before they crashed into the bench.
 
Opening his eyes he found two little ponies huffing away in front of him. Without pulling his hood back, he took a peek at them. One was pale yellow with a pink bow to go with her bouncy red mane. The other was orange with a spiky purple mane.
 
“Are you two alright?” He asked, sliding off the bench to stand tall in front of them.
“We’re... fine,” Puffed the orange filly. “But Sweetie Belle isn’t,”
 
“Mm hmm,” the other interrupted with a western accent. “Even the doctors can’t figure it out. So we came looking, hopin’ you might know what ta do,”
 
At the statement of being asked for help, he was taken aback, literally backing off further into the bushes of the flourishing park. “I don’t think I can help you,” he said sorrowfully. “I’m sorry, but if the doctors can’t help then there’s not much I can do. Why don’t you send a letter to one of the princesses, I’m sure at least one of them would be concerned by this. ”
 
“But aren't you meant to be good at all this crazy Everfree mumbo jumbo?”
 
“Wait, what does the Everfree have to do with this?” He questioned, suddenly interested when he heard the familiar name.
 
“Wellllll… We may have been playing in the Everfree forest yesterday and she may have started coughing and wheezing and she started changing different colours, we think she got sick because of that,”
 
“Hmm, we don’t think it’s very likely, but if you’re right then we’ll see what we can do. No promises though. Lead the way,” He finalized, following the two ponies that shot off like a rocket.
 
They ran through street after street, navigating their way around both buildings and other civilians like it was second nature. With firm dirt under his hooves, a comfortable grin crept onto his face. The hard paved roads of Canterlot had nothing on the soft dirt. As they ran, every so often he would pull his hood back over his head as it began to pull away with the wind that he ran against.
 
Allowing her friend to lead the way, the daisy filly slowed down to even her pace with his. “What’s wrong with your voice Zecora? You got sick or somethin’ as well?”
 
“Which way from here?” He asked, choosing to pretend he didn’t hear the question. Only now did he realize his silly mistake. Zecora isn’t a weird game the town played, but the name of another, most likely a zebra due to its strange sound and pronunciation.
 
The three of them ran in silence save the few ‘This way!’ and ‘over here!’ calls he received from the exhausted girls.
 
Reaching a tall and wide brown building, the two speedsters raced inside offering him to do the same. Walking into the lobby he found himself alone, having lost them in the crowded waiting room. He approached the front desk pulling his hood further over his face. “Hello, we’re Zecora…” He lied, bringing the receptionists eyes away from her papers and up to the hood of his red cloak.
 
“Oh, Zecora. They’re waiting in room five around the corner there,” She quickly told, smiling at the sight of him.
 
Nodding back to her he rounded the corner to enter the long hallway to find the room numbered “5”. Entering, he was greeted with more than a comfortable number pairs of eyes. Two unicorns and two pegasi stood around a hospital bed. There were sighs of relief as they noticed him. With the silence rattling his nerves he backed out slowly. “We’ll just come back at a better time,” He whispered.
 
“Wait, you can’t go now!” A white unicorn called out before levitating him back into the room, dropping him at the foot of the bed. “Look at what has become of my poor Sweetie Bell!”
 
Peeking from under his cloak he stared at the bed finding it shaking slightly due to a little filly’s tossing and turning. Loud audible groans could be heard from the girl. He looked at the young pony analyzing her. “So what’s the pro…?” He began before silencing himself at the tragic play that erupted in front of him.
 
Within a second her coat and mane had changed colour to a deep red and green respectively. The thermometer in her mouth rose to a dangerous level only to drop to below freezing a few seconds later. 
 
“What in the name of Luna...” He accidentally said aloud.
 
The white unicorn, whom obviously held her appearance in high regard, took on a much more worried look than previously. She leaned into his face and with great desperation asked, “And what do you mean by that?!”
 
“We don’t believe in fate or destiny,” He said pulling off his cloak throwing it into a corner, revealing his hidden identity. “But we will admit that I have pretty good timing,” He turned to face his shocked audience who gasped at the realization. They had been tricked. “We need everyone except you-” He raised a hoof at the white mare in front of him, “-to leave now and get us some Poison Joke as quickly as possible,”
 
“Hold on a second!” A rainbow maned pegasus said. “You're not Zecora. Who are you?” She growled.
 
Face hoofing himself for his carelessness and stupidity he faced them all as he now held their full attention. “Look, there’s no time for this. We’re just trying to help and I’m pretty sure we can help. You wouldn’t trust a stranger with your life and I understand that, but I’m not asking you to trust me because you can, I’m asking you because you need to,” They stared at him, unsure of what to make of this strange guru’s sudden words of wisdom. “Now if you want help you can all go and find for me a Poison Joke flower, or you could kick me out without giving me a chance. Your’ choice,” he waited for their response. He was being quite straightforward and blunt in what he was demanding, though experience had taught him that difficult momentary decisions were unavoidable yet necessary. 
 
There was a stillness haunting the room save for the ill bed ridden pony. All eyes were on the dark unknown stallion standing in the middle of the room.
 
“Please, girls,” A voice behind him pleaded. “The doctors have tried, but they can’t do anything and Twilight doesn’t even know what’s wrong. What other choice do we have? She’s my sister and I will do whatever it takes for her sake.”
 
There was a moment of absolute silence when nopony moved a muscle. The lights of the room could be heard buzzing with electricity. Hoof steps could be heard passing by the hall into the distance. The moment was awkward as nopony knew what was the best course of action. 
 
Then all of a sudden, the purple unicorn of the group turned to the rest of them and nodded, causing them all to leave. The door shut gently behind the group leaving the two sisters and him alone in the room.
 
“Wow, that was unexpected. Nice, but not how I saw it ending. Anyway, what’s your name?” He asked as he turned turned to face the concerned mare.

“It’s Rarity,” She informed taking a quick glance at her grunting sibling in the bed that now flared a bright yellow coat. “Is she going to be alright?”
 
“That depends on how long it takes for me to get some poison joke and how strong you are with your magic,” He said as he filled a glass with some warm water from jug that had been sitting on a nearby table. “We don’t really remember the name of this virus or even if it’s a virus at all, but we do remember a technique that cures most of these illnesses,”
 
Rarity moved next to the bed taking a hold of her sister’s hoof in comfort. Her eyes glistened with sadness as liquid crept down her cheek. With a magical spell, she grabbed a tissue and blew her nose, disposing the rubbish before turning back to the bed, eyes still wet. “Everything’s going to be alright sweetie,” She whispered whilst brushing the sweaty mane from her sister’s face. “Big sister Rarity is here to keep you safe and sound,”
 
From the other end of the room a stallion watched as two siblings bonded. The strength of their relationship something to behold for the stallion. He starred as a peck on the filly’s forehead was given. His gaze dropped to the floor hiding his teary ocean eyes. 
 
Without warning, the entrance flew open with a loud thud revealing a rainbow maned cyan pegasus. With one wing noticeably growing larger than the other she fell to the floor, spitting a large blue flower onto the table. “Eugh, I’d better get to the REAL Zecora’s place for some medicine. Will you be alright-,” She glanced over at the mysterious doctor, “-with him?” 
 
With a weak smile she thanked her friend for her concern before the door was shut leaving the three of them alone, just as had been requested. Looking over to the replacement doctor, she noticed the navy blue pony crushing the Poison Joke’s juices over the water with his hooves. “What are you doing, dear?”
 
For a few seconds, the room was filled with frustrated grunts as he squeezed the blue leaves over the glass, letting black liquid drip into the water colouring it black. When the last leaf had been shriveled up, he turned around with the black foul smelling sludge and gave it to Rarity. “You need to make her drink this,” He spouted suddenly.
 
“What is this… stuff? It’s all black and looks something not far from poison. How can I trust that this is going to help my sister?” She questioned firmly. “You did just walk in here as someone else and now you seem to be a miracle doctor. Apologies for my lack of gratitude, but understand that my concern is for my sister, not to try and incriminate you,”

With a sigh, he rubbed the tiredness from his face before responding. “Okay, I can see where you’re coming from, so I’ll try to explain if that will lessen the distrust. That stuff you're holding is the poison jokes magic, meaning that whoever drinks it will have the same effect as you would if you touched the flower,” He raised a hoof in front of Rarity’s face as she opened her mouth to question his knowledge, but he continued. “Simply put, when your’ little sister drinks that, it will disrupt and confuse her magic including whatever magic is making her sick,”
 
“Really? That sounds quite simple,” She said placing her free hoof on her chin. “So It’s like medicine?”
 
“Sort of, it doesn't get rid of the illness, but it does make it possible for me to extract with a spell. After the magic is confused and is fighting off the Poison Joke, I’m able to remove it, curing her. Unfortunately it also takes away her strength and natural magic. So there is a possibility that she could die due to ‘magic deficiency’... Did I use that word correctly?” With a hoof to his chin he looked to the ceiling in thought. A cough from the unfortunate filly brought him back to reality. “Anyway, The point is that you’re also needed as we take out the bad stuff, you replace what’s missing with your magic,” The mare just gave him a strange look. 
 
“I’m sorry, I know it sounds simple to you, but you've somehow lost me, darling. What am I supposed to do exactly?” She inquired, swirling the black liquid around in its glass.
 
He sighed, frustrated at all the explaining he had been forced to do. “When I pull the bad black stuff out, you put your horn to her’s and start sharing your magic with her. Do you know how to do that?”
 
“I think so,” She replied nervously, wiping away her tears, smudging her makeup around her eyes. “Twilight lectured me on magical properties once. Sad to say that I fell asleep though,”
 
“Well, we hope you know enough, because this only works since you two are closely related,” He informed as he approached the bedside. “Your purple friend wouldn’t be much help,”
 
The two nodded to each other signalling that they were both ready for the operation. Rarity held her sisters head up, whispering in her ear which awoke the sleeping filly.
She glanced back and forth between the deep azure eyes of her sister and the black watery liquid that swirled in the glass in front of her. 

With two weak hooves, she grabbed the glass. Her nose wrinkled up as she sniffed the putrid liquid. Rarity whispered something else in her sister’s ear and gave her a long tight hug. Taking a deep breath, Rarity let go allowing her sister to once again stare at the glass. All at once she threw the liquid down her throat in one quick gulp. Almost immediately the filly’s eyes widened, her pupils shrinking to dots before she let out a high pitched scream, alerting the entire hospital to her anguish. She flailed about, spitting out the thermometer onto the floor shattering it, leaving the red mercury to crawl along the tiles.

“Hold her still!” He demanded.
 
As Rarity struggled to subdue her sister, the door of the room flung open.
“What in the world is going on?” A caramel pony asked. Dressed in his white lab coat with a long stethoscope dangling around his neck, he was obviously a doctor.
 
“Get out,” The navy unicorn commanded as he charged a spell up in his horn. “You need to leave now!”
 
“Who are you and what do you think you’re doing? You have no authority to be doing anything,” The doctor stamped his hoof firmly onto the ground. 
 
“We don’t have time for this,” He waved the doctor away. “We know what We’re doing and we’ve already started, so whether you trust us or not you need to leave,”
 
“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you do that. You don’t have the authority to do this. You need to leave or I’ll call security,” He proceeded to pull out a small device with a large red button on it. All of a sudden the mysterious stallion rushed the doctor, slamming the end of his hoof into his body multiple times with force, as a boxer would as he jabbed at his opponent. The coated stallion then fell to the floor in a clumsy heap. “Whaa.. What’s going on? I can’t move my body.” 
 
“Don’t worry about it,” A voice replied. “It’ll only last about an hour, after that the nerves will recover,” 
 
Wide eyed, the caramel stallion stared at his assailant. “Bu.. But is that even…”
 
“You don’t know me” He said barely audible over the squeals filling the room. “So don’t think for a second you know what I can do.”

He looked down at his limp victim. Whether it was from fear or shock the doctor didn’t talk back. He didn’t care as long as no more complaints were distracting him.
 
He looked over to the struggling sisters. He watched as Rarity finally managed to subdue her sister, restraining her two fore hooves with her own. With hind legs still lively and kicking, the filly squirmed, trying to free herself from the shackles. Rarity looked over, wide eyed at the sight of the doctor struggling to get up. “What did you do to him?” She asked a little worried for the doctor. 
 
“Pressure points,” He turned to face the bedridden filly. “Time to get to work then,” He added a darker glow to his horn empowering the spell. “This’ll probably be strong enough,” He bowed his head aiming his horn at the vulnerable filly squirming on the bed. Closing his eyes in concentration, the black glow on his horn intensified.
 
He grunted as he began to tug on an invisible rope with his magic. “Ready?” He dared a glance at the nervous unicorn whom nodded back. “Three…” His hair rolled onto his face, already drenched in sweat. “Two…” A glow from Rarity’s horn arose whilst she continued to subdue her sister. “One! He yelled as a black stream of slime surged up and out of her mouth, flying into the air. 

It came out quickly, like lava from an erupting volcano. The black oil like substance flew to a single point and was then drawn into the stallion’s mouth. He gulped down the liquid, seemingly to never get bloated despite the vast amounts of volume. 

“Now, she needs your magical energy!” He informed her, still drawing a stream of black magic from the sister’s open mouth into his own. Immediately she gently touched her horn to her sisters’ allowing her magic to be drained. As this process went on the filly’s colour began to return to normal, which was apparently a white coat with a pink and purple mane. Rarity smile at the sight of her recognizable sister. 

“It’s working,” She muttered with strain. 

Minutes passed before Rarity asked. “How much longer?” With sweat dripping off her chin. “I don’t know if I can keep this up,”

“Just a little more to go,” He replied. “From here on out she’ll be fine and will probably recover in a few days. Taking out some more will just ensure that she does recover,” With a little strain he continued to drink the oily substance. He licked his lips making sure not to miss a drop. 

Out of the blue the door flew open and the room was filled with a single massive white pegasus, whose muscles bulged outwards threatening to tear away it’s furry covering. 

“Hey! You! Out! Now!” Was all he yelled before he dragged the blue unicorn out of the room by his tail. The magical stream that glowed in the air was cut off and what was left he began to slurp up. Turning onto his back, the unicorn angled his rear hoof and began to hit the leg of his bully. 

“Let us go!” He ordered said, kicking over and over, hoping to hit a pressure point of some kind. Unfortunately for him, it didn’t seem to phase the giant and his tail was kept in a tight grip in strong hooves. “Where are you taking us?” He already guessed the answer, but not knowing much about country towns he asked anyway. 

The white pegasus brought his ‘guest’ to his hooves. “To the station for questioning. We got an emergency call from the hospital. So I came in and a group of mares told me where you were,” 

Thinking back, he remembered the group of mares that had been colleges of Rarity. Maybe they called the police. He was a stranger that had just turned up as someone else in the midst of the commotion. Why wouldn’t they have been cautious about him. With a sigh he began to walk down the hallway. “We can walk there ourselves,” He said, brushing away the large hoof of the officer. 






Rarity held her sister close, whispering words of thanks and encouragement into her ear. proper pink and purple mane along with the genetic white coat, she was surely recovering from the worst of it. She brushed the filly’s sweaty messy mane from her face once more before taking a seat. she watched her sister sleep, noticing how her chest would rise and fall. How her eyelids would move during her dreams. How she would mumble words like ‘dark’ ‘gone’ and ‘safe’. 

“Oh, I think it’s wearing off now,” A voice announced suddenly. Rarity searched the room finding that the limp caramel doctor that had been assaulted was now getting to his hooves. Very slowly and wobbly, but he was standing none the less. “Sorry, to intrude on the moment miss,” He picked something up from where he had lay. “But it was quite lucky that I fell onto the button, don’t you think?” 

Looking at what he held in his hoof, Rarity grew a frown. A black box with a red button sat, crushed and compressed by the stallions’ weight. “Is that the security calling device… thing?” 

“Yep, and when I fell to the floor, I happened to fall on top of it. A bit uncomfortable I must say, but he’s gone now and he’ll probably be taken to the station for questioning,”

“But he helped Sweetie Belle. Something that you doctors couldn’t do! Why in the world would you stop him from trying to help?” 

“I’m sorry, but he wasn’t authorized to-” 

“HE SAVED HER!” She yelled back in fury. “Out of his own generosity no less. You should understand what that means to me,” 

“Despite him empathizing with your element, may I ask miss Rarity, whether you actually know him personally? Or did he just strut in here as Zecora?” I heard from Twilight that that was who he had called himself,” 

Taken back she realized how trusting she had been to the stranger despite knowing nothing about him. She had lost her cool and had taken her last chance to save Sweety Belle, on a complete stranger. 

“Be that as it may, he did no harm and he actually helped with the situation. So I have no regrets to look back on,” 

The caramel doctor brushed his brown mane in embarrassment. “Well, you've got me. He did the impossible and actually helped despite his lies and crooked looks. So I apologize for getting him arrested, but I can’t undo what’s been done. Rules are rules and I had to follow them. An unauthorized pony isn’t allowed to do any procedures. He gave me no choice,” 






Hours, It had only been a few hours and he had already ended up in a prison cell. Luna was not going to be happy about that. If there was one thing she did not like, it was getting imprisoned. Having spent 1000 years in the moon; seeing someone else make a similar mistake was not something she enjoyed witnessing. Especially if it were her own pupil.

Now in his plain cell with concrete walls and iron bars across the window, he lied down on his makeshift straw bed and began to doze off. For a prison it surprised him that there was no reeking smell, no rats to nibble at him and more sunlight protruded in than most other jails. 

His eyelids bobbed up and down as his consciousness retreated to the back of his mind. However, a voice deeper and stronger than his own wouldn't let him sleep, yet. “Of course you would end up here on your’ first day. Typical,” 

The tired stallion’s eyelids arose at the voice. “Oh no, leave me alone,” He folded and covered his ears despite knowing the uselessness of his actions. 

“Bahahaha,” The voice cheered. “You and I both know that’s not possible. Now let’s have a chat about what you just did,” 






“For assault, wrongful impersonation and executing procedures without authorization, bailing him will not come cheap ma’am. He has caused multiple offenses on a single occasion,” The large stallion, sat in his tiny chair reading through his papers. 

“Thank you Biceps, but money is not the problem here. The price matters not, for his good deed deserves another,” Rarity fluttered her eyelashes having redone her makeup after the exhausting drama. “Now how much would that be?” 

Biceps rubbed the back of his neck. “Looking at this,-” he slid his hoof down a page of a large book, “-it’ll cost 1,100 bits, at least” Rarity’s jaw dropped to the floor upon hearing the words. Earning 1,100 bits wasn’t exactly an overnight job and could take almost a year to save, especially in her unpredictable line of work. “I’m sorry ma’am, but releasing a criminal isn’t taken lightly,” 

“Criminal my rump,” Rarity composed herself, picking her jaw up from the floor and clearing her throat. “Well, could I speak to him before I make my decision. I’d like to know the pony that saved my sister before I decide whether I should bail him or not,” 

“Sure thing, would you like to talk through the grill or meet him personally?” 

Rarity took a moment to think, before answering. “I think it would be polite personally to meet my sisters’ savior, thank you,” 

The pegasus nodded as he grabbed a set of keys hanging from a hook and headed off into the back of the building. Rarity followed closely. The two walked down a long hall. Walls sturdy with bricks and cell doors wooden with a small barred grill allowing them so see the space inside. 

Rarity looked around noticing that despite what some books may have pictured, the cells she saw were actually quite clean and unspoiled. “This isn’t at all what I imagined it to be,” 

Biceps chuckled. “Most prisons are quite filthy and rotten, you’d be right to think that, but Ponyville is a nice quiet place. I’ve only had two arrests since I've been working here,” 

“And how long is that?” 

“Seven years. Used to be a guard at the Castle, but it became too noisy and busy for me. Haha, I’m still young, but here I am complaining about the little things,” Rarity giggled at his joke. “Well, here we are,”  he said entering the key and unlocking the door. “I’ll leave the door unlocked. I won’t be far off so if you need anything just give me a yell,” They both nodded before Rarity entered the dark cell to meet her sisters savior.

Looking around the grey room, she spotted a figure laying in a straw nest. “H-hello?” she called out, but when he didn’t react she took a step forward. “Ahem,” Once again no reaction. Slowly she crept up to him careful not to startle him for he could react unpredictably. 

As she got close she heard him talking. Peering over his shoulder, she spotted a black bound book. 

“Side effects include, changing colour, p-pain all over the body, magical outbursts and tiredness. However, there is a strange cr-cree-a-toor..? cree-tor? crat-oo-re? Urgh, Damn it,” The stallion seemed to be stuck on a single word. 

Rarity, placed a hoof on the stallions shoulder, he flinched at the touch, but didn’t shout or jump. He slowly turned his head to face his visitor. “Umm, are you alright dear? She asked. “You seem to be having a little trouble with something,” 

He stared at her for a second, glancing between her and the door. “Umm, Rarity, right?” She nodded. “This is gonna sound weird, but can you please read this word to me?” he shuffled over allowing the mare a full look at the book he was reading. 

“Umm sure, dear,” she leaned in taking a look at the word infested book, but only read the single word that his hoof pointed at. “Creature,” she read, taking a step back allowing him to finish the sentence he was reading. 

“Thank you, I’m not the strongest reader, but i’m still learning. I’ve got a tutor and she helps me to…. Never mind,” He rubbed his neck nervously before his eyes fell back to the page. 

“I must thank you so much for helping my sister out. It’s not every day a stranger ends up being our saviour,” 

“Uh hmm,” he mumbled. 

“But I must say, it was quite unusual that my close friend Twilight didn't know anything about my sisters’ condition. She’s a bookworm that knows almost everything there is to know about magic. You must have quite the collection of books if you know more than Twilight,” The stallion kept quiet. “May I ask something?” Still no response, so she asked anyway. “How is it that you knew what to do when everypony else didn't? Did you go to a special school?” 

Turning back to Rarity, he looked her up and down before looking at himself. His eyes grew wide and his breath suddenly became heavy and erratic. He stood and turned on the spot searching the room, but somewhat resembling a dog chasing its tail. “Where-is-it -where-is-it? No-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no,” 

“Er, you missing something dear?” she looked around the empty room finding nothing of interest. 

“It’s nothing really. Just, umm, have you seen my cloak? It’s red and kinda patched up,” 

Putting a hoof to her chin she recalled events of her day. “I think I have yes,” The panicking stallion stopped his frantic search to stare at Rarity. “You threw it into a corner of the hospital room if I remember correctly. Is it important to you?” 

The stallion ran up to Rarity placing both his hooves into her shoulders. “Please, could you get it for me, as quickly as possible,” he begged, shaking her back and forth in a frenzy. “I’ll do anything, but I need it as soon as possible. It’s all I’ve got left of… Please, could you get it? I’d get it, but...” 

“You can’t leave, I know,” With her body still being shaken violently she agreed. “Please, could you let go of me? I think I’m going to be sick,” she was released from the grasp allowing her to fanned herself with her hoof. She continued after he had finished apologizing for his irrational actions. “I’ll be back with your’ cloak in a minute. Is it okay if I bring some friends along as well?” 

“I don’t care, as long as I get what’s mine. Please, just make sure it’s safe,” She left giving him a comforting wink before heading for the exit. “Wait, what did I just agree to…? ah crud,” He sat down, trying to calm his nerves. 

Rarity headed into the front room finding Biceps working through his documents. “Everything okay?” he asked looking away from his black and white papers. 

“Just fine dear. However, I would like to know what book you allowed him to take and read?” 

“I’m sorry, who are you talking about? I didn't give anypony a book. Does he have one with him? He shouldn’t have anything with him,” He was about to stand up before Rarity spoke.

“Oh, no. I was just er… Curious. That’s all,” she quickly trotted out the door. “I’ll be back later this evening dear. Until then, tata,” she said, making way towards the hospital. 

Biceps turned to his computer. “Okay, now that he won’t tell me his name, I’m gonna have to search him up manually. Now what did he look like? Black this… Blue that… about this tall…” He continued to enter data into his keyboard with his massive hooves gently tapping the tiny keys. Satisfied with the information he had input, he pressed the button allowing the machine to search the files for previous criminal records. If this stallion had been in jail once before he would find him. If not, names would have to be taken down. 

Minutes later a loud buzzer went off and a red warning sign blinked on the screen. “Woah, what’s this?” Getting rid of the annoying red blinker, he inspected the picture that looked exactly like the currently imprisoned stallion. Sure that he had the correct file, Biceps read through the stallions criminal record. He scrolled down the extensive list. “What in the name of Celestia is this?!”












“Com’n Gordon, we’re gonna be late for class,” said the panicking zebra. “You know Ms Molecule hates it when we’re late,” she tugged on his foreleg trying to urge him to walk faster. 

The pony kept his pace. “Just go on without me Whisper, I just got back from my suspension so I don't think Ms Molecule wants to see me and I don’t think anypony else in class does either. I don’t really like school anyway, it’s too hard,” 

“That’s because you don’t pay attention. If you watched her instructions and didn’t blow up the lab like last time then I’m sure she would like you better,” She stopped tugging him and began to dance on the spot in a panic. “Please can we go now? I don’t want to be late,” 

He nodded, causing a smile to emerge on the filly’s face. The two ran down the dirt path across the grassy plane. They panted as they ran through the small town. Many Zebras watched them huff down the street, some giving Gordon disapproving glares. He ignored them. Passing through the gates of their school they slowed their pace. Quietly trotting through the hall, the two late comers approached a door that sat at the end of it. Whisper knocked quietly, but there was no answer. “Did we miss class?” The navy pony laughed before he knocked on the door, making sure it was loud enough to hear. 

A stern voice called them in. The two took deep breaths as they entered. The room was filled with the whispers and ushers of all the young zebras. 
“Of course he was late, he’s always late,” --- 
“Why is she always with him? She’s too smart for that,” --- 
“He’s so dumb, why did he even turn up? he should just go home,” ---

They ignored the comments they could hear and walked up to the teachers desk. She looked at the two before waving Whisper away, but called for Gordon to come closer. “If you do not want to be here, then you don’t need to come at all,” 

Still huffing he replied as clearly as he could. “But, we ran here. I saw a snake and got really scared so I…” 

“I don’t care, you need to come to class on time if you want to learn, young colt. Now go sit down,” She stood up chalk in hoof. “Today, thanks to Gordon’s tardiness, there will be no practical experiment,” 

The room grunted and moaned in the disappointment. Practicals meant no writing, and the less writing the better. Gordon, with his black mane hanging over his face, slowly made his way to the back of the classroom where he could start searching his mane for the spitballs that were currently getting fired at him. Sometimes he would be lucky enough to sit next to Whisper, but having everyone hate him made him think that for her sake, it would be better to stay away. At least during class. 

All throughout class, he was hassled by the other kids, paper balls were thrown in his direction, pencils, rubbers, anything that was hard enough to hurt, hit him on the head time and time again. He tried to ignore them, picking up an eraser from the floor to clean up his writing. 

The class was spent, writing up effects of water on compounds. Most could keep up with the work and what Ms Molecule was saying, but few such as Gordon sat there dumbfounded, unsure of what was important, thus sat waiting for the lunch bell to ring. 
______________________________________________________________________

Lunch was a break from all the mind work and provided him with enough energy to eventually go back to class. However, Gorden didn’t know how bad his day would be and that today would be his last lunch break. 

He was walking towards the gazebo. The place he met Whisper every day, during lunch and after school. They would travel to and from the orphanage together and both were rarely seen without each others company. 

As he ran to meet with Whisper a group of older kids intercepted him, blocking his path. He tried to make his way around them, but they continued to halt his advance, eventually surrounding him with numbers. “You guys want something?” 

“You’re stupid, you don’t belong here,” one of them said. “Why don’t you just go away,” 

“Yeah, you ruin everything for us,” another yelled. Looks and glances from the rest of the school made their way over to the scene that had arisen. “You can’t do anything right,” That’s why nobody wants you. Not even your parents wanted you. They left you there because you’re too dumb,”

“You're so weird. You don’t even have any stripes.” 

“Yeah, and what with that horn? Or did you bump your head? Do you want a band aid? 

“What kind of name is Gordon anyway? That’s the stupidest name I’ve ever heard.”

“Shut up! Blue Rose gave me this name and I like it, so Just leave me alone,” he yelled back, unsure of how to sound smart as he retorted. “For once, would you guys just let me go. You do this every time, but I don’t get it,” 

They all looked to each other before snorting in his face. “It’s because you’re stupid, and you can’t do anything about it. You can’t do maths, or science. And you’ve got a horn, but it looks like you can’t use that right either,” 

“Go away!” 

“You don’t even have any friends. Nobody likes you,” 

“That’s not true, Whisper likes me. We’re best friends,” He looked around for his friend, finding her watching from afar. “HEY WHISPER, WE’RE BEST FRIENDS RIGHT?”  he asked in a desperate attempt to prove the bullies wrong. Whisper’s eyes lowered to the floor as the bullies turned to watch her. She mouthed an apology before she turned her back, walking to the far end of the school grounds, to meet some other school kids. Her head hung low, almost licking the ground. “Whisper? W-where you going…? I’m over here, y-you’re walking… the ….wrong…” He couldn’t finish his sentence, something got caught in his throat. 

The group turned back to him, each wearing a smile. “Ha, I was right. You’re just a loner loser,” 

“No, she just didn’t see me, that’s all. You guys are in the way,” He lied. 

“Face it loner. You don’t have anything here, so just go home you spaz. Oh wait, you don’t have a home ‘cause no one likes you. Even the older parents in town hate you,” 

“Shuddup!” Tears formed around his eyes. “I still have friends, you’ve just never met them,” 

The group closed in on him. “Liar, I know you don’t play with anyone, you just sit in bed and stare at a wall, because that’s all you’re good for,” They shoved him over into the rough dirt. “Just go away. No one wants you here anymore.” 

Gordon heart throbbed with sadness. How could Whisper do this to him? “I’LL SHOW YOU! I’LL SHOW YOU ALL!” he shouted as he picked himself up, running through the school gates. He took one last look back only to see the striped bullies smiling with content, before he ran into town. 

Running behind a building he hid himself away from the strange zebras that he had once called neighbors. His thoughts were muddled up. He couldn’t think straight, the world just seemed blur into one colour. He sat down crying his little heart out to his own content. Here he was alone, here he could be free from the watchful, judging, malicious eyes of those different to him. 

______________________________________________________________________

It was getting late, but he wasn’t tired. Dinners were being served, he wasn’t hungry. Wiping the tears that had soaked his fur during the past few hours, he got up and walked down the street, away from the school. His heart felt heavy, as if a burden had just been placed on him. One that he could never control, one that wouldn’t let him forget. 

It wasn’t fair, friends that had found parents no longer visited. With his Rose wilted, loneliness allowed bullies to grow and strike like thunderclouds, hitting precisely and painfully. Here he was, alone and hurt. Abandoned by his last light, his last friend, left alone in the dark. 

He passed some mares, each giggling to each. He watched them cross the street together. They seemed to be having a lot of fun, enjoying each others company. Suddenly, one mare spotted him and tapped her friend on the shoulder. “Hey looks it’s that pony kid,” Their laughter was silenced. 

“Wasn’t he in juvenile a while ago?” 

Gordan stared at them as they watched him, whispering amongst each other. Despite the sunset’s dim light he still could look into their eyes. Those cold, unpleasant, distant eyes stared at him from afar. How dare they look at him like that. What had he done to deserve such treatment. Not just from school kids, but from all the adults upon that. 

He ground his teeth with rage. “STOP LOOKING AT ME WITH THOSE EYES! I’LL SHOW YOU! I’LL SHOW YOU ALL!” 

With a broken heart and sour tears, he ran. Passed the mares, through the streets and away. Far from the empty place he had once called home and into the abyss of the unknown.