//------------------------------// // Chapter One: Leaving Behind Love // Story: Immortal, Fatal Love // by SabrinaRoth //------------------------------// Cuero I walked through my small town of Starlight, thinking about the day ahead of me. The town had such a beautiful name for such a dump. The houses were overcrowded, filled with families with as many as 8 children to a home. The air was filled with smoke from the factories we were all forced to work at, making thread, weaving cloth, and sewing clothes. I worked at one of those factories. Stuck inside all day, breathing in the fumes of poorly washed ponies, passing the shuttle back and forth to weave cloth. We worked all hours of the day, and sometimes into the night, staggering home on sore hooves, and collapsing onto the bed, only to force ourselves out from between the sheets just hours later. It was miserable. My only solace was a small pony named Chispa. We had been friends since we were just little foals. Before we had to slave away in factories, we would chase each other down the earthen street, laughing like none of our reality ever existed. Chispa doesn’t work in the factory with me. She could never get to close to it before she started coughing and couldn’t breathe. She is now a slave to the owner of the factory, Giovanni Solorio, washing his sheets and cleaning his grand house all day. Lost in my thoughts, I accidentally run into somepony. “Hey, watch where you’re goin- Oh, Cuero, it’s you! I’m so sorry! I though you were somepony else!” He stuttered once he realized who he was shouting at. I guess I’m known as the bad-boy around town. True, wearing leather jackets and slicking your hair back does give off a bad vibe. It’s what’s kept me sane all these years of laboring in factories. The only pony who was feared and respected more than me was none other than Solorio. “Whatever.” I muttered and walked off, heading towards the factory. The next day, the bell in the town square rang, calling all of the ponies out of bed to the square. I rolled out of bed, quickly running a comb through my hair and pushing it back. I grabbed my leather jacket and trotted out the door. I might be the bad boy in town, but if anyone is late to these meetings, it wouldn’t matter how bad they were. I arrived as the last peal of the bell rang out, echoing throughout the town. “Fillies and gentlecoats!” The mayor called out. “War has broken out between the Starlights and the Mesopotamians!” The Mesopotamians were our enemies. They had fought us for this land before we claimed it, declaring that they owned it, when they really hadn’t. They had steadily been attacking the towns outside of Starlight, but now they directly announced war. This, obviously, meant war. “Do not be alarmed!” The mayor attempted to calm the increasingly rowdy crowd, but to no avail, until somepony in the crowd shouted “QUIET!!!” Once the ponies calmed down, the pony began to speak. “I have a plan.” He announced. The whole town turned to him in expectation. “We run.” he said simply. The town ponies were starting to talk amongst themselves about this plan, finding it better then waging war against the Mesopatamians, with their thousands of soldiers and weapons against our small number of ponies. Chispa sidled up to me, pressing her head against my shoulder worriedly. “I don’t like this plan.” She whispered to me. “Just pack up and leave our houses? Our businesses? The city we fought to keep?” I bend my head and nuzzle her her mane comfortingly. “I’m sure we’ll come back as soon as this is over. At least we’re getting out of this dump.” I reassure her, trying to find a good reason to leave. “Come back and find it in ruins you mean.” Chispa points out. “The Mesopatamians won’t go easy on us. They’ll be expecting a village full of defenseless ponies, and when they find it empty, they’ll take that anger out on the village. There’ll be nothing left to come back to.” “Then we don’t come back. We won’t be slaves anymore. You won’t have to take care of Solorio, and I won’t have to work in that factory.” I offer. “But what about everyone else? Where will they go? The children? Or the old ponies? All they know is this village. All we know is this village.” She counters. “They can find someplace else. There thousands of places better than this. And just because this dump is all we know, doesn’t mean it’s all we have to know.” I respond. All around us, the townspeople are trotting back to their homes to pack as quickly as they can and evacuate. Her eyes filled with worry and brimming with tears, Chispa lowers her head. “I knew you would choose this.” She said sorrowfully. “I’m sorry.” I say before turning away and walking to my house to pack. ()()()()()()()() I was leaving without Chispa. I would never see her again. The thought of it struck me as I pulled my bag out of the house, ready to flee to another life. I would never hear her joyful laugh again, or listen to her release her pent up feeling about working for Solorio. I would never see her light green coat or smooth, flowing hair. This was the last time I would look her in the eye and say “Don’t worry.” As I was about to walk out the door, I ran inside the hut and grabbed the picture of Chispa on my nightstand. I might be leaving her here, but I was not leaving her completely. I also quickly scrawled a note and left it on the table. ‘I’ll write you once I settle. Goodbye.’ It said. She would undoubtedly come to my hut while I was gone. I turned away, walked out the door, and never looked back. My journey was just beginning. I would be free of this place, free of the factory, and all of the sorrows that came with it. ()()()()()()()()