Flashes of Insight

by jaimeastorga2000

Non-Attachment (#558)

Author's Note:

The Prompt: In a hole in the ground, there lived a pony.

Free Spirit woke up to the feeling of being kicked in the face.

"Ow! What the hay?!" he screamed, his eyes nailed shut by pain. From above him, he heard a reply.

"'What the hay?' That's exactly what I should be asking! Here I am, taking a pleasant stroll on the outskirts of town you have been telling me were so lovely, and what do I find? My new coltfriend is sleeping IN A HOLE, IN THE GROUND!"

Oh, horseapples. He knew that voice. With a wince, he opened his eyes enough to take in the view of his current fillyfriend, Straight Edge, towering above him like a hydra straight from the Everfree. On a second thought, he might have preferred the hydra.

"You told me you were going home last night! What the hay are you doing, sleeping out here like a drunkard?!"

"Knock it off," said Free Spirit as he turned over, rubbing his snout as he got on his legs. Straight Edge was softly pushed aside, but she quickly circled and stared at his face with the burning fury of dragon fire lit behind her pupils. "Look, I am home, okay? This is where I live. For now, at least."

Straight Edge didn't back down, but slowly, the features on her face twisted from pure rage into a smidgen of confusion. "You... live here? Are you saying you are some kind of a homeless pony?!"

"No, I just told you, I AM home. Home is where the heart is, don'tcha know?" he said, with a small, cocky grin that he knew from experience would drive her wild. Unfortunately, Straight Edge's brain was still too shocked to do much driving.

"But... how? Every time I've seen you, you are clean! You are presentable! You don't even have a beard!"

Free Spirit sighted and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, turns out gym memberships are pretty cheap. You would be amazed at what a couple of daily showers can do for your appearance."

Straight Edge was staring at him incredulously. "But... but how can you keep a job if you don't have a house? Where do you file all your paperwork?"

He put a hoof behind his head, at least having the decency to look a little embarrassed. "I don't, okay? I work on this or that odd job every time I feel my purse running bit light. It's all under the table. No paperwork, no taxes, no nothing."

"But..." repeated Straight Edge, her mind struggling to come up with some other complain that would justify her feeling of utter wrongness, "but that can't be enough to buy all your food! How do you eat?"

Free Spirit gave her a flat look. "We're ponies. There's plenty of grass around. I manage somehow."

Straight Edge couldn't believe her ears. Her eyes started to water. "You have been grazing... for weeks? Oh, Spirit, why didn't you tell me?! Listen, I have some extra room in my apartment. Why don't you come out of the hole and we'll get you nice and settled and in the morning we'll look at the classifieds and..."

"No!" he said suddenly, backing away from her. "Don't you understand? That's exactly what I don't want! I don't want to be tied down in one place, I don't want my life to be spent paying for an ever bigger shelter filled with ever more useless things, alright?! I like this life. Before I came here, I spent months under a bridge in Manehattan, and I met all these ponies and, and we had a lot of fun! And then I felt the need to move on, and you know what? I want to be able to pack my saddlebags and move out of here tomorrow if I want to!"

If her eyes had been watering before, now Straight Edge's eyes were flooded with tears. "Spririt..."

"I'm going for a walk," he announced, packing his stuff in. "You're free to stay in the hole if you want, just lock the door when you leave," he spat, and then walked away.

Comments

[Lightninglioness]

Is it legal for that to be my OC's name?
Please?

[Lightninglioness]

4905614
*Free Spirit

[ObsidianOrangutan]

The line about houses full of useless stuff reminds me faintly of Fight CLub

Clever way to take the prompt