Tainted Gifts

by Touch of Darkness

Run...

It all started a long time ago, long before I was born, with a rift. A rift in space that defied all explanation. A rift that joined two worlds that should have never been joined. Of course, to the humans, there was no land to be left unmarked, unmapped. The rift was hidden from the general public, but the wealthy and the privileged had the opportunity to visit the strange world of Equestria. Relations between humans and ponies were shaky at first, but curiosity got the best of both species, and things started to slowly improve. Celestia, always kind, let the humans trickle into Equestria. She allowed this to happen because the scientists had promised to keep it at a trickle. They kept their promise, but problems still occurred. Humans, when you think about them, are a dominant species. Humans are the apex-predator, the unconquerable, the forever standing. Humans are used to taming and owning organisms they consider inferior to them, whether it be loyal Fido, or an illegally obtained lion. Coming from a world where ponies were intellectually inferior, the natural human persona began to emerge. Dog eat dog, became dog control mouse, and even the wolf pack couldn't control the situation. Things began to spiral out of control. All too human problems began to assimilate into the all too pony world. Corruption became prevalent. Chaos began to erupt in a world where peace had reigned for many millennia. Control had to be found somewhere, in some way or method. That is where I come in...

---

I ran, backpack bouncing on my back, hood and jacket flapping from the speed I was running at. I tripped, tucked in, hit the ground and rolled, got up, and then continued my sprint. I couldn't stop. Terrance had told me not to. Was he okay? Had he made it out? I looked behind me at the bar that was quickly disappearing behind the hulking forms of the Manehatten buildings. I saw the man, our target, walk out of the building, hands clasped behind his back. He looked in my direction, and I knew he smiled. His white coat stirred little in the wind, making the movement of his arm to point at me all the more obvious. Two burly men sprinted through the doors and turned to follow me. The man turned on his perfect black shoes, and walked with his white slacks back into the building. In all essence of his arrogance, his long brown hair flowed behind him as he went back into the bar. I growled and looked back where I was going.

Two streets, turn right, five streets turn left. Get to the train station. Get out of here., Terrance had whispered to me just before it had gone all wrong, and I did just so.

---

I stood in front of the train station, fumbling with my pack to get it off me. I finally got it off, and threw it to the ground. I opened it, and took out the necessities. My lucky balisong, the money I had with me, and a couple firecrackers all got stuffed in my pockets. I took my spare hoodie out, and changed into it quickly. Then I chucked the backpack, old hoodie stuffed inside, into the alley by the station. I smoothed out my hair as I walked through the door to the station, and then threw my hood back on. A mix of ponies and people were in the station, some alone, some talking together. It was peaceful, calming. I knew that wasn't going to last long. I walked briskly to one of the windows. The pony "manning" it looked at me and jumped, and then smiled and chuckled.

"You look like you just saw a ghost.", he said, politely trying to start conversation about why I looked the way I did. I managed a smile.

"Yeah...saw a couple things coming here I wish I hadn't. Happy I'm getting out of here."

"What'll it be?" I thought quickly about some of places I knew. I'd been everywhere. Everywhere except...

"One ticket to Ponyville please, whichever train is leaving the soonest." I knew of the town only because of the famed Elements of Harmony that resided there. They were always in the paper, always in conversation. They always managed to be one step ahead the bad guys, always proving that good was better than evil.

"That!", the pony exclaimed, bringing my attention back to him. "Will be 150 bits or 100 dollars." I dug into my pocket and forked out the money in dollars. "The first train is leaving in ten minutes. That's train number thirteen. Next one leaves in an hour. That one's train number fifteen." My ticket slid under the bars. A shadow moved in my peripheral vision, and I stealthily slipped the ticket into my pocket. A hand rested on my shoulder. In response, my hands clenched up, and I felt a buzzing sensation through my body. This buzzing was just the build up of a primal energy inside me. Something like endorphins and adrenaline mixing together, but more powerful. I couldn't let this energy find it's way out of me. I had to think fast, and act faster. Otherwise...otherwise I would never leave this place.

"Hey kid, would you mind turning around for us so we could see your face?" I let out a blatantly fake laugh.

"Why would you want to see the face of a kid?"

"Just do it."

"I refuse to do it without reason." The hand tightened on my shoulder, tensing to turn me around.

"We have reason to suspect that you attempted to murder a very respectable individual less than an hour ago."

"What could I have possibly done? I'm fourteen, religious, get good grades." This response was made specifically to make the teller uncomfortable, and it worked. He backed up a little, and that little bit was all I needed. His body now away from the bars, my next move wouldn't register to him before I had completed it.

"Just make it easy on us and turn around." I smiled mischievously.

"Whatever you say." This is what I had been trained for. I knew how to react to a situation like this. Now all that training was finally going to serve some real use. In a sweeping motion, I grabbed the man's gun (which was hanging tantalizingly close to me) and shoved him back. Not expecting the shove, he reeled back into his partner, even in all his burliness. I cocked the gun and shot it upward. Everyone and everypony broke into an uproar, which was just what I needed. I chucked the gun with all my force at the man who had grabbed me, and it clocked him on the head. He went limp, and his partner, now carrying an unexpected deadweight, gave into the weight and fell as well. I ran through the chaos and found train number thirteen, and boarded it. I went to the back and slid into a seat. The whole ordeal had lasted a couple minutes, probably less. Not long after I got on, the train left towards Ponyville, perfectly on time. As I sat, breathing calmly, I felt all the energy that had been building inside me begin to dissipate. Having no use at the moment, it flowed through my blood until it got back to where it came from. Once there, my body absorbed it once more, ready to release that powerful hormone whenever I felt threatened again. I was happy that I hadn't needed to use it. Coming on to this happy high that I always got when I didn't use that hormone, that stimulant, I began to doze a little. However, before drifting off, I thanked my lucky stars for this train. This lucky train that had been leaving in the perfect amount of time for my escape. Lucky train number thirteen.

---

I came down from my high surprisingly quickly, and had awoken only a couple hours after departure. The rest of the trip was long, and I got little sleep between the time I awoke and the day following. The day waned into night again, and I tried to finally get some more sleep. No more than an hour later, the train slowed to a stop, and I was in Ponyville. I groggily got off the train, and stumbled through the station. Once outside, I found myself on the edge of the quaint town. It was late, and many were asleep, but not so late that all were asleep, and I saw quite a few ponies and humans out and about. It was too risky to go straight through the town, so I decided to skirt the edges of the it and see what I could find. On the other side of the town, I found a well trodden dirt path, and followed it. After a little walk, I found a big barn that was surrounded by orchards of trees. I noticed a little building on the side of the barn, and with my little knowledge of barns, and using the hay bales by it as context clues, I figured that it was where the owner of the barn stored his or her hay. I dashed to the building, and finding it unlocked, opened it, slipped inside, and then quietly closed it. I let my eyes adjust to the dark, and navigated to the back of the storage area. I climbed on a stack of hay, and finding myself relatively hidden from view, dozed off.

I'll just wake up early...and leave before...before... My train of thought crashed against a yawn, and then everything went black.

Comments

[Generaresity]

I wanna know what this "powerful hormone" is. It sounds like this story is going to be really action-y. Hope you update soon, this sounds really good and you have like no grammar mistakes.