The Bond

by GhostWriter

Chapter One - Dormant

-Chapter One-

Dormant

Night Wisp slowly trotted down the silent streets of Ponyville, Luna’s moon basking her in its pale, cool light. Many of the houses were dark and silent, their owners having gone to sleep hours ago. It was midnight, and nopony was outside except for the lone, dark grey pegasus that moved through the streets. Night glanced back behind herself, wondering if what she was doing was for the best of everypony or just plain foalish. She was told it was an accident, something she didn’t know about, but now the closest pony to her was gone. Gone because of her.

She felt another surge of anger rise in her soul, and she quickly faced forward, breaking into a full gallop. She fought back the tears in her eyes as she sped down the road, passing house after house, soon coming upon the town’s edge. She slowed and stopped, exhausted both physically and mentally, and began to silently sob. Wet droplets ran down her muzzle and onto the ground, becoming soaked up in the dirt. Why was this happening to her? How had she even gotten into doing this? She lay down, still sobbing, as memories from the last two days trickled through her mind like the tears on her face...

“Night Wisp! Wake up, young mare, or you’ll be late!”

Her eyes barely even opened before she squinted them, bright sunshine glaring down on her from the window. Once they adjusted, she discovered whose voice had called her. A mare with a light orange mane and cream coat was next to Night’s bed, grinning down at her at seeing the grey pegasus awaken. The mare was Harvest Moon, but to the pegasus, she was her mother. However, this didn’t make much difference in Night’s attitude towards waking up. With a groan, she ducked under the covers to try and hide from the blinding morning light.

“Too..early...” the mare murmured, her voice muffled as she rolled her face into her pillow.

Harvest only chuckled, grabbing the blankets with her teeth and yanking them off. “Come on, silly filly, time to get up!” The rush of cool air made Night shiver as the warmth of her blankets suddenly disappeared. She sat up, her mind beginning to process what Harvest had said...something about being late?

Night’s eyes suddenly shot open, realizing the meaning in those words. She remembered her conversation the day before with Elmwood, Ponyville’s carpenter, and how he had offered her the job to be his assistant. She quickly looked over to her bedside clock. It was 7:30 AM.; she had 30 minutes until she had to meet Elmwood outside the carpentry shop. With a sudden burst of frantic energy, the pegasus was out of bed and grabbing her saddlebag, setting it on the bed. But instead of running around the room to gather her items, she simply closed her eyes as if in concentration. On the ground, her shadow darkened as small black tendrils reached out and began to gather the things she would need. She heard her mother sigh with contentment, then light hoofsteps as she trotted out. “I left your lunch downstairs in the kitchen, dear. Good luck at your job!”

She was completely unphased by the sight of the pegasi’s strange appendages. To her mother, this was a normal thing to watch; her parents had told Night she’d been doing it ever since she was a foal. However, they had always been strict about not letting her use abilities outside of the house, though they never said why. The pegasus respected their wishes, as odd as they seemed, but this didn't stop her from secretly practicing tricks when she was alone. She would pick things up mostly, sometimes tossing objects to and fro. Once she had even managed to juggle a little, though it left her with a painful headache, at which she didn't try it again. It was like she was performing magic, like a unicorn, but she didn’t have a horn, and she had read that unicorns don't start out controlling their magic well.

These facts really didn’t make the mare any more curious, though. She had been, and still was, a fairly innocent pony; in her younger days, she would pretend she was a lost alicorn princess, and her horn had been hidden with spell to keep her identity secret. It was often just a game, but sometimes she would get a nagging feeling at the back of her mind, as if something was there that she couldn't see. She would sometimes find herself staring at her own shadow, wondering exactly how she could make what wasn't there become physical, as if it were always like that. One day she had to find out what they were for, why she had them...but for now, she had more important things on her mind. Like her job.

As the tendrils finished their work, dropping the last item into her bag, they slid back down into her shadow and disappeared. Night Wisp looked at the clock, which read 7:47. She was taking too long. The mare cursed under her breath, glad her mother was not in the room to hear her. Harvest didn’t take cursing all too well, even if it was used for a good reason. Night tossed the saddlebag onto her back and quickly left her room, turning left to fly downstairs almost quite literally. Of all the days for her to be running late, it could not be this one.

As she entered the kitchen, Night saw a pale blue, earth pony stallion with a short, white mane looking over the morning mail. The pony was Wave Crest, Night’s father. He looked up at the pegasus as she dashed in and grabbed the sack lunch Harvest had made for her, his grin an obvious sign of his amusement.

“Not staying for breakfast?” he asked with a soft chuckle. “Your mother fixed some fine omelettes this morning...” Night knew that he was teasing her for waking up too late to eat breakfast and she really wished she could have one of her mother’s omelettes. But getting her first job was her priority at that moment, and nothing was going to sway her. Giving him a playful glare, she turned, leaving the kitchen and her father, rushing to and out the front door. Turning left, the mare broke into a gallop as she headed towards the town square, narrowly dodging other ponies who were in the street with errands of their own.

As she approached an intersection, she found herself running in a crash course with a large crowd just ahead. The mare’s silver eyes flashed in the light as they darted left and right, taking in the scene before her. It appeared to be an accident where a cart had lost a wheel; some crates were knocked over in the center, rising up towards the left. Just behind those was a cloth sun cover for a small street shop, and quickly approaching from the right, behind the crowd, was a large wagon of fresh apples being pulled by Big Macintosh and Applejack. Night Wisp smiled, her route now clear in her mind. With a leap, she bounded up onto the crates, her speed hardly slowing as she reached the top and jumped from the crate to the sun cover. Being made of a particularly strong material, and likely reinforced with magic, she bounced off of the cloth as if it were a trampoline and soared through the air, landing with a *thunk!* on the Apple’s wagon. Applejack jumped and turned around, looking both surprised and a little annoyed.

“What in tarnation-” she began to say, then realized there was a familiar pony sitting atop the cart. Her annoyance turned to amusement as she let out a soft chuckle. “Well howdy there, Night! Ah shoulda known you’d be joining us at some point...this is the third time this week you’ve given me a start with one of yer fancy entrances!”

The grey mare smiled, sitting down atop the cart and shrugging. “What can I say, Applejack? You turn right at this intersection every day of apple season at the same time of morning, and I happen to be going the same way just about every other morning. It’s convenient.”

“Well, Ah guess so,” the orange mare replied, facing forward as she and Big Mac began to turn right and heading towards the town square, just as Night knew they would. Applejack and her brother continued on, but the mare soon turned her head around to face the grey pony, a confused expression on her face. “Um..Night, not that I really mind, but what gets me is that, well...you’re a pegasus. Can’t ya just fly to where ya need to go instead of hitchin’ a ride?”

Night laughed softly at the question, extending her left wing out and acknowledging the appendage.“Oh, but where's the fun in flying? It’s too fast, and not very social." While an honest answer, this was actually an excuse; having grown up as a pegasus with two earth ponies for parents, Night's flying abilities were only decent due to a less expensive home-program for learning to fly. But, that was something that would go to her grave, if she could help it.

"And besides," she continued. "I enjoy hearing your stories about you and the other Elements, as well as harvest stories. And judging by your inventory today, I guess this was another good harvest?” She motioned to the abundance of apple crates that sat in the cart, each one filled with about twenty bright red and green apples.

Applejack’s worried expression quickly changed to a proud smile at the pegasi’s compliment. “Good? This has been more than jus’ good, in my opinion. Ah’m thinkin’ this could be the best harvest Ah’ve ever bucked!” the orange mare chuckled. “These here apples are jus’ what me an’ Big Mac bucked this mornin’, but we may have to ask AppleSpice and AppleFritter to come from Appleoosa help us get the rest of the east field!”

Night opened her mouth to congratulate them when she caught sight of Elmwood’s tan coat some distance away. She made a quick decision to go ahead and meet up with him, giving her goodbyes to Applejack and Macintosh before jumping down from the cart and cantering over towards the carpenter. She noticed that he was talking to Pinkie Pie, who was bouncing up and down in front of him; it was obvious she was excited about something. Knowing the pink pony, it could be anything from a birthday of somepony’s pet to a visitor in Ponyville. Night soon made her way over to the two ponies, upon which she could hear them talking...well, Pinkie talking non-stop and Elmwood just appearing to listen. This was usually how ‘conversations’ went with the bubbly mare, but nopony ever seemed to mind, and Elmwood was nowhere near an exception.

“...and there’ll be balloons and cake and cupcakes and more cake and games and dancing and music- *GASP* I think I’ll go home and start planning it, I can’t wait!!” Pinkie jumped, somehow turned midair, then sped off down the road in the general direction of Sugarcube Corner, a mere blur of pink leaving a light plume of dust in her wake. After the dust settled, along with slight bout of coughing from both Elmwood and Night Wisp, the tan colored unicorn turns and realizes who was standing next to him.

“Why, if it isn’t Night Wisp!” the stallion exclaims in a gruff but cheery tone. “I was thinking I’d find you at the shop, but it seems you found me first!” He began to chuckle, which succeeded in bring a smile to Night’s face.

Any newcomer who gave a first glance at the carpenter would have been slightly intimidated by his size and look. But despite his elderly appearance, burly figure, thick silver-grey beard, muddy green eyes, and gravely voice, Elmwood was the only other pony besides Pinkie that could make just about anypony smile. He was known around town for his particular ability to crack the perfect joke for any occasion; his gryphon jokes were especially good, though they were often told indoors for courtesy of others. Some ponies would come to his shop just to talk with him, which was exactly how Night got to know him. She had been to Elmwood’s shop a few times when she was younger on errands with her father, but never spoke with the unicorn, often standing quietly next to Wave Crest while the two stallions chatted and did business.

One day while the pegasus, still a young foal, had ventured out to play, she came upon a group of colts and fillies showing off their cutie marks. Night Wisp was still a blank flank, and although she was probably a year older then most of them, she allowed herself to be ridiculed by the group. That is, until Elmwood stepped up. The mere sight of the unicorn scattered the group after a long moment of silence, leaving Night and Elmwood on their own. The stallion took her into his store, even taking her into the workshop and letting her help him with a few orders he had received that day, cracking jokes every now and then and giving the young pegasus small tasks which she would happily do. The evening rolled in eventually, at which Elmwood took the young filly home, letting her ride on his back the whole way. At reaching Night’s house, he set her down at the front steps, but asked her to stay a moment.

“Night Wisp, I know it’s tough not knowin’ your special talent, and I won’t always be around to scare off other ponies from makin’ fun of you,” he had told her. “But I want you to remember somethin’...just because you don’t know doesn’t mean somepony else does. Nopony can tell you who you are. That’s for you to choose.” He then smiled and gave her dark blue mane a playful nuzzle, slowly turning to head back home, but Night ran around in front of him. “Um..mister Elmwood? Can I work in your shop with you again? Maybe my talent is carpentry, just like you!” Her question must’ve been quite adorable, because the stallion looked almost downhearted as he responded. “I’m afraid not, Wispy...maybe when you’re a little older. But I’m glad you enjoyed helpin’ me today.” With a soft chuckle, he gave the filly a light noogie with his hoof. “Now, get on inside. Young fillies like yourself don’t need to be out this late, or Nightmare Moon will come out and getcha!” The pegasus had squeaked at the mention of Nightmare Moon and ran to the door, quickly waving to Elmwood before going inside.

That had all been when Night was only seven years old, and now, nine years later, she stood in front of the carpenter once again, about to get to work in his shop like before. Her flank was still bare of any mark, despite her efforts to find her special talent, but ever since Elmwood had taken her home that night, she had not cared one bit. She knew she was still unique compared to most pegasi, even if nopony else knew about about her abilities, and she took her difference to heart.

“Night Wisp?” The sound of Elmwood’s voice quickly brought the pegasus out of her thoughts, at which she blinked her eyes a few times to find Elmwood giving her a concerned look.

“Wispy, you okay?” he asked, bending his head down to look directly at her eyes. Night blinked again, then gave a warm smile.

“Oh, hehe, sorry Elmwood. I was just thinking..” she replied, continuing to smile at the stallion in front of her in hopes to relieve him of worry. Elmwood looked at her for a few more seconds, as if trying to depict whether what she said was true or not, then shrugged and sat up again.

“Well, alright. If you say you’re okay, Wispy, I believe you,” he said finally, giving his neck a good stretch before returning the smile “Come on then, time’s a-wastin’! One of the first things you’ll learn about workin’ in my shop is that you never know how many orders you’ll get, or how big each will be...the key there is to just keep on going. Lemme tell you about the time my uncle Mesquite got an order from Princess Celestia herself...”

And so he began to talk to her, telling stories and jokes as they went to his shop, which was not too far from the Ponyville Town Hall. The shop itself didn’t look like much more than an old shack, for that is what it had always been. It was a known fact the Elmwood’s shop was the oldest standing building in all of Ponyville, and had been run by his family since Ponyville was just a settlement that surrounded Apple Acres. While all of the other homes and businesses grew in size and glamour, adding colors and trendy designs, the carpentry shop had remained the same, the owners always able to fix anything that was falling apart on the small, wooden structure. Whether it was the fact that a family of carpenters had always owned the place to keep it standing or whether the frame of the structure was made of enchanted wood, nopony knew. But the ratty old shack, despite its appearance, had proved stronger and more resilient to the weather than some of the newer houses built those days. There was never a loose board, never a single piece of rotting wood, utterly no visible area of weakness visible on the building; even as Night and Elmwood stepped up onto the front porch beneath the extended roof, the only sounds made were their hooves on wood. Not a single board creaked or groaned with age and feebleness, although each one looked similarly darkened from their exposure to the elements.

However, this sight quickly changed upon stepping inside of the shop. The darkened boards became bright and fresh-looking, the floorboards of the store being glossed to preserve their appearance. The walls held no kinds of decoration to give a cozy feeling, but the room felt cozy nonetheless, despite the one wall holding a selection of example board sizes, along with a few chairs and cushions by the door for anypony who had the time to wait for their order. The room was neat, clean, and held a very comforting atmosphere that one often feels when inside a cabin. As the two moved around to the back of the counter, small traces of sawdust could be seen on the floor, and it began to become more noticeable as she and Elmwood reached the door to the workshop. The stallion suddenly paused at the door, blocking the way for the pegasus to go in but not going in himself. Night Wisp, who was eagerly awaiting to get into the workshop already, looked around Elmwood’s side and gave him a look of curiosity.

“Um...Elmwood, is something wrong?” she asked, not sure if she should be worried that he wasn’t going in and had become silent. The stallion turned his head, a single eye looking back at her as a grin crawled onto his face.

“Oh, nothin’s wrong,” he replied, a soft chuckle sounding from his throat. “I just wanted to see how agitated you’d get if I stood here.” The pegasus, though she knew the unicorn was just messing with her, gave him a pleading look.

"Elmwooood! I want to start working already!" she said, nudging at his hind leg with a forehoof. The tan pony chuckled again, giving into the pleading as he took a step to the door.

"Hehe, you're more eager than I was on my first day! Alright, Wispy, we'll get to work. But since it's your first day, I won't have you on any of the machinery. Fair enough?" Upon receiving a smile and a few nods from Night, the stallion pushed the door open with his head and stepped in, with the pegasus mare following behind. As she entered the workshop, she was immediately hit with the scent of fresh sawdust mixed with an odd smell Night couldn't identify. It was like somepony had tried to use incense to make the room smell better, but it had only blended with the first smell to make a sweet, dusty fragrance that was subtle and yet strong. Some would say it was one or the other, but to Night, it was the smell of work.

And there was, indeed, work. Although Elmwood didn’t want Night to be on the steam-powered saw or doing any similar jobs, there was plenty he had for her to do. Sweeping up the floor of the workshop was the longest lasting part of her work, but it was not really what one would consider ‘hard work’. It was perhaps more like a ‘do this until I have something else you can do’ kind of job, which the mare certainly didn’t mind doing. The floor of the workshop, upon looking down, looked easy enough to sweep, but every time she’d turn around, the area she had swept up would have traces of sawdust and small wood bits in it.

Well, it is a carpentry shop... she thought the first time she noticed the corner she had swept not a minute before had gathered a small pile of the brown flakes. At the rate the amounts appeared, Night had to wonder what the floor used to be like when Elmwood didn’t have somepony constantly sweeping as he worked. But she continued to sweep, keeping anticipation strong in her mind, wondering when she would actually get to do more things, like help the stallion on an order or even, with hope, do an order herself. She knew Elmwood was the carpenter, but ever since the last time she had been in the workshop, she had really wondered if maybe carpentry was her special talent. The smell of the sawdust, the atmosphere of the shop, the sound of wood being cut and pounded upon, all of this just seemed to be comfortable to Night.

Is this how a pony feels before getting their cutie mark? This..strange comfort that comes with sounds, sights, smells...could carpentry be my talent? She would have thought further into that idea, maybe even daydreaming herself as a carpenter had Elmwood not come up and tapped on her shoulder. Startled, the pegasus made an ‘eep!’ sound and spun around, the broom dropping from her teeth and clattering to the floor.

“Whoa there, it’s only me, Night!” the tan stallion said, an amused but forgiving expression on his face. Night paused, her own face blank for a few seconds before it blushed red with embarrassment.

“Oh, sorry Elmwood. Just a little excited...” she replied with a chuckle, hoping he hadn’t noticed her spacing out. The unicorn simply chuckled with her, then shook his head.

“Hehe, I know you’re eager about workin’, but there’s no need to make yourself nervous! I was just going to ask you to run over to Mocha Bean’s shop and grab a couple of coffees. I just got three more orders on top of the two I have to finish, and I’m going to need some extra fuel.” The mare agreed, and after receiving a small pouch of bits, trotted out of the shop, turning right and heading over to the coffee shop. To be honest, though the sweeping was an easy job, it had been getting a tad tedious for Night, so the opportunity to walk was appreciated.

When she arrived at the shop, she found a decent line just barely poking out of the door; a good ten minute wait at least. She was in no hurry, though, so she waited the ten minutes and soon had two cups of hot, fresh coffee. However, traveling back to the workshop took a little more time. The coffee was fresh, and if it was from Mocha Bean’s shop, that meant more than just ‘hot’. Nopony knew exactly how the pony made her addicting coffee, but there were few ponies who could drink a fresh cup of her café equestriano and not receive a good burn in their mouths.

Night soon reached the workshop with the drinks just in time to hear the hissing sound of the steam-powered saw being turned on. The sound grew steadily louder as she entered the workshop, the high-pitched mechanical shriek soon erupting as Elmwood placed the spinning blade down on a two-by-four he had placed on the cutting table. Not able to get any words out above the sound of the saw, he motioned to a table behind him for the mare to set down the drinks.

There was a problem, though, one that the stallion didn’t seem to realize. The table was a mess. Tools, wood chunks, and goggles covered this particular table. But, not seeing any other tables that were cleaner, Night moved some of the items back enough to set the small tray with the two coffees down, though the tray looked a bit precariously placed. She looked at it for a moment, then turned around, shaking off her worry. Elmwood may be a stallion, but he wouldn’t be one to go and easily bump into something.

This thought barely finished reading in her mind when suddenly, there was an odd series of sounds from behind her. She heard Elmwood make a mild sound of surprise, the sound of a bump, a splash, then a more surprised yelp from the stallion. She heard him get through only one curse, though, before the saw’s tone changed to a slightly lowered sound, like an object had hit it that wasn’t wood. Something warm lightly spritzed her cheek, like small droplets of water, and there was a shrieking sound. Not the blade on wood, though...this time, it was Elmwood.

The stallion was kneeled on the ground, screaming worse than a banshee as he held his right hoof. Scarlet stained the dusty fur, the silver metal blade, the cutting table, and a little bit of Night’s grey coat. The two coffee cups were one the ground, their liquids spilled and mixing with the red droplets that trickled from the wound. It was at this time the mare, now realizing what was going on, went into a panic. Elmwood was hurt. Badly.

Where is the first aid? Does he even have one? Oh Celestia, what am I supposed to do!? She quickly went to Elmwood’s aid, trying to calm him down as the steam saw wailed on, mixing with the screaming to drown out her words. Night began to think frantically to herself, help him, heal him, do something! She closed her eyes to think, trying to focus amongst the confusion so that she could help the unicorn. Suddenly, an odd sensation spread over her, a kind of cool feeling that felt full of energy, like when one steps into cold water and shivers.

She opened her eyes, only to be surprised by the sight of 3 black arms reaching from her shadow. The arms quickly wrapped around the hoof, writhing madly, convulsing like living creatures, creating a sight that looked very unsettling. Then, they stopped and became still. Slowly they slid back to her shadow, like snakes to water, as Elmwood still held his hoof, no longer screaming but still looking to be in pain. A rush of drowsiness quickly hit Night as the arms finally disappeared, making her need to sit down so as not to tip over.

She sat there, unsure of what she'd done. It was obvious she tried to heal the wound, but she hadn’t planned on doing it like that. It was like the arms had made their own decision. This, however, could be figured out later; her question right then was whether Elmwood was alright. She reached out a hoof to the unicorn, whose eyes were shut tight still. He jumped at her touch, eyes opening and staring at her blankly, as if everything that had just happened was erased from memory. The eyes looked at her, then down at the blood-stained hooves. Slowly, the top hoof moved aside to reveal...more blood-stained fur. Just blood-stained fur. The wound, a sizeable gash that might have taken weeks to fully heal on its own, had disappeared within a few seconds.

Author's Note:

Did some editing on this chapter, mainly on making some of these paragraphs smaller and fixing some unimportant bits that were thrown into the original.. Hope it looks better!

Comments

[ShadowLancer]

I have to say, that was very enjoyable. You, my good sir, have a track and a follow.

Take some pinkies!

[Night Fire]

Hey, thanks for telling me it was on here, I'll clue in Chrome and Swift. But before I leave...
FLUTTERS, VOICE COMMAND!!!!!!!

[GhostWriter]

[insert deep inhale sound here]
Yay!
With that said, I hope the Nightmare visits your dreams tonight, Night Fire.

[TheBigBob]

Here are some comments after the first chapter.

Your prose is good, but your formatting needs some word. Paragraphs are way too long, to the point of being walls of text. In addition, anytime a different character is talking, you should put a line break. If Applejack is saying a bunch, and then Night has a single line before Applejack talks again, then there should be two line breaks. Also, generally you want the story to start not too long before the plot kicks in. Night spent a lot of time doing not particularly anything, and while a little bit is good to establish the status quo before things get interesting, I think you went a bit overboard.

That said though, your actual writing is good, and I like Night as a character.