Chapter One
They call it a concrete jungle; a wilderness of steel, glass, and stone. Just like any wild place it too has its animals. Only they are all wolves in sheep's clothing. The first time I saw it, I was amazed. I thought it a paradise, a place where I could lose myself and never be found. I thought that I could just be another face in the crowd and that nobody would care how I chose to live my life. I was wrong. Another city, another town, a small little hamlet on the edge of nothingness, none of it mattered. There are things that you can say and there are others that must be kept secret, between the shadow and the soul.
Spires of silver dotted the Manhattan skyline. The others were rather nondescript token of simpler times. Time had picked at the stone monstrosities until they seemed to only be held together by the hopes of those that dwelled or worked within. Those that worked in the glass castles had to paint on a face of superiority every morning. If they didn't that same glass would peal their faces clean off and the true king, greed would leave them broken with not but a name, anonymous in a sea of anonymity.
Squeaking in protest, the wheels of our wagon slowed to a stop. Standing at the intersection of Bronco street and East Chestnut avenue we watched the traffic pass by. Taxi carts, shipping ponies and their heavy wagons, and ponies trying just trying to get to work on time rushed by us. I tried to suppress the need to laugh at the sight of frou-frou ponies trying to run in their pressed clothes. All the hats lost in the rush and the grumbling ponies that had to find their way back to pick up what the lost.
Snickering at their expense I wiped a tear from my eye. My brother, a tall and thickly built sorrel coated earth pony with a thick coppery red mane, didn't even try to hide his enjoyment of the city pony's misery as he let out a boisterous laugh. The last pony of our trio was coal black earth pony with a cotton mane. He of course was just as obnoxious in is laughter as my brother.
"Look at these jokers," spat Cotten, his Bronco accent leaking from between his letters, between breaths as he held out a hoof, "youse would think that they would tie the hats on their heads like them ponies down south do."
"We are smarter down south aint' we," said Ton smirking.
"Yeah," replied Cotten before his eyes went wide, "Youse not calling northerners stupid are youse."
"Eyep,"
"Youse one to talk. I bet youse ma and da were cousins youse inbred idiot," said Cotten as he shoved my brother to the side.
"Quit it, Now!" I shouted trying to keep the two from getting in their third scuffle of the day. I then attended to the now jostled wagon. Ton always seemed to make the most trouble when he was the one hitched to our work wagon. I think he hated being the pack horse but, he was the strongest of the three of us. Not that I'm a shirker or anything. Luckily, Cotton's knot work kept everything in its place. Sighing, I turned to see that they were both looking at me like I had just swallowed a cockroach.
"What?"
"I'm not talkin' to youse," said Cotton as he turned away from me giving me a good look of his better side.
"Don't be an ass, Cotton!" I said jokingly.
"Ahem,"
Turning to see who had butted in, I saw a chubby little donkey wearing a frock coat eyeing me with daggers in his eyes.
"Eh, sorry,"
The donkey nodded and then started to cross the street.
We hurried along after him. We had the green and the pacing might help Cotton forget what I did.
"Why did youse have to tell my wife that I was in town, Scribble? Why? I could've shown the two of youse a good time," said Clay as he poked me in the shoulder.
"Yeah, Scribble! That was a dick move," said Ton.
I shook his head, "Cotton your wife is one of the best cooks I know and I want to eat a home cooked meal for once."
"Home Cooked? This ain't even youse home ya lil' country bitch. She won't be fixin' no grits or no sweet tea."
"And I wanted to get laid," added Ton.
"You two are horrible, just horrible. You both have beautiful mares at home and all you can think about is gettin' drunk and then stickin' it in some other mare," I groaned.
"The moral center speaks," said Ton before he started to snigger.
"I'm not just the moral center I'm also the stallion that handles the budget and it is far cheaper to stay at Cotton's place than it is to get a hotel room. I'm sorry if the two of you can't make of contest of how fast you can get drunk or who can get the first STD but, somepony has got to think about these kinds of things."
"Fag!" spat Clay.
Fire washed over my face, "I am not a fag! I like mares thank you very much."
"If you like mares so much why haven't you taken one to a hotel room or followed one to her place in the three years we have been workin' together, little brother?" asked Ton.
Digging my hooves into the sidewalk, I really didn't want t answerer that. I really don't have a good answer for that one. Or an answer that they would like.
"Look, I've got a good while before I can even think about settling down and I would rather do somethin' productive."
"You don't do anything productive " Ton smirked, "Unless you count your productivity in empty lotion bottles."
Blushing, I turned away as the other two laughed at me.
They continued to make fun of my lack of sexual prowess until we made it to our destination. It was an old warehouse, its red bricks faded into a mottled brown. The windows were covered with a scaled substance that could only caused by decades of uncleanliness. I had to get away from them for a moment so I left the other two to circle the building. Squeezing down the little ally way that was littered with garbage I rushed to the other side, hoping to be rid of the strong smell of urine that permeated the air. Scrunching my nose up, I pressed on. The back side of the building wasn't much different from the front. I did notice something; the building was slightly shorter in the back than in the front. Groaning, I knew what that could mean.
Cracked foundation, I thought before sighing.
Eyeing the passageway back, a passageway I didn't particularly want to transverse again I swallowed the bile rising in my throat and got to it, this time I held my breath.
Waiting for me on the other side was my coworkers and...
"Hmm..."
Ton didn't look very comfortable as the tall unicorn stallion squeezed the smaller one next to him. Their coats clashed aquamarine against pumpkin orange but, no more than my brother's love for bits and his hatred for anything that didn't fit into his narrow view of the world.
Cotton didn't seemed bothered in the least. His maniacal grin stretched long and thin, the gleam of promised bits in his eyes.
Walking closer to our new employers I heard it, that grating noise, that fake noise, and I hated it. And yet I felt pulled to it like a moth to flame.
"I can't wait till its finished can you, hon?" asked the orange unicorn in a lilting lisping voice as he pulled away to better look into the taller one's eyes.
The gay is strong with this one, I thought before grinning at my own joke.
Aqua flashed a toothy grin, "I can wait. I will wait forever if I have to; I just want it done right," he said as he narrowed his eyes at Cotton and Ton.
"Umm, hi!" I said cheerfully and also painfully shyly.
The orange one quickly left his partners side to place himself directly in my face, "Who are you?"
I was immediately assaulted with the biter scent of tangerines. I fought the urge not to scrunch up my nose. It was a losing battle.
"Ah ah ah...Achoo!" I roared after I turned to the side.
"Tisk Tisk," said Orange as he made his way back to Aqua to fetch something from the pair of saddle bags that rested at Aqua's hooves.
Reaching up I started to wipe away the slimy filthy stuff that clung to my nose.
"Don't you do it, mister!" hissed Orange as he trotted towards me with a hanky in tow.
My hoof was suspended inches from my nose and I wanted nothing more than to be removed from the situation. Eating in front of anypony was bad enough but, this was worse. It was almost as bad as relieving yourself while some one is looking.
The almost painfully white hanky was held in the air by a blue glow. So, his magic aura matches his eye color and not his coat, interesting. I thought. Reaching for the hanky I stopped. What else could have been on this hanky? He is so gay so what if it is what he uses to clean up after...
Looking over at my brother's face I could tell by his eyes that he was silently screaming no. Aqua just raised his eyebrow and then he motioned for me to take it.
"Do you like to be so gross," spat Orange as he shook the hanky in the air, "Don't make me clean you up like a foal. I will do it. I'm warning you."
Giving him a polite smile I took the hanky and cleaned myself up. I then held it out for Orange to take it back.
"You keep it," he said as he backed away, not wanting to be near the germ blanket. All was quiet for a few moments so I walked over and placed it into my saddle bags which were currently strapped to the work car.
"So, who are you?" asked Orange again.
I opened my mouth to speak but thankfully Ton beat me too it, "he's my kid brother."
"I'm not a kid," I almost shouted.
The four other ponies shared a grin at my expense. Kid was a four letter word to me. I hated being patronized. More so than that I hated how that description hung on. Blankflank I was until sophomore year of college, it was in a creative writing class that I earned my wings. Now a silver quill wet with ink adorned my flanks and I couldn't have been prouder. I was kids so long that it was almost a nick name just like blankflank. Desperately clinging to me like a leech, stealing from me my life blood.
"Well he's a cute kid," said Orange with his honeyed lips. Flustered, I pulled off my toboggan and buried my face in it. My wings twitched. They always twitched when someone complemented me and it didn't matter if it was mare, stallion, or foal. Secretly I was an attention whore but, I wasn't about to let anypony know that.
"What is your name, Kid?" asked Aqua as he eyed Ton dangerously. I don't know why but suddenly my hooves where the most interesting things in the world. One crunch, one step, one crunch, one step and then I felt warm breath wash over my mane. It felt kind of nice. My wings tensed up and then started to unfurl. Why?!, I mentally screamed.
"What's your name?" he asked again. The deep rumble of his voice made my heart speed up. The pony in my head was trying to find a place to run as the ground fell away. Calm down! So what he's gay. And you might be a little bit gay. He's taken. But, what if they know others? No, don't do this to yourself. The last time you got hurt. Just swallow this sickness and find a filly that you can stand and do what's right. Give your folks grandfoals. No reason to get a wingboner over this, I thought as I chewed on my lip.
Battling my wings back down, I slowly looked up and found myself lost in one of the many facets of Aqua's twin rubies.
"My... my... my name is Scrib—ble Scratch." I muttered breathlessly.
Aqua gave me a soft smile, "My name is Chill Touch. Some call me a doctor, some other things. You can call me Chill or Chilly."
We bumped hooves and that was that. Orange on the other hoof wasn't so cool. He sashayed over to me and wrapped me in hug, which was awkward, at least for me. He then told me his name was, Magnesium Fluoride, but everypony calls him Flo. Saying something along the lines that his father was an astronomer and his mother was an optometrist and that was the only name they could agree on.
The first day was nothing more than the couple explaining what they wanted done to the place. Let me tell you, it was a lot. They wanted us to clean the outside, replace the fire escape, and replace broken bricks if we could, pressure wash the sidewalks, the alleyway and that was just the outside. The inside was to be given the full treatment. New tile, divider walls, wiring, pretty much everything needed to be replaced or restored.
I usually liked doing this kind of work but, I couldn't keep my mind off of the couple we were working for and for the life of me I couldn't figure out why, jealousy maybe?