“So, Eclipse,” I begin with as much courage as I can fake in an attempt to restart the conversation line that had fallen dormant while I trot a little more to his side rather than ahead or behind of him. “You said you were exploring. How’d you come across that temple? It’s not exactly an easy one to find.”
“I guess I just have a keen eye for those kinds of things,” he replies, slowing down slightly so that we both walk at the same pace, which opens up the conversation and makes my fake confidence feel a little more real. “It was quite noticeable actually, the stone of the temple against the dirt of the forest.”
“True enough, but the forest is quite thick. Likely that and the valley it rests in is what kept the place hidden for so long. Is that shooting star of yours for luck?” I ask in return, smirking a little at the half joke I attempted, though it was an honest question. For more than just wondering why our paths crossed as they did, I found myself wanting to know more about this pony, who I randomly realized was a good few inches taller than myself.
“Oh this little thing right here?” he returns with a slight tone of something I can’t quite identify. There was definitely pride, but such that it sounded like he thinks himself not quite on the same level as other ponies. Maybe not better or worse, but just not the same. He looked back at his flank as he trotted, said star flexing with his movements as if it really was shooting across his flank. “Just got it one day while I was trying to guide some ponies through a storm all the way down in Trottingham. I think it was a category-four storm. Roughly two hundred and twenty kilometers per hour winds. Most of the town was evacuated already, but I was holed up with some ponies who took refuge near my old home. At that point, it was only getting worse, so we really had to go. Me being the only pegasus in the group, despite my young age at the time, was the only one eligible to help guide them,” he beams brightly at the mention of his personal achievements, but stops right after. “What about you? What does yours mean?” he asks while turning his head to look at mine.
I return with a now very bright smile as I consider a mental image of my cutie mark. It was a dragon-scale shield with what looked like gem eyes - ruby, to be precise - and what looked like two droplets of blood splashing over the front. “It means everything,” I reply, my own voice airy with meaning. The story of how I got my mark, even in the shortened version, was one of my favorites to tell. “As a filly I would spend my time either reading or wandering, and when one of those stories led me to tales of dragons, which I then asked my Gran about, I had to find out for myself if one of them in particular she told me was true. A legend about the tear a dragon sheds when it dies. So, when one of my many cousins decided to go to the big city, I hitched a ride in his wagon, or, rather hid under a tarp. While in the mountains, I got away from him and started my own search for a dragon. Long story short, I found one, and I found out about the tale’s true history. Although, I promised not to share until I had to use what I was given by that dragon. I actually have it with me, although not on at the moment,” I craned my neck and dug into one of my saddle bags again, this time, pulling out a plain gold chain necklace with a vial of bubbling red liquid inside. With an easy, well-practiced maneuver, I tossed the necklace up and let it slide down over my head, settling in the small divot between my neck and chest. “I’ve had this ever since. As for my mark, I didn’t realize until later that it had appeared. I had gotten all the way back to where I had left my cousin, but he was long gone. It was a rather long trip back home and I honestly got lost several times, but I always had fun with getting lost, and I eventually made it. Got quite the earful for it. And to top it off, I was the first in my class to get my mark! Neat, huh?”
I can see a look of amazement plastered on his face as I finish my shortened tale, and I beam for it. “Wow… Just wow,” It never ceases to make me feel like a filly with a new story book when hearing ponies marvel at the crazy adventures of others. “That’s a lot to take in for just a cutie mark. Interesting tale, if I must say so myself.”
“Yeah, it is a lot,” I reply, still smiling brightly. I feel myself relaxing into the conversation now with my nerves somewhat dampened by getting to speak a bit.
He looks around the forest after I speak and I simply bask in the joy of being able to tell my story. I hear him taking in several deep breaths before he changes the conversation, his tone much smoother now. “Don’t you just enjoy the wilderness? Because I certainly do,” he looks back at me, his maroon eyes quite bright in the dimming light. “What about you? How’d you come across that temple?”
“Oh I could live out here for ages,” I return while an extra little hop enters my trot. “I could be out here for forever and never grow tired of it. And actually, my coming here was on purpose. See, I’m a bit short on bits, and somepony wanted a certain artifact from that temple. So I got to see a new old place before it was wrecked, got an adventure, got to meet you, and will be getting a few bits to boot, so I’m pleased at this one.”
“A freelance treasure hunter, eh? Quite an interesting and action-packed life I presume,” he says as he once again starts to look forward, though I can see him smiling from the side.
“Sure can be,” I return brightly, half expecting him to ask for another tale, but am surprised by what he does ask, which quickly serves to somewhat sour my growing mood.
“Now, where’d you come from?” he asks, his voice the same as it had been before, but his words had a much different affect on me now.
My reply is quick like a lash, the words rather well-used. “You don’t want to know that. Don’t ask.”
“If you say so,” he says in a nonchalant tone though I can see he was careful in his response. His facial expression changes for half a second to something I couldn’t identify as he takes in my sudden change in mood, but quickly returns to a neutral one. “So, what about family?” he asks instead.
I can’t help a sigh and my head falls a little, that bounce in my step now becoming a drag. I knew this one was coming, and without thinking, I let my words run. “Look, I used to live in this little trade town with WAY too many other ponies, all somehow related to me. Despite all the room we had, it was always crowded, and nearly qualifies as it’s own city. I like very few of those ponies, and I don’t live there anymore. I don’t really live anywhere, and I don’t talk to my family, alright? I doubt they even realize I’m gone.” At this point, I was glaring at him as if he were one of the ponies that contributed to my leaving of said town, and I didn’t bother to change it.
I watch his face harden as I speak, and I know that yet again, I have screwed myself over in a conversation. He suddenly stops walking and I also stop to look at him, my own expression mood souring his as well. “At least you had a roof over your head and somepony cared for you, no matter how little it was or how short it may have been!” he spouts back at me angrily, and I admit I was slightly confused as to why he suddenly acted so hostile to me. I had a bad rep with my family sure, but most ponies know how that sort of thing goes and just let my story blow over like a million others they’ve heard. However, he backs down rather quickly from his flash of anger. “Sorry,” he says weakly, keeping to himself once more. “Sorry about lashing out at you all of a sudden,” he adds, again, quietly, and I ponder why the sudden outburst ended so quickly.
“Okay… Touchy subject,” I return, starting to walk again although slowly, hoping he catches back up and rejoins me. I let the conversation hang for a moment until I hear his hoofsteps at a light trot, which does calm my suddenly high-strung nerves a bit. At least I hadn’t completely screwed it up. After a few steps in silence, I offer, “Just so you know, most ponies lash out at me for some reason or another. It happens all the time. It’s not the lash that bothers me,” I speak without looking at him yet, unsure what I’d see, although I had a feeling it would hurt. Instead, I look out at the forest, the flora having a calming affect on me that I had always greatly appreciated.
“I’m not like most ponies,” I heard him say, ruining the borrowed calm I had found in the greenery. About the time I am about to say something, though I am unsure what decided to push past my lips, he adds in a soft voice yet again, “I don’t usually do that. But, for me, it’s a sensitive subject,”
“Yeah. I get it,” I return now, not knowing what else to say, thus creating yet another gap in the conversation that was only filled by our hooves softly falling on the underbrush. But again, after a moment, he fills the gap for me.
“What do you mean… By, ‘It’s not the lash that bothers me.’?” he questions, clearly confused as to what I mean.
My lips purse a bit as I have to stop and ponder exactly how to say what I meant myself. It was not something I was usually questioned about, though I knew the answer. Slowly, I picked my words, and I carefully replied. “The words were never really what made it hurt. They just haven’t. It’s not that I got used to it or anything, but they just don’t. What does get me, however… is the pony behind it,” My voice has fallen quite a bit by then. I absentmindedly notice the pace of my hooves has slowed, and I start listening to the sound of them on the forest floor instead of the pony beside me. This, too, always happens. I say something and then fear the response, so I close in on myself and never even hear what comes next. My hooves make soft sounds until I step on a branch, which cracks and sends a leaf fluttering, blurring one step into another. It was so simple, and yet-
“What was that!?” Eclipse says loudly, cutting off my train of thought and startling us both. He looks around, ready to pounce at anything that would be coming our way.
My ears prick an instant before my head shoots up and my body stops, every muscle tense and ready. After a moment, I ask in my most quiet voice, “What? Did you hear something?”
There is a long pause between the both of us, nothing moving other than our swiveling ears trying to catch the slightest of threatening sounds around us. This deep into the forest, it could be anything, and we both knew that much at least. Carefully, and in the smallest movements possible, I start to swivel so that our backs are together, giving us a wider range of view. As I move, the stick I had carelessly forgotten underhoof creaks, creating just enough sound for our ears to pick up and for the both of us to jump. Him, likely thinking something was there and me, suddenly realizing what he had heard. I, however, forced my body to relax as I returned to the ground and even scoffed. I turned back to him, smiling now. “Wow, jumpy, Eclipse? I stepped on a branch. And you thought something was out to murder us.”
“Out here, you’d need to be careful to survive,” he replies back, still wary about his surroundings. His entire body is tense still like he’s the one about to pounce on a not so helpless prey.
I can’t help rolling my eyes a little at his dramatization. “Realize two things, Eclipse. One, If anything actually is after us out here, it wouldn’t go for when we look alert. We’re safe until we appear relaxed. Two, I’ve been at this quite a bit longer than you. I think I know what I’m doing, by now.”
“Sure you do,” he says suddenly, capturing my attention. “It’s not like I’m that far off,”
“Excuse me?” I return, my body going tense once more, but this time, in something between indignity and mirth. “I’ve been doing this most of my life, and you happen to think it would be fun to do what I’ve been doing for all these years,” My voice is half scolding as I speak, and an awful thought enters my mind. It blurts past my lips before I can even consider what I am saying. “Is this because I’m a mare? That seems to be a lot of stallion’s assumption on the matter, that my gender makes me worse off for what I love, and that you can just step in and be better on the first day.”
“Not to be sexist here, but I thoroughly doubt your skill,” he says, like he was saying a matter of fact, and that smug look on his face just boiled my blood.
However, years of experience dealing with prissy, spoiled, entitled, know-it-all ponies who thought they were setting me up to be their next laugh only to be severely disappointed, helped me keep from blowing up at the ignorant stallion before me. Instead of a lashing of half-cocked insults, I returned his smirk with one of my own. “Uh-huh, okay. Then tell me, Mr. Perfect, who was it who tripped the trap that destroyed a very large and very valuable piece of history. Hm? Who was it? Oh, it sure as the stars in the sky wasn’t this mare, who actually knows how NOT to destroy a valued piece of history. Go on, say it. You know who did it.”
“Wasn’t me,” he says, furthering my annoyance at him so much with just those two words that I almost feel a twitch coming on. “Maybe you shouldn’t be jumping to conclusions. Because I know that I didn’t spring any traps in that temple. I also remember that you were the one who finally sent the place crashing down on itself due to your carelessness!” he says, both of our levels of anger matching as we tried to one-up the other.
“Oh would you just give it up!” I shoot back at him, my stance now widened as if I was ready for something physical to happen, be it a fight or a mad dash. “Those rams are set on a pressure trap three to five steps before the actual crash point. It was literally impossible for me to trip it! And the place was coming down one way or another. Why waste resources keeping the trap in place when it was all coming down anyway?”
He suddenly walks up to me and with no hesitation, matching my stance and staring me right in the eye, only a few centimeters between us despite his slight height over me. I nearly flinched at his decision to close the gap, but I do not outwardly show this and dare to give him a moment of satisfaction. “But what you did was what nearly got both of us killed! If you had been more careful, we would have had more time and wouldn’t be hurt in the first place. In fact this argument wouldn’t even be happening if you had done so!” he shouts, getting right in my face, which I very much do not appreciate, and vocalize as I return fire.
“You do realize that you were hurt before I came, and had I not come and woken your sorry flank up, you would have been crushed in there!” I shouted back at him, my voice rising in volume without rising in pitch. “And I was hurt because your antics started the whole mess! Had it been just me, I would have gone in, switched the idol out for a weight, and been out of there safe and sound, without destroying priceless artifacts!” At this point, I had closed what little gap there was between us and pushed our foreheads together, half forcing him back. We were glaring daggers at each other and were practically snarling animals at this point, but neither of us seemed to care or even consider backing down.
“Can’t we just drop this whole thing already!” he shouts back at me, giving up the forehead fight although he didn’t back away. “Okay! I’ll admit it, we both screwed up. But I’m telling you now, it wasn’t me whole activated the first set of traps,” he says while finally backing away.
“Well it sure wasn’t me either.” I return, my voice a little less loud now, though I found some satisfaction in him being the first to back down. “And there’s no way it was sheer coincidence the trap would have failed the moment you were passing through.” I hesitate a moment, considering the possibility, but I end up resolutely shaking my head. “I suppose that’s all I have to say on the subject though.”
He seems to accept my theory on what happened in the temple, which is somewhat of a relief. He once again, like earlier, seems to keep to himself after a conflict. We both step back a little and our forms relax, although not completely. Without saying anything more, I start walking again, this time making sure to avoid sticks and the like. I do flick an ear back at him, waiting to hear his hoofsteps as well. When I do, and he says nothing more on the subject as well, I return my full attention forward, not giving him my return to his rejoining me, although I could hear a hesitation in his steps. Oddly enough, this irked me, and I spoke once more. I still did not look at him as I spoke. “If we’re going to walk together, walk like you’re not afraid of everything and their grandma.”
“Ouch,” he says sarcastically, although I can hear in his voice it is a matter of habit to reply in that tone, rather than true meaning. He does pick up the pace to match my own, but still lags behind slightly. I figure it’s better at least, so I let it hang, as well as our conversation. There is nothing more to say.
The next few minutes of the trip was spent in a relatively comfortable silence as we walked through the Everfree Forest. We were getting into more well-known parts, which was also a relief in this forest. Only the occasional breeze blowing through or the rustling of the trees broke the pristine silence and our concentration ahead of us. I was able to put myself at a calm state like before as I take in the natural beauty around me and slowly relax, despite my ears training on every sound those light breezes made. They were easily ignored although I somewhat enjoyed their existence. It added to my growing state of calm and enjoyment of the beauty around me. But then Eclipse made a noise that disturbed all of the peace and snapped any thread of relaxation I may have been on the verge of obtaining.
The sound of a stomach rumbling.
My ears flick fully onto him upon hearing this, and I also hear the volume of his hoofsteps lessen, causing me to roll my eyes. I turn around to face him and comment about an empty stomach being all it took to stop him, only to be surprised by him not being there. Instead of what I had been planning, I say, “Aww, I miss his sparkling personality already,” with the same kind of sarcasm he replied to me with earlier. Abruptly, my ears pick up the sound of the wind once more, but it was not the normal sounds of the wind that caught my attention. “Something’s not right…” I mutter under my breath as I try to listen to the subtle but wrong undertones and widen my stance in preparation of something unknown.
Then, that something suddenly hits the top of my head with a resounding thud that I feel deep within my skull. “Ow, hey!” I shout as I rub the newly injured spot between my ears. I look to see what was the cause of my discomfort and see a rotten apple lying on the forest floor a step in front of me, one side now severely dented. To this, my neck whips around and I train my vision on the trees above. What I saw was slightly infuriating, yet would want to make me laugh at the same time.
I saw him above a tree, barely able to contain his laughter and flight pattern. Soon after he saw me looking - or rather, glaring - up at him, he did finally break and started laughing madly. He was laughing so hard he was quite literally rolling in midair, and I would be lying if I said it wouldn’t have pleased me to see him run into a tree trunk. However, this did not happen, but I did I join him in laughing. Mine was much more light than his, but both fit together quite well in the quiet forest. “That was a good one, I’ll give you that,” I call up to him as I restart my trot, now listening from above for any more dropping projectiles. I had to admit, that was a funny thing to do, and I couldn’t have done it better myself.
I hear it quite well as he glides down and drops to the forest floor, then starts walking beside me once more. From the corner of my eye, I catch him using a hoof to wipe a stray tear out of his eye. “Thanks,” he says and I offer him half a smile that’s filled with a stray tease.
“Don’t mention it,” I reply as I playfully bump my hips into his, just enough to upset his walk for a moment before he caught himself. “Seriously, don’t. You’ll get a big head.”
“Hardy har har, very funny,” he returns, sarcastically if I might add, after his walking pattern is regained. That seems to be the end of our outburst, although this time it ended in a much lighter and more welcome mood. I find myself keeping a slight smile as we continue our trot through the forest, both of us keeping at a constant pace. In no time at all, we arrive at the outskirts of the lively little town of Ponyville.
Once back in the atmosphere of normal pony life, Eclipse takes a deep breath. “Ahh, home sweet home,” he says rather loudly, attracting the attention of a passing couple, who did not linger for more than a few moments, thankfully. Both of us enter town by the forest’s edge and walk through the still crowded streets of Ponyville, despite it being sunset. It only gets more crowded as we reach the town square, and here the ponies seem to be pressed flank to flank in their efforts of finding a last-minute deal. It was the last day of trade week, in which ponies from all around come to peddle their wares. Voices were being shouted all over the place and the air was filled with all sorts of different scents, ranging from perfumes, to freshly baked bread, to the sweat of fast-moving ponies. The noise increased tremendously as we made our way deeper into the crowd, mainly from chatter coming from the ponies in the area and from the store owners loudly calling ponies who are passing by to buy their products with a million different slogans and tricks to draw one in. I cringe slightly at the increase in volume and try to stay away from the multitude of bodies around me. I had forgotten about trade week, since I left for the temple job just as it was beginning. Finding the place alone had taken several days, and actually a good two days more than it should have just so I could have avoided the mess now around me. Mission failed.
I suddenly hear Eclipse’s voice over the mess around me. I forgot he was still beside me. I had subconsciously figured he’d left for his house as I trailed towards mine, forgetting that the very busy town square was the fastest way. At least it normally was. “You alright, Naga?” I can hear worry in his voice and it only adds to my already unsettled feeling in this cramped place. I try to hide that as I reply to him, my voice louder than normal in order to be heard above the mess.
“Yeah I’m fine. It’s just a bit too loud for my liking. And cramped,” I reply as I am forced to stop because of other ponies in our way and I shift uncomfortably from hoof to hoof until they move out of our way.
Before I can start walking again, I hear Eclipse speaking again, his voice startling me a bit. “C’mon let’s get out of here,” he says as he suddenly grabs my raised hoof and half drags me through the crowd. I admit, this seriously surprised me and nearly caused me to lose my balance. I manage to keep my footing and follow after him as he weaves his way through the crowd, his fast pace scaring some ponies out of our way.
“E-Eclipse, what are you-?!” I stop trying to speak as we have to jump over a pair of ponies, the same couple we passed earlier, in fact. The one with a bright blue coat looks up and meets my own eyes, both of our gazes filled with confusion, although I can feel mine beginning to reflect the rush I feel, dodging through the crowd like the time I had to play hopscotch on alligator heads.
Eclipse and I land hard on the opposite side of the light brown partner and continue running just like we had back in the temple, although he somehow manages to not let go of my hoof. Moments later, we had fled into a less congested area where Eclipse slowed down and I followed suit. We were at a point which was a block or so away from the busy square when he stops and finally lets go of my hoof. I set it down without thinking and the cooling evening air feels almost cold against my hoof where he once held it. As I stand there, I am panting slightly from the short run and turn to look back at the market. It is still brilliantly lit for all those who are still trading, but around them, the sun has gone down. It’s dark out now, and most ponies not buying and selling are at home, possibly in their beds, leaving the streets mostly empty around Eclipse and I. I turn back to my partner for the day, my breathing normal once more, and without another word, he motions for me to follow him.
We walk a little ways further in quiet, basking in the dark that can somewhat confuse the quiet parts of town for bits of forest. It’s almost serene here, and definitely a blessing on my ragged nerves after being forced to deal with the mob of a trade place. At least it is until Eclipse speaks up again, making me prick my ears and turn my gaze towards him. “Well…” I once again notice the slight height difference between us as I have to look up to meet his gaze, which seems fixated on me. There is something in his eyes that I can see that wasn’t there before. Not anger or happiness, but maybe something close to both, if that’s a thing. I can’t quite tell in the dark. His maroon irises look all black to me without the light to shine in them, giving him quite the eerie look. “I guess this is where we part ways,” he adds, clearly sounding down about it and breaking my thoughts.
It takes me a moment to process his words and the tone, which feels out of place to me. Once it clicks though, I feel my body sagging slightly. “Oh. Yeah, I guess it is,” I momentarily question why I feel somewhat unhappy about this, but I shake it off and make a smile appear on my face instead. With a new bit of cheer and a pleasant thought, I approach him and put a hoof around his neck. “Aw cheer up, bud! I’m willing to bet this won’t be the last time we meet. Especially if we’re currently living in the same town!”
“Yeah, I suppose you’re right,” he returns, a smile appearing on his face as well and wiping away whatever it was I saw in his eyes. “See ya soon then,” he quickly adds before he turns and walks away, not allowing me any last words. It feels strange as he pulls away from my hoof and I am left holding it partially aloft while I watch him walk away, his shooting star cutie mark rather bright even in the dark of night. I can see why he was the guiding light for those ponies caught in Trottingham during that storm. I had an odd feeling that it wouldn’t be the last time I saw that mark ahead of me, reminding me of those who follow it.
I smile a large, real smile at the thought of us running into each other again. “Hopefully, this won’t be the last we meet,” I whisper quietly to myself, letting my thoughts run away with imagining why I already somewhat liked this pony, despite all the frustration he caused me this day.
He is already out of my view as I turn to go to my home. As I walk - or rather, trot with that slight bounce from earlier - home, I let my mind wander on the subject of Eclipse. Most ponies I instantly don’t get along with, and he should be no different. I could still feel a very slight burn in my shoulder from the damage he caused, although that would be gone in the morning. You know, I wonder if it’s one of those, ‘we saved each other so now we’re weirdly close’ kind of things. As I pass by other pony’s homes, a light in one turns off as I pass by, but I pay it no mind. Whatever. I do scary things for a living. It shouldn’t be a big deal if I have to save his flank once in awhile. I mean, did it at least once already. Although… I continue wondering as I step onto the road my house is on and I see it squished between two other homes. Despite being happy to finally be home, I find myself frowning a little. …I wonder about that ram. I know I didn’t set if off, and I actually believe he didn’t either. He sure sounded sincere. My thoughts turn as I pull out the key to my door and slowly unlock it, making sure to reach in and undo the trip I have set up before I walk in. I reset it once inside and continue my wanderings in the front hall as I also consider what to do next. The possibility of coincidence is simply too great. Maybe the trap was set up differently than I’ve seen before. It was a somewhat older temple than usual… Eh, wondering about it will get me nowhere. The place is down for good so it’s not like I can do anything about it. I need food.
Now decided on what to do, I let my thoughts fade away as I set my mark for the kitchen. I drop my saddlebags off in the living room and could feel a pleased smile on my face again as I trotted around the corner, calling out, “Heya Rocky! Been awhile! Did you keep yourself fed? House isn’t burnt down this time.” I can’t help laughing as I stop and pat the top of a river stone with a crude face painted on it before I get into the cupboard beneath it to pull out a plate. While I look around and consider what to eat, I continue talking to Rocky. “You’re really starting to get better at this. Whole week and I don’t see any damage so far. At least you’ve figured out how to cover up, finally.” That makes me laugh while I nose my way into the fridge and check there for something that hasn’t spoiled over the week I was gone. "You know, I may only have you around because of what that wack-job psychiatrist said, but I almost missed you.” Now laughing to myself, I pull out what I think is a cabbage that looks to be in good shape still, thanks to having been in the fridge all week, as well as a loaf of bread that doesn’t have mold on it yet. It’s true, I think to myself, no longer talking aloud. She said I should have a companion of some sort to stay with me while I travel. Since a pet is out and I dislike ponies, a rock was my best bet. Never have to feed it or walk it and it gives me something to talk to. Granted this is Rocky number four. The first was a mountain rock that drowned in some rapids on one of my many adventures. The second was crushed by about the same thing that happened today, and after that I learned to leave Rocky at home. The third, somepony lit my house on fire and ran me out of town for a bad job and what I honestly told him about his attitude towards mares, so that Rocky went up in flames. That leaves this one, who actually has survived the longest. Probably because this is actually my temporary house, rather than a permanent home. Having houses in all major towns and cities is a good way to be able to go from job to job without having to find a place to stay. My tent only works so well if bad weather crops up. But then again, I’m short on bits… and houses. This is actually one of my last. It’s just this one and one in the Crystal Empire left, although I doubt that one’s still there after the last battle that broke out, and it’s a long trek just to see if my house is still standing. Plus there’s a chance of getting caught in the middle and fighting is so not my forte.
My train of thought is abruptly cut off as I realize I am just standing and staring at the plate and food in front of me, and that my smile is gone again. A loaf of bread and a cabbage of questionable edibility sit around an empty plate, waiting to become something more. Staring at me without even looking, seeing all the things I meant to do with them. I suddenly shake my head quite hard to rid myself of the dreary thoughts and set to making myself a sandwich of the two, ticking my tongue or tapping a hoof every once in awhile to stave off my thoughts from returning. The slight sounds are all I need to keep my mind occupied.
Once everything is put away again and my dinner lays wait for me, I set Rocky on my plate and start for the living room with the plate in hoof. “Jeez, someone’s gotten heavier,” I comment with a half attempt at a smile as I sit on the couch. “I thought rocks were suppose to weather away that extra weight, not gain it. Silly Rocky,” I laugh a little now as I pull out a lettuce leaf from my sandwich and set it in front of Rocky, although I know I am fooling myself. And this time, it’s not working. My half attempt at a smile fades and I eat my sandwich quietly from then on, my teeth chewing on the greens the only sound in the ever-quiet house. The noise is not enough to occupy my mind.
Was today one of those attempts to make my job go bad and make me look bad? If so, I sure showed ‘em! Just like almost every other time. But, this time… This time, there was another factor. I don’t realize that I have stopped eating my sandwich, my thoughts overtaking my actions. What if… What if Eclipse was a part of this? I mean, he sure sounded sincere, and what pony would screw up their wing that bad just to make another pony look bad? He sure sounded sincere. Then again, I’ve never been able to read ponies. I can’t tell a lie from truth, or a fable from fact. That’s gotten me into more trouble than I can count, and I’m only nineteen! And not even for much longer.
I glance up at a calendar hanging on a wall opposite my couch where most ponies would have a projector or something for entertainment. I don’t have the bits or time or magic for one, and I prefer to go out and make my own entertainment. The last mark on the paper in my gaze is from just under a week ago, which is the day I set out for the temple. Rocky didn’t mark the days I was gone, although with his height I didn’t expect him to be able to reach. However, at the very bottom of the page, on the last day of the month, the date is circled. It’s a little under three weeks now until I am no longer a teen, and I hope then that ponies start acting like it. I’ve been on my own for over five years now, and am doing just fine. I growl a little as I consider the words everypony spat in my face. That I was too young, that I wasn’t responsible enough, that the world is a scary place out there, that I would never last a day…
My low growl turns into a muffled scream as I bury my head in the cushions and vent my frustration. Five years and everypony who ever said something to me still hurt. I’d proven them all wrong time and time again, but still their faces haunt my thoughts when I’m like this. Alone with my rock and nothing to occupy my body and mind other than those faces. Scared for what I was to do, disapproving of my path, reminding me of every time I’ve screwed up…
“No, no, NO!” I yell into the cushions before I roll over onto my back, not realizing somewhere in my thrashing about that Rocky had fallen onto the carpet and was now laying upside down, his painted face staring at me. His smile has been chipped at the corner, making it even more crooked than before.
This is no good… I think to myself as I stare at my off-white plaster ceiling. That can’t be right. I’ve done it time and time again. I just need to keep moving forward. Sure it’s tight right now but I’ve been in tighter. It’s alright. It’s. All. Right. I take a deep breath as I curb my thought patterns once again away from those faces in my memory. However, my thoughts drift to a new face, that of Eclipse’s. I frown as I remember first seeing his still body in the temple and I immediately feared for his life. My job and even my own health had fled my mind in my race to get to him and hope beyond hope that he was alive. The relief I felt when he was… And then we saved each other’s flanks. If he hadn’t caught my hoof, I’d be done for, and if I hadn’t woken him, he would be, too.
That entire thing would have gone so much differently if either of us weren’t there. What if the bad trap went off and it was just me? Would I have been the one lying there, unconscious while the temple collapsed on top of me? I shiver at the thought of one of those stones crushing me like Rocky number two, although I had long since accepted that one day I could just die. Death and what’s next didn’t bother me, but the thought of how I would die, did. Never quite figured out why.
Or what if he didn’t wake up in time? I continued to consider. More than likely I would have given up the idol to get his flank out, but what from there? If the second trap wasn’t tripped, would I have gotten us both out okay? That fissure I almost fell in might not have opened up in the first place… But then we would have missed out on the memories. I feel a small smile forming once more as I continue remembering past the temple and onto our walk back, and this one was real. We actually talked like normal ponies back there. I mean, cutie marks are always a good conversation piece but most ponies think I’m a braggart for how I tell my story. I admit it’s crazier than most and some ponies probably feel like theirs just sound stupid afterwards, but we didn’t do that. We - or, at least I - felt equal about it. That was a new thing for me, and I liked it. Granted then the conversation turned sour but… I really could have handled the questions better. I just- we were getting along! And then those questions popped up and I blew it! Least I thought I did. But then the whole apple thing happened and it was okay. Quiet, yes, but okay.
There is a slight pause in my thoughts as I run over the scene a time or three more, laughing to myself at how worked up I got over the twig and apple, and also considering how I opened up to Eclipse so suddenly. It was so unlike me to do that. Trying to explain how the ponies behind the words hurt much more than the words themselves. And everything else. Normally I just walk away and let them be, but I stuck with Eclipse the entire trip, and then in the town square with all those ponies...I thought I was hiding it pretty well, how much the group unnerved me, but he saw. He saw right through me, and then that run… It felt amazing to run like that, wild and free of the crowd like they couldn’t ever bog us down. I felt so high and alive! Considering what I do for a living, that was oddly placed. But I can’t complain. My thoughts now rush over the pony couple we jumped and I remembered the confused look in the blue one’s eyes, which made me laugh again. There was a long moment where I did not think. I only imagined Eclipse’s face through the run, focused, determined, and seemingly very much enjoying himself.
…No. There’s no way. There’s no possible way he was a part of anything back in that temple. It was just a seriously weird turn of events. I usually can’t read ponies, but this time, I just know. He means it all. He’s cool. I like him. I’m smiling quite a bit now as I just lay on my couch, staring at the ceiling that doesn’t seem quite so bland anymore. I realize what I’ve thought is something I’ve only ever once thought before and may have vaguely considered for a few other ponies I knew, like the few in my family I didn’t mind like my Gran, and it startles me a bit. When did a pony I’ve never met before get so under my skin? I questioned, although it was a common question. I feel close to ponies all the time but usually it’s just me. I’ve gotten better about it, and yet- I realize now that most of my thoughts are on him, which isn’t too surprising seeing as he’s the first pony I saw in nearly a week and the only one I’ve spoken to in even longer, but still. Well, nothing to think too hard about tonight. It’ll probably be awhile before I get to see him again. And tomorrow, I have a job to finish.
I roll my head and look at where my saddlebags now lie on the floor and see a corner of the golden idol poking out from under the flap. Tomorrow, I have to deliver it and get my bits. Hopefully it’ll be enough for a good meal and a train ticket to someplace new. Maybe another job. I also notice Rocky laying upside down on the floor, looking at me with his chipped paint smile. “Oh, Rocky, why are you down there?” I question as I slide off the couch and pick him up in my forehooves, feeling much better about myself as I do so. “Sorry if I knocked you down. I didn’t mean to, honest,” I hug him tightly to my chest for a few moments, his cool, stone body warming against my fur as I do so. Then, I gingerly set him back on the couch. “You can sleep on the couch for tonight. I don’t mind. I for one need to get to bed though,” I look at the clock in the kitchen and see that it’s nearly midnight, meaning it’s a lot later than I meant to crash for the night, and the day is beginning to wear on me. My hooves drag as I take my half eaten sandwich that I honestly didn’t even taste and put it into the refrigerator for breakfast. Then I retrieve my saddlebags, turn off the lights, and head upstairs and to bed.
My bags now tucked under my bed and the trip in front of my one bedroom window checked, I simply collapse onto my bed, not even paying attention to the sparsely furnished, tiny room. Already half asleep on my child-sized bed, I call out into the darkness, “Nighty-night, Rocky. Sleep loose,” and before I know it, I am dreaming of my past adventure and all the ones I see in the future, all of which containing that stallion and his star from today.
And when I awoke, I would remember none of them, but I would smile anyway for the warm feeling left behind by my dreams.
~ ~ ~
Eclipse Monsoon ~
A few hours ago…
“Why, why, why?” I chant quietly as I smack my forehead against the bar table. It was a cheap, fake mahogany that hurt as much as the real stuff when my skull crashed into it, making a shot of pain race through my head and settle as a dull thud in the surrounding area of the impact. However, it made very little matter to my already scrambled brain. I turn my head to look up at my mud-brown bottle of beer before I lift my head and snag the bottle like a cat toying with a cornered mouse. I take another sip of the already half empty bottle and cringe a little at the taste. Still never gonna get used to that shit. I think as I swallow it down anyway, my stomach starting to twist slightly while a very faint buzzing noise invades my ears, plus the other noise of the bar. But nonetheless, it’s all helping me get away from the troubles of today.
“Hey, you alright?” I hear the gray waiter pony behind the counter saying, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“Huh… what?” I say weakly, my mind not into making conversation right now while I look up at the pony, who blends into the dull tones of the bar as if he were a part of the building. “What do you want?” I ask, putting all the annoyance I feel into those few words.
“Something wrong, Eclipse?” he asks in a tone as dull as his coat. “Something’s definitely bothering you,” he adds as he leans on the counter in front of me, ignoring the clear tone in my voice and only getting closer.
I groan inwardly, knowing now that I’m stuck in this conversation. I take a moment to gather my ability to care before I respond in a quick manner. “What makes you say that?” I spit back at him, trying with one last futile effort to get him to leave me alone, but my attempt is, of course, in vain.
“First of all, you ain’t drinking as much as you usually do,” he says as he gestures a hoof to the half filled bottle in my hoof, with no other bottles to be seen nearby like there usually is. This catches my attention as I take another sip of my drink, shudder at the bitter taste, and consider for about half a second before I speak again.
“You’re right. Can you get me two more?” I ask as I rest my head on a hoof and set my bottle down, letting it down gentler than I did my own head. I hear as the waiter pony takes off for the kitchen in back, but I do not acknowledge him leaving. That done, I find my gaze wandering to the biggest source of light in the dim tavern. Outside of the window, the street is only lit up by a small glow. Said glow was coming from a magically powered lamp post right outside the bar. There were some flies or moths or something buzzing around it and I swore I could hear them, even though I knew that was impossible and it was just my own head.
I finish up the rest of the mud-brown bottle in my hoof, once again cringing due to the taste that I now wonder if it actually resembles mud, and place the bottle back onto the table with a shrug, the thought already forgotten. Street lights and bugs aren’t my business. Neither is how this awful liquid in my hoof tastes when I’m the one drinking it anyway. The effects were worth it.
The waiter pony comes back soon after my attention returns to the fake wood table under my elbow. “Here, two more cold ones,” he says in his usual enthusiastic demeanor. The only thing he ever got excited about was handing out liquid mindmelt. He places both bottles on the table in front of me, correcting the picture in front of him, and then sits back down in the spot he had occupied before.
“Take one,” I say before I pop the cap and take the first sip of the new, cold beverage, which is equally as awful as the one I just finished. The bartender takes the other one and mimics my actions, although with less flinch at the awful taste inside.
After a moment of us both taking sips in relative quiet, other than a few other ponies talking at tables in the background, he pipes up again and asks, “So what’s got you all so disturbed?”
And there it was, yet again. The very thing I was trying to forget. I set my bottle down with an inward groan and then start talking before I consider what my words will cause. “So I met this mare…” I start faintly
“Woah wait a second, you actually got marefriend?” he cuts me off while nearly slamming his bottle down on the counter as well, suddenly taking much more interest in what I’m about to say. He’s practically smirking at me as he leans in closer, looking for every detail as to how a pony like me could get a mare.
However, he is to be quite disappointed. “NO!” I say rather loudly, nearly shouting. This earns me looks from several other bar patrons, and the entire place seems to quiet down other than the roar of my momentary embarrassment. “Sorry about that,” I say quietly to everyone, and this seems to take most eyes off me. Some still watch but as conversations resume as they were, I felt most pairs of eyes leave my back.
“Eclipse, chill,” the bartender says in a relatively quiet voice, snapping my attention back to him.
“It’s not like that,” I return as I shake my head, trying to forget the moment that just passed. I wrap both hooves in front of me and lay my chin on them, reluctant to say anything more.
“It’s okay, you could’ve said so,” my companion returns as he leans back again, trying to look not quite so pushy, but that ended up just annoying me more.
“You cut me off!” I say, scolding him although in a lower voice than my earlier yell. I groan, aloud this time, and add, “You really tick me off sometimes, you know that?”
“Takes one to know one,”
“Anyways,” I drawl, steering the conversation away from the two of us to what it was originally for. “Yeah. So I met this mare in a temple and she ends up saving my life, just like that,” I say as I take another drink out of my beer, lowering the level just a little more than I had been. “You know me, I don’t really get along with anypony. It takes quite sometime before I open up,” I continue, saying what the barkeep already knows. This wasn’t our first conversation, by far. I knew the guy a lot better than I’d prefer. But what was funny was that for the two to three years that I've been going here, I never got his name, not did I bother too, as he doesn't seem to mind.
“Yeah I can attest to that,” he returns, although I barely hear him as I continue speaking.
“So what’s really been disturbing me is the fact that this mare got real close to me. Got past all my walls. In record time too! I mean, we talked and stuff and there was that apple tease and then the run through town...”
“So you’re telling me, you aren’t being yourself?” the barkeep said, his voice breaking me out of my train of thought this time. I looked up at his plain face that carries what looks like a knowing smirk, although it was a kinder, smiling one.
After a moment of considering that look, I sigh and admit, “Pretty much,”
“Eclipse, go home. You’re drunk,” he says as he turns and drinks the last of the beer I gave him in one big gulp, surprising me. He sure wasn’t able to drink that much last time. And when did he drink the rest? I shake the thought off and pick up my saddle bags from the floor beside me, leaving the half finished bottle of alcohol on the table. Once my bags are strapped onto my body again, I head towards the counter to pay. The barkeep moves back into the kitchen again as I make way to the cashier box on the other side of the counter. “How much for three bottles?” I ask, although I already know the price.
“Sixteen bits,” the pony operating the register said, rather blandly if I might add. Not like he wasn’t any other time.
I fish into my saddle bags for my wallet and then for those sixteen bits. I hoof them over to the pony manning the register, paying no mind to the look he gives me for not giving a tip. That done, I waste no time heading towards the door. It was a heavy one that slammed behind me, announcing my exit to the ponies inside.
Once outside, in no less than five feet from the door, the whole area is shrouded in darkness. The wind out here doesn’t carry the scent of tasteless drinks and sweaty bodies, which is both a relief and an annoyance. It’s too cheerful for my mood, although it is somewhat cooler as well. This late at night, nopony is walking the streets unless they were like me, and we tend to avoid each other quite well. Now standing in the dark, I consider the lamp post from before and realize it’s gone out. No matter. I don’t need it.
Lamp post forgotten, I quickly maneuver my way through the back alleys and streets of Ponyville. I followed a path I knew so well it might as well have my hoofprints molded into the streets. In no time, I find myself outside my home. It was a small house, but it had everything I needed. I hoofed my way up the stairs onto the porch and checked under the mat that said “Welcome” for my house key, and sure enough, it was still there.
I almost smile as I unlock the door and close it immediately after I am inside. The lock clicks into place behind me and I am left in a new shroud of darkness. Despite the whole house being in complete darkness, I make it all the way across the room without even bumping into any of my disorganized furniture. As soon as I reach the back wall of my house, I search around for the light switch, my hoof running over the wall repeatedly for the only bump in the wall paper. When it takes me forever to find it, I frown and think, Yeah, I can totally go through my whole house in complete darkness but I can’t even find a damn switch which is always in the same place. Eventually, I did find the switch although I find it the same time the lights turn on, making my eyes squinting in the sudden light as my hoof rests on the switch. I rub my eyes a bit before I get used to the light and when I can see again, I ignore the clutter and disorganization that is my house in favor of making my way towards the kitchen. On my way, I hang the key to my door on a key rack next to the many other keys I’ve stolen over the years. They all jingle a little as I pass them and head over towards my refrigerator, hoping for there to be some left overs from the nights before.
I open the door and the chilled air spills over me as I look inside. A grin finds it’s way onto my face. “Score!” I say loudly as I take out a few-days-old sandwich on a paper plate. Without even moving from my spot, although I do at least close the fridge door, I gobble down the cold sandwich containing just tomatoes and lettuce.
After eating it, I leave the plate on the counter and walk over to a mini fridge some distance away from the main refrigerator. I take out a can of beer, kick the mini fridge door closed behind me, and walk towards the beer-brown couch in the middle of my living room. I sit down in the middle and set the can on the already overflowing table in front of me, although most of it is old papers and the like, which makes a decent pad for my drink. Gingerly now, I undo the very well done wrap on my wing and test it out, seeing how bad the damage was. As it stretches out, it feels all over sore, but nothing feels broken. The hit I took was direct, but spread out. Seems there would be no permanent damage, but any hard flying for the next few days would be a bad idea.
Shrugging the thought off and throwing my wing back in a poorly done sling to keep from having to work to stay against my body, I reach out for my drink once more. As I pop the pull tab and take a long swig of the bitter liquid, I start to think back to how this all started. From randomly finding the temple, to getting hurt and meeting Naga, to the trip back and the run through town square.
As I think back to all those events, I continue to ask myself, “Why?”
“Why’d I save her? Why’d she save me?”
“Why’d I open up like that?”
“Why’d I do what I did in the marketplace? And the apple?”
“Why’d I meet her-”
And many more questions that begin with why.
I also start to question aloud what happened in the temple and on the walk back, the frown on my face only getting more confused. “What’d I do to make her think that I tried to screw her over? I mean, chances were against me… Good thing she finally accepted that I didn’t do anything. I think.”
I sat there in silence for some time, simply contemplating what had happened. I had asked my questions aloud, but the otherwise empty house had offered no response. Eventually, I sighed and whispered, “Every day, you start the day looking for answers and every time you come home and sit down on this couch, you come back with more questions than answers,”
Another long pause lingers in the air until I shake my head with finality. “It’s no use. I don’t know.” In an attempt to wash away the questions with no answers, I take another long sip of my bitter drink and try to focus my mind on something else. My eyes wander the room until they fall on a picture frame on the wall that was here when I got the house. It was some generic photo of two parents and their colt and filly, none of which I knew. They all looked so happy.
It only brought me sorrow. In another whisper meant only for those who listened, I said, “One day, Ma, I’ll find you. Pa, hopefully you stay happy… No matter where you are,” My voice breaks as I speak only to myself and a single tear I do not notice escapes my eye. It hits the carpet beneath my hooves and vanishes, almost as if it had never truly been there in the first place.
My eyes leave the photo as I lean back against the couch and stare up at the ceiling. I continue to stare up the ceiling for a long time while I think back to my past days. Again, I speak aloud but only to myself, and with a frown speaking of my inner turmoil. “Today you nearly got killed. How many times in the past have you nearly got arrested for stealing?”
My thoughts then suddenly shift towards all the bastards in my life who thought they could play me. Eight years living alone on the streets really does a lot to a pony. Every single time those rich unicorns in Canterlot thought that they could screw with me just because they had bits and I was a poor orphan... I showed them that money can’t do everything. Sure, I admit it helps, but money doesn’t complete a life.
That then leads me to think of all the jobs I did. The odd jobs I did to cover up for what I really was doing.
All those stolen bits, missing credits, and other things of value. All of them up and disappearing, thanks to me. But I was never into being a greedy pony. Most of those pilfered valuables or the money gained from pawning them went to the ones who I believed needed it more. I heard once on those same streets that Anon Hood is what they called me. I admit it made me happy to hear that, and to know that what I was doing was truly helping ponies. But every single second spent stealing, giving, and running, every bit of it, was all worth it. Even all the times that nearly got me killed or arrested for life. “Cheat death, but not those around you,” I always told myself, and I say it again in the quiet of my home, also paid for with stolen goods. Even with all this drinking, depression and being alone and introverted, that hasn’t stopped me from living life the way I feel I should live it.
In the bleakness of my mind, once again, my thoughts drift to Naga and today’s experiences. And once again, I raise questions with no answers. “I felt so safe, so complete with her. For once in my life. Why though?” I close my eyes and shake my head, wanting to clear my mind from thinking about her, but I just couldn’t. She was stuck in my head like the aches of the past, but it was the now that she was invading.
Eventually, I did think past that. I think back to something my dad told me when I was young, before I lost him. “Life’s not worth throwing away, no matter how worthless it may be. It’s a one-time opportunity,” The words come back to me with ease. I remembered them so well, and when I thought of him, they were the words that defined him, in my mind. I chuckle lightly at this, considering that my dad died young due to reasons that I have yet to find out. But I would find out, someday, somehow.
As I continue to reminisce on today and on the past, I don’t realize my body relaxing and my arm coming to rest on the couch, drink still in hoof. It had been a long, exhausting day that was actually well past midnight now, and it had caught up to me. I don’t even realize as I drift off and soon end up falling asleep where I lay.