Gazing at the sun, I was drenched with sweat from pulling weeds out from the yard. It was a hot summer and I had to eventually go out to do some work. Mom had told me that my birthday was coming soon so I was supposed to start becoming more mature as I got older as a stallion.
Fixed on the the magnificent star, it reminded me of Celestia and kept me wondering what it would be like to use magic. There had been books of the legendary four princesses and their powerful alicorn magic. It said that they had both wings and horns that produced all kinds of magic and flight.
But all of that was lost after the revival of Sombra and the release of Tirek. It’s said that every single pony of Equestria joined together in order to seal Tirek and Sombra inside of a vase. They then dropped the vase into the ocean, hoping no one could find the vase ever. But due to the immense magic it took, many ponies had lost their source of magic including their wings, horns, and even the strength of the earth ponies.
Then days ahead of the battle the four princesses had vanished mysteriously. At first, Equestria went into a panic but soon they adapted and began to learn different ways of generating magic. The ponies who had regained at least partial of their magic had paved a path for the sun and moon though they both traveled much slower.
It’s what I learned from tutoring, which consisted of my mom, dad, and a Saturday class.
I kept up the gaze until a shout from my friend broke the trance between me and the sun. It was Burn, my red pony friend who lived a few streets away. He had been my friend since I moved from Fillydelphia to Ponyville, and came over to my house to help or hang out.
“Aye! What’chya looking at?”
Burn looked in the direction I was looking,seeming confused.
“Oh nothing. I’m just spacing out.”
“Oh, well, you wanna come over to my place today? My mom made cookies!” he exclaimed excitedly.
“Sure, but let me finish up here so that I don’t get yelled at later.”
“Okay. Just remember.”
I finished pulling out the weeds from the yard and headed into my house. Mom was on the couch sleeping and I prepared to go to Burn’s house. Burn’s house was huge because he was the great great great grandson of Big Macintosh and his parents owned a farm plantation not too far from here.
“Bye Mom! Make sure to call Dad and tell him that I’m going to Burn’s house!”
“Sure honey...just make sure to be...careful,” Mom murmured in her sleep.
I headed out the door and continued to trot along the road. Beside the road lay green grass and lush green trees. The weather was hot and many ponies stayed inside to cool off. The sound of birds and the breeze in between the trees always soothed me. Many old ponies have a nickname calling me “Nature Calmer” instead of Hollow since I was always interacting with the outside.
I hopped onto the welcome mat of the house’s door and knocked. Burn’s mom opened the door with a smile.
“Oh hey, you must be Hollow? Come on in, I bet Burn told you about my cookies.”
I walked into the humongous household and saw a figure at the corner of my eye. It had a white and shade with a crescent moon necklace. Its eyes glinted with dangerous, sharp eyes as it stared me down and I felt that I would meet this stallion again. I blink and the pony figure disappeared. I thought that it was the summer heat playing tricks on my eyes so I played it off.
The place is crowded with all types of jewelry, artifacts, paintings, and pony sculptures. One of the sculptures contained the six ponies and symbols of friendship. Another had the four princesses of Equestria.
“Ah sorry about that, hon’. My son and husband love to collect all sorts of fascinations. Especially my husband, he loves things containing much history.”
“You mean Burn had a knack for collectibles?”
“Nope, he doesn’t give a badger’s claw about those. It’s his older brother that’s taken a liken’.”
I noticed something similar between the six ponies and the four princesses. One of the ponies was in both of the two sculptures and had a striped mane with a star shaped cutie mark.
“Why is this pony in both of those sculptures Miss?”
“Ah, call me Maris and that pony right there is Twilight Sparkle. She was the big one of the six ponies and was also an alicorn.”
As I was led down the big hall of the house, I wondered who Twilight was. I never heard of that pony till now. Walking up the wide stairs, Burn exited one of the doors at the top.
“Hollow! Did you try one of the cookies Mom made?” he said while nodding towards his mom.
“Oh I’ll be right there, son. Give Ma’ a little bit of your time,” Maris said as she hustled down the stairs and veered to the right.
A long silence came over Burn and I as there wasn’t much to say.
“So...what’s with your mother’s accent? Doesn’t seem like it runs in the family,” I questioned Burn.
“Oh, she comes from Canterlot and developed that accent from Grandma and Grandpa, who came from Manehattan,” Burn answers.
“Your mom told me about your brother. How is he?”
“He’s off collecting more with Dad. I have to stay here with Mom and make sure that she stays well.”
It was hard making talk with Burn since I didn’t know much about him and he never asked questions about me. I don’t want to start talking about myself since that might rub off that I have an inflated ego. So, we just sat in silence for a solid thirty seconds until his mom called and climbed up the staircase. She was holding a plate of cookies and was smiling cheerfully.
“You both share now,” she commanded.
“Ok,” we both said simultaneously.
We walked up to Burn’s room and settled while eating the batch of cookies. I think of how the cookies tasted as I bit into one and oh lord was it heavenly. Burn’s room was a mix of white and blue. The white being the ceiling and the blue being the side walls. His bed was at the corner with his name etched into the blanket.
He had a window with light pouring into the place. Across from his bed was a desk and counter where multiple pony figures, papers and sketchings were sprawled. On the walls were insanely well drawn ponies including his mom, what I assume, his dad, and his brother.
“Welcome, senorita,” Burn said with an exaggerated pose.
“Bite me,” I said fancily with an exaggerated pose.
We both laughed our lungs dry.
After settling down, Burn asks if I wanted to see his collection of magic items. One of them was a stick with a circle at the end, apparently it could float any form of matter inside the center of the circle. Another was a powerful slingshot that was shaped in a catapult, it was used to fling things with the user’s magic. Sadly, both us didn’t know how to use magic since you had to awaken it by some sort of means.
There was a loud banging from the front door. Burn got up from his seat and walked out of the room. I follow him and trotted down the stairs. The banging continued even as we walked down the stairs. We get to the bottom and see Burn’s mother opening the door. A tall cyan stallion with marine clothing was at the door looking frantic.
“Quick! I’ve got news that–” *gulp* ”–pirates have invaded Equestria!” The blue stallion said, stumbling over his words. “They’ve already pillaged Canterlot and are heading towards Ponyville!”
Everything pauses
I stood idly, still registering the words he was speaking. As soon as I realized what he was saying my heart seemed to plummet into my stomach. An invasion? Who could they be? I’ve never heard of any pirates or organization that could do such a thing in Equestria. My head is swirling with questions as I try to sort everything.
Maris quickly speeds towards me and stops.
“Alright lad’, you’ll need to go to your mum and dad before things start heating up. They’re probably worried sick with ya” Burn’s mother says with a pale and terrified expression.
I’m still standing because of the now new questions that keep filling up and up.
“But what abo-” I was interrupted by a loud explosion.
We all glance towards the new menace. Burn’s mother got to the window next to the front door and saw smoke rising about the forest. She quickly goes back to me.
“C’mon hon’, Quickly!!” Maris said even more terrified.
I realized the explosion was much more near Burn’s house than mine.
“What if they get to y-”
“No time for questions! JUST MOVE!!” She hustled me towards the door.
The marine asked me if I wanted him to escort me.
Alright which one? Either run towards home and get myself killed by pirates OR have the marine run with me and get Maris and Burn killed by pirates. And then there’s the third and fourth option which is both of those situations but everyone gets killed. Great.
“Ummm, stay here,” I answered.
As I prepared to head straight to my place, Burn stops me. His eyes were serious but frightful at the same time.
“You better make it out alive or you’re never gonna have any more of those cookies,” he said intensely.
“I can say the same to you,” I reply.
I take one last look at him and bolted towards the direction to my home. I still had swirling questions and inferences, but one thing that stuck out in my head was the idea of running. Soon more explosions rose.
I didn’t look back. I got inside my house and there waited my mom, dad, and my grandpa, Theros. He was a gentle old pony and only visited us once or twice a year. My family never knew where he lives or anything, he just pops in and out every once and in a while. This time he looked very serious.
“Oh honey! I’m so glad you’re safe!” my mom said in relief.
She hugged me so tight that I could’ve become one of those melons in the melon challenge.
Dad had the same expression as Mom except more controlled. My grandpa looked more reserved and less serious.
“Son, I have to take you somewhere,” Grandpa said.
“Where?” I asked.
“There’s no time to explain but I’ll tell you that you’ll be safe there,” Grandpa answered.
“He told us that you’ll be going to an island, that you’ll be ok,” Mom exclaimed.
“Wait but what about yo-” I was interrupted by another explosion.
“You have to go now, sweetie! Make sure to button up when you get cold. Don’t starve yourself or get into trouble. Make sure to remember us as well!” She said while sobbing.
I didn’t know why they asked me for this. No, they didn’t ask me, they forced me. I was angry and stamped my hoof on the ground.
“No, I’m not gonna leave yo-” Another explosion interrupted me.
Theros picked me up and carried me outside. He ran away from the house. I could hear roars of flames and howling winds behind me. There were explosions after explosion and I could see bits of wood and stone flying.
“Wait what about Mom and Dad!” I screamed.
“They’ll be fine!” he answered.
Then I saw an explosion way too close to Burn’s house.
“NO!” I bucked Grandpa.
He winced and let go. I sped off towards Burn’s house. I kept running and saw piles of rubble and ruins. There were also gruesome sights that I would not like to detail. Some of the houses were so wrecked that they seemed as if they vanished from thin air.
I came to what used to be Burn’s house. Half of the house was almost completely gone, the windows and frames splintered and shattered. His room was exposed but the drawings and decorations were gone as well as half of his bed. The place was in ashes. I crept slowly because of my fear inside of me. What I thought had come true. Burn was on the floor of the house and extremely injured.
“BURN!” I yelled, while sprinting towards him.
I lift his head to see that his eyes didn’t blink. I put my hoof onto his heart and saw that it didn’t have the rhythmic beat. He was gone.
I didn’t see his mother. She could have made it out but I highly doubted it. I even thought of what I would see if I rummaged through the rubble.
This is my first experience with death and I didn’t know what to do. I just sat there and mourned through the minutes that passed. Soon Grandpa came and tried to convince me to come with him. I didn’t care though, since I knew that it would never be the same. But looking at the devastation filled me with something that I never felt. I stood up, with tears still filling my eyes.
“Let’s go,” I tell him strongly.