Back in Ponyville, near the edge of the town, was a large, glorious castle. Its colours consisted of blues and purples which shined in the sun. Every balcony was made of gold and at the top was a giant sculpture of a star. The castle itself was sculpted in a way that gave it the impression of a majestic tree, which was rather fitting for its current location. Within this castle, in the library section, was the princess of friendship: Twilight Sparkle, and her assistant Spike. Today was
*re-shelving* day, and since the library was so big, it took Twilight and Spike almost the whole day to put every book back where they belonged. Even though Twilight did most of the work, she felt free for Spike to jump in and be of assistance, and so he had. When Spike slid the last book into its resting place, the purple dragon then let out a long exhale before falling back on the ground. Twilight couldn’t help but let out a tiny giggle at Spike’s behaviour. However, Spike suddenly caught sight of Twilight’s little giggle. The purple dragon suddenly leaned up and faced her.
“I know I know, you did most of the work and I should try to do better”
“Aww no Spike, I know that you always do your best. Why do you think you’re my number one assistant? It’s about the motivation you have, and you’re choc full of it.”
“Heh, thanks, still, it took almost the whole day to finish. I really don’t know how you can keep doing this without getting bored. Sure it’s a huge library, but I bet you’ve already re-“
Suddenly Spike clutched his stomach before he burped out a message through a burst of green flames. It didn’t hurt, it happened quite a lot for Spike, but this message was different. Twilight’s eyes widened with curiosity as the message landed on the floor.
“Oh wow! Talk about perfect timing! Let’s see what it says!”
Twilight said, followed by a small chuckle. Spike took hold of the small scroll and unravelled it, only to see that the very first words he saw read *Hand this to Twilight immediately* . Spike tilted his head in confusion. However, he could tell that it was written in Celestia’s writing, so he carried out her instructions.
“Twilight it’s from Celestia. Must be something important if you yourself have to read it.”
Twilight frowned a little, feeling concerned about what the ink on the paper would inform her of. Her horn started to glow with magic. The letter was encased in a purple ball of magic as it levitated to Twilight’s eye level. The scroll then unravelled itself, revealing the rest of the message. Without hesitation, she began to read out loud.
“Dear Twilight, this message is a potential warning to you, your friends, and the citizens of Ponyville. Last night, a dark stallion with a red mask came to Canterlot in a horrific state. We took him in and questioned him. He told us his name was Rubie Red, which seemed perfectly fine. However, when we asked where he came from, he told us that he had come from far in the north. He had told us that he had spent his whole life in a cage, in the core of a mountain. While he was answering our questions, he told us that he never tried to escape because he never knew that there was an outside world to escape to. However, what’s the most disturbing is that the stallion informed us that he had been imprisoned by King Sombra. I do not know whether to trust the stallion’s story or not. Luna seems convinced, but I need to make sure. Tomorrow I am going to venture off to where Rubie says he came from, to see if he was telling the truth. Only you and Spike know about this, no one else must know. Twilight, I do not know if Rubie is telling the truth. He could be the most innocent stallion in all of Equestria, but, he still has a dark and powerful aura. If that somehow unleashes, catastrophe could occur. I don’t want you to force him to a point of pressure just in case he is lying. Just keep a very sharp eye on him. He could be very dangerous. Remember, his name is Rubie Red, his mane is long and grey. His body is very dark and his tail is pure red. He also wears a ruby mask and his eyes appear to be two red slits with black dots. One last thing, only you and the friends that you trust are the only ones who are allowed to know this. We don’t want to scare anypony that may easily pass the message on.
From Princess Celestia.”
Spike had waited patiently for Twilight to finish reading, and when she did he ran up closer to her.
“Imprisoned by King Sombra!? How is that possible!? That CAN’T be possible! You know, after I-…I mean we got rid of him!”
Twilight could do nothing but stare back at the concerned dragon. She was worried about this stallion being loose in Ponyville.
“I don’t know Spike. I really don’t know, but for now that’s not important, what’s important is finding this stallion”
“R-right of course! Wh-what did he look like again?”
Spike walked to the side of Twilight and hopped on to her back. Headed out of the Library and trotted quickly to her balcony.
“Celestia said that his mane was grey and long, that his body was dark, that his tail was pure red and that he wears a ruby mask.”
“Wait, a ruby mask? Really? To be honest I think that’s a tad ridiculous. Out of anything to put on your face, why something that’s probably the most noticeable colour?”
Twilight looked up in the sky and carefully spread open her wings. Her eyes drew to the sun, which made her eyelids narrow a little. They then shut as she motioned her neck around in a circle, before taking a deep breath.
Spike gently tapped the back of her neck.
“Twilight? Are you ok? I know this is serious, but I’ve never seen you like…this, like, this quiet. Honestly…it’s scary.”
“I am ok, I promise. I just need to think about where to look first…ok I got it, hold on.”
The Alicorn rushed to the ledge and took off, searching for Rubie Red.
Deep in the woods, Rubie laid near the strong oak tree. His eyes were shut, but he was not asleep. He felt his mane and tail sway through the gentle breeze. The sun’s beams kept Rubie’s mask shining bright. The forest was warm, the grass was soft, and the breeze was a sensation. Rubie was about to lay on his side, but he an instant sting came on to his thigh, forcing the stallion to move back on to his stomach. He let out a quiet gasp of pain. Upon looking down at his thigh, all Rubie could see was a group of scars. They were arranged in a way that looked like a rough, untidy circle, some bigger than others. A huff came out of Rubies mouth as he slouched the rest of his body on the grass.
“…stupid scars…I wished they’d go away. They could have been anywhere else on my body, but noooooo~. They had to be in the one place where I can’t relax the way I want.”
He rolled on to his back, making sure that his back thighs were not touching the grass. The stallion gently rubbed his back on the grass until his new position was comfortable enough. Rubie watched as a group of big fluffy clouds swept away from the sun. Every now and then a small cloud drifted either below or above the sun, trying to catch up with their bigger siblings. Rubie reached out with his front left hoof, as if he was trying to touch the sky. He reached out further, gently pushing his left shoulder up as well. Then, his hoof froze in mid-air. As it did, the colour in Rubie’s eye slits faded to orange.
“What’s it like to be up there? What would it be like to see the land from up there? What would it be like to touch the sky and the clouds? Is it brighter up there? …I don’t think I’ll ever know, but I can dream hehe”
Rubie heard Hodsaw chuckle, as if he was laying beside the masked stallion.
“That you can Rubie, that you can, just like everypony else.”
Hodsaw knew what to say. Making the masked stallion feel like he fitted in was what Rubie wanted. His left hoof fell back down on to his chest. A large, thick cloud began to swarm the sky. The light on Rubie’s mask began to disappear. This cloud seemed to be moving at quite a fast pace, taking over the sky above the stallion in a matter of seconds. Rubie rolled left on to his stomach again, not paying attention to the scars on his thighs which made a sting emit on his left thigh. He grunted, holding the pain inside. However, his grunt abruptly stopped. The pink flower was a few inches away from Rubies eyes. He watched closely. He didn’t know why, but the flower just seemed to intrigue him, like it was a shiny jewel, or a radiant piece of candy that you could just not take your eyes off of. Rubie was so concentrated on the flower that when a single raindrop landed on the petals, he flinched. He then noticed that another raindrop had landed on his nose. He couldn’t really feel it because of his mask. Then another raindrop fell on to the grass, then another, and then another. It didn’t take long before millions of raindrops began to fall in the forest. There was a rapid and constant sound of light percussion from the rain hitting the millions of leaves around Rubie. The stallion’s orange eyes began to glow, as he kept turning his head back and forth. His body began to shiver. He hurriedly got to his hoofs.
“H-Hodsaw!? Wh-what is this!?”
Rubie heard the voice in his head chuckle again.
“Hehehe, relax, it’s just rain. Nothing more than drops of water falling from the sky.”
“Wait, really? That’s what this is?”
The stallion sat back down next to the pink flower. He looked down and shut his eyes. His now wet mane hung over his face. He could feel every ice-cold raindrop tap on his back. The feeling seemed to soothe the marks of where hay had been stuck on the stallion’s body from countless nights of sleeping on a bundle of dried grass. Rubie opened his eyes and held his right hoof out through his hanging mane, and watched as drops of rain fell and dribbled off, landing on the grass. He tried to analyse each drop that landed on his hoof, but the raindrops fell faster than Rubie could count. Giving up on counting the raindrops, the stallion raised his head to the clouds. His grey mane that hung over his face separated and hung behind Rubie’s mask. The sound of the rain landing on his mask sounded like rain landing on glass. The stallion found it rather easy to keep his eyes open as he watched the rather dark and dull clouds release their rain across the land. His slit pupils shifted rapidly, looking from one group of raindrops to another. Rubie stayed quiet. His eyes stayed glued to the sky. Even though it was cold, and cloudy, he still found it beautiful. An icy breeze hit Rubies chest and travelled down his body. It seemed to reach certain places like between his neck and his mane and in between his front and back thighs. This cold touch made Rubie gasp a little, but he didn’t move. It felt refreshing.
Minutes passed, and more minutes passed, and even more minutes passed. Rubie couldn’t get enough of the rain. It felt like an eternity, just sitting down and looking up, but then he was interrupted by a vast force on his right hip pushing him to the left. Rubie broke out of his trance and jerked his head to the right. The first thing he saw was a bright greyish blue coat pushing on his face. Rubie backed up a bit to get a better look at what was pushing him. In front of him was another stallion, A unicorn stallion. Along with the greyish blue coat, Rubie could also see an orange mane and tail, four dark blue hoofs and green eyes. What Rubie found most curious was his cutiemark. It was a sword in the stone. The point where the sword and the stone collided had yellow sparks surrounding it. Despite it being quite a good looking cutiemark, Rubie had no idea what it even was. He didn’t know what a cutiemark was.
The other stallion let out a little scream as he also backed up quickly away from Rubie. He seemed to be shaking quite a bit.
“O-oh goodness! My…my apologies for screaming like that.”
At least he didn’t feel freaked out about my mask Rubie though.
“Hehe, there’s no need to apologies to me. There’s nothing wrong with being scared after all.”
“O-oh right, th-thank you. M-my name is Sh-Sheath Ing-got”
The wind howled and a flash of lightning lit up the forest. A loud crack of thunder shattered the calm sound of rain. It made Sheath scream and scurry to Rubie, holding him close. He seemed to be very scared of thunder. Rubie on the other hoof rolled his eyes and moved Sheath’s hoof which was on his mouth, back down on to the grass.
“and I’m Rubie Red…pleasure.”
The masked stallion tried to push Sheath off, but he stayed clutched on, like a nail to wood.
“umm…Sheath can you…you know, let go of me?”
Sheath kept holding on tight, his teeth began to chatter. It seemed Sheath was too stressed to listen. Rubie groaned. Perhaps there was a place for shelter, then hopefully he’ll be able to listen he thought. Rubie stood up, carrying Sheath on his back. He was quite a heavy weight, and seemed to not have a single wrinkle. Rubie’s body swayed left and right while his eyes searched for shelter. It took a moment before his eyes locked on to a sort of small cave. It seemed to give off an ominous impression, but Rubie was willing to do anything to get this stallion off his back, literally. The masked stallion looked at Sheath and gestured his head to the cave, along with pointing a hoof to the cave. Sheath took one look at the cave and gave a nervous giggle before rapidly nodding. This made Rubie’s eyes roll again, but at least he had found a solution to get Sheath off.
The masked stallion went at a slow pace to the cave. Quiet grunts emanated from his lips, but their sound was covered up by the weather. A loud crack of thunder could be heard. Out of pure fear and worry Sheath held tight on to Rubie, slightly pulling his mane. This irritated Rubie a little, but it didn’t take long after that until they finally reached the small cave. Without concentrating at all, Rubie flung the frightened stallion off his back and on to the ground.
“Next time…don’t pull on my mane, please.”
After Sheath hit the ground he shook his head to get out of the trance of fear. He looked up at the dark, wet, irritated stallion. He only just realised how annoyed Rubie must had been for Sheath to just latch on to him like a parasite. Sheath took a deep breath and sighed, feeling a little disappointed in himself and slightly embarrassed.
“S-sorry…I’m not usually like this…it’s just that when thunder and lightning comes…I just…my fear goes through the roof!! I’m truly sorry for putting through that much irritation.”
Sheath’s eyes were almost about to water, but Rubie gave a little laugh in response.
“Ehehehehe, alright alright, it’s not like I lost a hoof or anything, come get back up”
Rubie offered a hoof to Sheath. The dull blue stallion smiled up at his masked helper and took the hoof. Rubie pulled him up back on to his four hoofs. Sheath gave a nod of respect to Rubie.
“Thanks kiddo.”
“Pleasure’s all mine”
A flash of lightning struck down close by, lighting up the entrance of the cave. The two stallions looked out. Sheath’s face carried an expression of mild worry, while Rubie just peered into the forest ahead.
“So now what…?”
Rubie asked
“well…it doesn’t look like this storms gonna clear up soon, not if there aren’t any pegasi to clear it for us”
“well, I don’t mind waiting, I’m a pretty patient stallion”
“Hehe, good to know there are still some good behaved kids in Equestria.”
“h-huh?”
“Oh I don’t mean that, there are plenty of well-behaved kids in Equestria. In fact, my daughter is one of the nicest fillies I’ve ever known”
“Wait, you have a daughter?”
“heh yeah, I know I look a little young, or at least that’s what I’m told, but I’m old enough to be a dad.”
“I see, can you tell me more about your daughter?”
“Oh sure! Her name’s Blue Moon. She turned 14 exactly one week ago actually. Hehe, it was one heck of a party. See she’s super into bowling, so for her birthday it was a no-brainer. Countless stallions and mares and fillies and foals couldn’t help but stare at the vast number of guests attending her party, and every second of it was pure joy. Right down to just talking silly with helium from the party balloons.”
“D’aaw come on you’re making me jealous”
“Hehe alright alright. You know, she wasn’t always called Blue Moon”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Well, she was called Copper Spark…but she didn’t feel as if that name matched who she really was. You see, over the years I saw that she was growing attached to the stars. I caught her stargazing when she should have been asleep every now and then. Heck she even told me that Luna visited her in a dream to give her confidence the night before a test! Then, when she finally got her cutiemark of a blue moon, I knew who she truly was. I tell you, the moment she got her cutiemark, she begged me to change her name, as if she was a prisoner begging for scraps.”
“What? Seriously? Why was she so…well…overly dramatic?”
“Hehe, I could understand why she was. It was the one thing she wanted, she wanted it more than anything in the world and she would stop at nothing to obtain it. Ponies can do very strange things when they desperately want something.”
“and I’m guessing you allowed her to change her name?”
“Of course! Why wouldn’t I? After all, all I want as a father is to make my little girl happy. I’d feel like a horrible dad if I denied my girl her true destiny. She’s her own self with her own goals, and It’s my job as a dad to make her happy throughout.”
“heh…wow, that’s quite some loyalty”
“thanks. Right now she wants to become an astronomer and analyse the stars.”
“Interesting, and do you think that she’ll keep wanting to do this?”
“Unless her cutiemark was to magically disappear, I’d say definitely.”
Rubie had no idea what Sheath meant by her cutiemark, since he was never taught about them, but he didn’t want to end this conversation abruptly.
“Wow…that’s one heck of a story…actually come to think about it I currently know more about your daughter than I do about you.”
Sheath turned his body a little to Rubie as the masked stallion giggled a little.
“Alright then, I’ll tell you a little about myself. For starters, I live in the Crystal Empire.”
“Huh? The…Crystal Empire?”
“Yeah, that’s right. I’m one of the royal guards, and a blacksmith. I’ve been forging tools for the guards for many years now. I’m surprised I have time to see my family to be honest, knowing how many tools I forge a day, but I manage it. It’s all because Princess Cadance knows how important it is to keep in touch with your loved ones.”
“Wait…Princess Cadance?”
“Wow kid…you’re not that educated with the local places around here, are you?”
“No…not really…apologies, I only just moved to Ponyville”
“Just you? By yourself?”
“Yeah, but don’t let that stop you from telling me about yourself”
“aah but I might as well tell you about Cadance though, I feel that it’s necessary. She’s the one who rules The Crystal Empire. Along with her husband, Shining Armour. Trust me you do not wanna be on the opposite side of the stick with him. He was the one who helped, not with mastering my defences, but mastering my courage to use my defences, and my courage in general. If it weren’t for him I’d still be scared stiff whenever I was on duty and there was a thunderstorm.”
“Oh really now, are you sure about that?”
“Look, I’m confident when it is necessary. I’m a different pony when I’m not on duty.”
“It’s alright It’s alright, I understand… … …by the way, may I ask, why are you afraid of thunderstorms?”
“Oh…well it was quite a long time ago…It was about the time when I was a foal. My dad was a soldier…and one night, while he was asleep I secretly took his sword outside to play with. At that time I really admired my dad, and he really inspired me. I wanted to be just like him. I was playing with his sword outside, just swinging it about, feeling like a soldier, a hero and stuff. There was also a thunderstorm at the time, but I didn’t mind it. I always had thought that the lightning looked cool back then. I was there, playing with the metal sword, but suddenly I stopped when I noticed it was slightly glowing. I…didn’t know at the time that lightning was attracted to metal. I put the sword down and sat on the grass, watching it glow. I thought something amazing was going to happen, something magical. I watched it as it glowed brighter and brighter…and then…and…then…”
Suddenly a huge flash of lightning struck nearby, accompanied by a loud crack of thunder, that sounded like the earth was tearing apart beneath the two ponies. Sheath jumped up, and when he did, the lightning flashed on his body. Rubie could see multiple burns and bruises on Sheath’s chest. It was at that moment Rubie understood why Sheath was afraid of thunderstorm. The petrified stallion began to shake a little, remembering the burns he went through.
“I sorta deserved it…I mean I shouldn’t have taken his sword in the first place…I was just stupid.”
Rubie stepped closer to Sheath and put his hoof on Sheath’s shoulder.
“Sheath, look at me, right in the eyes.”
The stallion did what Rubie said, looking directly into his red pupils.
“If there’s one thing I know, it’s that nopony is perfect, not even Celestia or Luna. The ones who say they are, are the least decent. We all make mistakes, especially when we’re young and we all learn from them. It’s all just a part of growing up. It’s not about who we were, or even who we are now. What’s important is who we’ll become.”
Sheath’s body ceased Its shaking, his eyes looked down a little as if something was on his mind. Seeing that his body had stopped shaking, Rubie put his hoof back on the ground.
“Better?”
Rubie asked
“Better…”
Rubie smiled, mostly because he felt proud of himself for calming Sheath down.
“Heh, besides, it didn’t stop you from becoming a soldier am I right?”
Sheath nodded with a small smile.
“Yeah…I guess you’re right”
Rubie and Sheath both let out a little laugh, but that laugh was interrupted by an ominous sound, coming from deeper inside the cave. It sounded like a low pitch howl of wind. It was slow and echoed in the cave. Both Sheath and Rubie looked deeper into the cave. Sheath seemed a little frightened, but Rubie was curious about the sound. His eyes turned to a warm orange, that glowed faintly in the dark cave. The masked stallion took two slow steps into the cave. Both steps echoed for about 5 seconds before there was just the sound of rain. Rubie leaned his head forward to look further into the cave. Nothing much caught his eye. It just seemed like a long, tube-like tunnel. However, the only thing that caught his eye was a big rock, about 10 meters away. It was about half the size of Sheath. One thing that was peculiar was that Rubie could’ve sworn that he could see his glowing orange eyes reflecting off it, but Rubie just brushed it off. He turned his head back to Sheath.
“well…I don’t see anything down there…just a rock”
Sheath nodded, still looking a little uncomfortable. Then another sound came from down the cave. It sounded like steel scraping on dirt. It echoed in the cave, and when it did Rubie turned his head back round. The *shiny rock* had opened a pair of purple, glowing, intimidating eyes. Rubie and Sheath both backed up a little. Sheath began to shake again. Rubie couldn’t take his eyes off it.
“…Sh-Sheath…wh-what is that?”
He asked, sounding concerned. Before Sheath could answer, the creature lunged towards them, it opened a huge mouth with two large, sharp fangs. Both Rubie and Sheath jumped back as the creature tried to bite them both.
“THAT’S A TITANIUBOA!! A GIANT METAL SNAKE!!”
Sheath screamed.
Rubie looked back and forth at the creature and Sheath.
“A what!?”
Suddenly Rubie felt something hard and cold wrap around his two back hoofs. Rubie looked down at his hoofs before suddenly being pulled down behind the giant snake, deeper into the cave.
“RUBIE!!!!”
Sheath cried, seeing his friend snatched up by the titaniuboa, hiding him behind the massive creature. It’s cold, metal coils began to wrap around Rubie, right up to his neck. All Rubie could do was pant and stare at the snake while its tongue slithered out, touching Rubie’s cheeks and forehead. Rubie began to sweat with fear. He watched as the snake slowly opened its jaws, ready to devour the stallion whole. The helpless stallion watched as the poisonous acid dribbled from its two large, almost see-through fangs. In a blind panic, Rubie did the only foolish thing he could have thought to do. He bashed his masked forehead on the snakes left fang. Luckily for Rubie, the acid dribbled off his mask and on to the snake’s metal scales. This made the snake shut his mouth. It glared at Rubie. Its eyes filled with anger and rage. It gave a loud, screeching hiss right in Rubie’s face. The masked stallion could feel the coils around him tighten harder and harder. It was squeezing the very air right out of Rubie’s lungs. The stallion found it harder each time to breath, and all while, the snake was just glaring. Rubie couldn’t inhale any more air into his system. His sight began to turn blurry. All he could notice was the glowing purple eyes. With that, his eyes began to slowly shut. Suddenly the snake felt something hit its head. It turned its face to the entrance of the cave, where it could see Sheath throwing rocks at it.
“HEY!! COME ON YOU BIG BRUTE!! I’M RIGHT HERE!!”
The snake began to slither to Sheath, with Rubie still in its coils unconscious. Sheath slowly backed up outside into the harsh storm. He could feel the sharp cold touches of the rain, as if they were bits of hail. Sheath didn’t look afraid. His eyes stayed slim, his head was low and he wasn’t shaking in the freezing rain. The giant snake followed Sheath, like a dog, out into the storm. The snake’s jaws began to slowly open, ready to take Sheath whole. Its jaws grew wider and wider until they were unimaginably wide. It was about to lunge at Sheath, but it noticed something strange. When the snake shut its jaws, it noticed that its body was slightly glowing. Sheath grew a little smile, whispering to himself.
“Yes, yes, come on, just a little longer…”
The snake looked all over its body, seeing its metal scales glow brighter and brighter and brighter.
“I’m sorry Rubie… … …I would be lying if I said this wasn’t gonna hurt…”
Suddenly the snake looked right up into the sky. Its eyes met with a white lightning bolt that struck down right on the creature’s purple, bulging eyes. The snake let out a massive screech that spread all over the forest. When the lightning struck, Rubies eyes shot wide open. He let out a painful scream, as if he was waking up from a nightmare. After the snake screeched, its head feel down to the ground. Its eyes had burned and smoke was escaping from its sockets. Sheath rushed to Rubie who was still trapped in the snake’s coils. His eyes were wide open and his head was bobbing a little in rhythm of his fast and heavy breathing. Sheath put a hoof on Rubie’s cheek.
“Look at me kiddo!”
Rubie did what he said, eyes as wide as possible and panting like a dog.
“I’m gonna get you outta this thing and I’m gonna heal ya, it might sting a little though.”
The masked stallion nodded rapidly, unable to say a word. Sheath climbed on top of the snake’s corpse and began pushing at its coils with all his might. Rubie rolled with the coils as they slowly became unravelled. Halfway through the unravelling Rubie pulled himself out of the metal coils. He popped out and landed on his back, looking up at the sky. His body was stiff and his eyes were almost shut. Sheath came to his side.
“You gonna be fine alright Rubie?”
Rubie nodded slowly. His eyes suddenly widened as he turned his head and threw up on his left. A few coughs came after he had finished vomiting. Sheath just watched, his horn glowing light blue.
“Just hold still, and it’ll all be over soon.”
Sheath closed his eyes and his horn glowed. As his horn glowed, the outline of Rubie’s body glowed light blue. It lasted about ten seconds before fading, and as it disappeared Rubie began to breath normally. He rolled over on to his stomach and shook his head a little.
“I’m ok…I’m ok I’m alright”
Sheath smiled, seeing that his magic payed off. The two stallions looked up. There were a few pegasi above them that were clearing the storm clouds. They didn’t notice the two stallions below however. As the sun began to shine once again, Rubie pushed himself up and lifted his head. Sheath gave his back a little pat. Rubie laughed quietly in response.
“Heh…thanks for the distraction back there…I’m pretty sure I would’ve been that thing’s meal if you hadn’t of done something.”
“No need to thank me Rubie, it’s just a soldier’s job to ensure the protection of others. It’s also the job of a friend.”
Rubie smiled, while letting out a few deep breaths. Sheath had his arm wrapped around Rubie just in case he needed support. The two of them began to move forward, slowly. Sheath looked at his surroundings, while Rubie looked up into the sky.
“Suppose we should head for Ponyville.”
Sheath suggested.
“Wow Sheath…took the words right out of my mouth”
“Anything you need while you get there?”
“A job I guess…”
“Wow, that was the last thing I was expecting you to say.”