My Little Coward

by Couragefan09

A Bad Hair Day: Part One

Courage trotted forward at a leisurely pace. Winter Wrap Up had occurred only a few weeks ago and he was taking every moment to enjoy the new sunlight and warmth. As soon as summer rolled around the pegasi would be scheduling storm after storm after storm and he wouldn't be able to enjoy nice days like this nearly as much. The work to clean up winter had been long and hard, but this was the first time they had finished up on time in years.

Everypony had always told him he was awfully misshapen for an earth pony. His head was maybe just a bit too big and his legs maybe just a bit too short. He was fairly clumsy and said clumsiness often got him into trouble. His coat was a light fuchsia color while his mane and tail were black. He didn't make much effort to stylize his mane like most ponies did. If he smiled you would be able to find a large hole in one of his teeth, though how he had gotten it he didn't know. Muriel always told him he'd had that hole in his tooth before they found him abandoned on their doorstep.

He remembered all too well the day he had found out that neither Eustace nor Muriel were his real parents. He had never called them mom or dad or even grandma or grandpa, but even then he had always thought they were related to him. One day Muriel had told him that they'd found him abandoned on their doorstep, he'd had been wrapped in a bundle with a single note. He mustn’t have been more than a few weeks old at the time. After telling him how he'd been found Muriel then shown him the strange note that he had come with. He'd thought, at the time, that maybe there was some clues as to who his parents might be in it but all it had said was,

'His name is Courage. Watch over him'.

An empty cart was attached to his back and he was currently pulling it down the road that lead into Ponyville. It didn't hinder his movement much but he knew that it soon wouldn't be the case. He hated dragging this thing around but he knew that if he didn't go and get what Eustace wanted he would never hear the end of it. He continued moving at a leisurely trot, he was trying to ignore the reasons why he was going into Ponyville in the first place.

Despite not being his parents, he'd always worked on Muriel and Eustace's farm. He didn't mind farming. He was an earth pony after all and he didn't mind running errands for Muriel either. Eustace was a completely different case though. Eustace would send him off to do things just because he was too lazy to do it himself, Muriel on the other hand was often busy with her work and usually needed help with things. He was certainly getting old enough to leave and go find his own place in life but as it was now he was perfectly content with his quiet life on the farm.

Among other things, he'd gotten his cutie mark awfully late too. He had always expected that it would have something to do with farming but it did not, actually his cutie mark was rather strange. It was four black dots that almost resembled a paw print. He'd thought that when he woke up with it one day that maybe it meant he was good with animals. He had always wondered why he'd gotten his cutie mark while he was sleeping when most ponies got their cutie marks when they figured out what they were good at. On one hoof, he'd just been glad to finally get his cutie mark after waiting so long, on the other hoof he was not very good with animals at all. They all seemed to hate him unconditionally, he hadn't met an animal yet that didn't glare angrily as his presence. He was even chased halfway across Ponyville by an angry duck once...

What he was supposed to be good at with a cutie mark like his, he just didn't know. His cutie mark often raised more questions than it answered and after so many attempts at trying to figure out what his special talent was he no longer bothered trying to used it as a guide. For now he just worked on his adoptive parents farm hoping that maybe his cutie mark would one day have an answer, Celestia knows if it weren't for him nothing would ever get done on the farm thanks to Eustace. He was of course too timid to say anything like that to Eustace's face but he absolutely hated how much the old pony made him work before bragging about it as if he had done it all himself. Muriel would never force him to leave but Eustace would look for any chance to kick him out if he grew defiant.

Courage would never dare call Eustace 'father' or 'grandfather' and he was glad that he wasn't being forced to. Eustace was a grumpy old earth pony both dull in color and mind and that was even being generous. He would often shirk work for the sake of a good nap and would often leave Courage to do all of the farming. The old pony was a dull green color and, more often then not, completely unwashed. His mane had long since fallen out in his old age and he could barely keep his stub of a tail growing properly. Eustace prized his beloved hat over all things. He seemed to think it hid his baldness but anypony could tell he was missing his mane if they looked hard enough.

Muriel on the other hoof was one of the nicest ponies Courage had ever met. She was a dull yellow pegasus with a huge bubbly mane and tail which had gone white with age. Although a bit absent-minded she was the complete opposite of Eustace. Ever since he was a colt he had looked up to her as role model, kind, gentle, and always friendly. Why she married Eustace Courage would never understand. She had taken up a rather odd job for a pegasus as a cook and she had become very famous for her work over the years. Unfortunately, because she was so famous, she often had to leave to other places all across Equestria and Eustace would often take advantage of her absence to do even less work and give Courage even more of a hard time. It wasn't unlikely that Courage would often find himself sleeping on the porch after Eustace suddenly decided he wasn't going to put up with him anymore.

Courage sighed weakly at the thought of it and he put it out of his mind. Muriel was thankfully home right now so even if he couldn't get the supplies Eustace wanted, he'd still have her around to keep him in check. He was trotting alongside the outermost buildings of Ponyville now and he'd be reaching his destination soon.

There were very few businesses on this side of Ponyville. It was mostly a few houses which seemed to have been built with no rhyme or reason. This side of town had apparently been built when Ponyville sudden experienced a massive increase in population. The haste they had taken to build this part of town was obvious from the sheer disorganization of it. Unlike the rest of Ponyville, which was usually bustling with activity, this part of town was usually quiet. You'd be lucky if you saw so much as even one pony pass you by.

The shop Courage was looking for finally came into view. It was a rather imposing building somewhat dark and dreary, looking as if it could use a new coat of paint. The glass was so dirty you had no hope of actually seeing inside. Faded letters above the door read, 'Repair Pony'. Normally a place like this would have scared Courage out of his wits, but he'd been here so many times before that he barely even notice how creepy it was anymore.

This was were Courage's friend, er...acquaintance lived. Courage admittedly didn't have very many friends, he'd always been bullied in school and living on a farm meant he didn't meet very many new ponies. Aside from that pigs would sooner fly then the pony who both lived and worked in this building would dare call him a friend. Computer, as he was called, was one of the most easily offended and ill tempered ponies Courage had ever met even outdoing Eustace in some places. Despite his less then friendly demeanor he'd often helped Courage with the most mundane or silly problems so Courage was more then willing to put up with his foul mood for the sake of their 'friendship'.

Computer's profession dealt with tech-nol-ogy, something that Courage didn't really understand. Whenever Computer tried to explain that sort of thing to him he would end up more lost than he originally was. Tech-nol-ogy was apparently meant to give earth ponies and pegasi the same access to things that only unicorns could do because of their magic. Despite getting lost whenever Computer tried to explain this sort of thing to him, he knew at least that Muriel used an oven to bake her goods and without this technology stuff she wouldn't be able to do her job.

Courage unhooked himself from the cart and made his way into the building. Despite how run down the outside of the building looked the inside was mostly well kept, of course this place was usually packed to the ceiling with odd machines or nearly a library's worth of old books. Computer was always tinkering with something or trying to find some obscure piece of information from some dusty old book.

The unicorn himself was standing behind the counter currently focused on some strange red object which Courage couldn't recognize. A flashlight and several other tools floated above his head as he assessed the object with a critical eye. He didn't appear to notice Courage at all.

Computer was a pure white unicorn with a bright green, almost bluish, mane and tail. He wore a large pair of green glasses and a vest that usually had every pocket filled with an assortment of tools. His cutie mark was something called a microchip or at least that's what Courage had been told.

Several seconds passed before Courage finally cleared his throat to get the unicorn's attention. He glanced up with an expression of mild annoyance falling across his face. “Oh, it's you...” He muttered. “What do you want?”

Computer spoke with what could only be a Trottingham accent. Courage never asked him where he had come from but the only way he could have pick up an accent like that was to have lived in or around Trottingham as a colt. What somepony from Trottingham was doing on this side of Equestria Courage wasn't sure, he didn't dare ask because he knew Computer would only get angry with him.

Courage glanced down at the strange red object Computer was working on. “What's that?” He asked him.

“This thing? Bah!” Computer replied throwing his head up in annoyance. “It's a worthless piece of junk if you ask me! It's meant to be a replacement for a normal pair of scissors. It makes it much easier for earth ponies and pegasi to cut their hair but the parts inside are small and finicky. The gem matrix system has a low tolerance for foreign magic contamination and because it's so small it takes forever to find the blocked focal points! That idiot up in Canterlot is getting rich while I'm stuck down here fixing his unreliable, shoddy, overpriced, pieces of s.....”

“Uh, what exactly is a gem matrix?” Courage asked, interrupting him.

Computer very nearly facehoofed. “Didn't they teach you anything in school? Even a twit like you should know something so basic!”

It was Computer's greatest desire to make a name for himself as an inventor. 'One of the greats like Dr. Zalost!' he would often say. Machines were about the only thing he didn't talk about with a complete disdain. Unfortunately the lack of funds were keeping him from being the inventor he wanted to be. Ponies only seemed to come to him for his mechanic work, not as an inventor. Despite how much he complained about it it was the only thing keeping his business open and even then he was just barely getting by.

Courage forced himself to ignore Computer's snippy comment. If he got into an argument with him he'd be here all night. “So who are you repairing that thing for?”

“Didn't you hear?” The unicorn asked. “There's a new barber in town.”

“What happened to Primrose?” He asked with surprise. Primrose had been the barber for Ponyville longer than Courage had even been alive. It didn't seem likely that she'd just give up her job like that.

Computer raised a hoof to adjust his glasses. He seemed to do that every time he was about to explain something. “I heard she just packed up and left one night. Nopony's seen her since. Hmph! I wish I had the money to just pack up and leave!”

Primrose just left? That didn't seem right...she'd never just leave Ponyville like that. Courage had spoken to her several times when he had gotten his hair cut and she had always seemed to enjoy her job. She always sounded like she enjoyed Ponville and if she'd been planning on leaving she didn't seem like the type to just get up and leave without telling the town first.

“So what exactly is it that you're here for?” Computer asked. “You're not here to bother me about Pixies again?” He asked with a groan. “For the millionth time! Pixies are not going to invade your farm! They hate subterranean architecture!”

“It's not that.” Courage replied shaking his head. “Eustace needs some scrap metal for the windmill again.” He internally cringed knowing that Computer wasn't going to be happy about this.

“This again? You still haven't paid me from last time!” Computer yelled.

“I know but....” Courage tried to say in a weak voice.

“Or the one before that...” Computer spoke glaring daggers at him.

Courage couldn't stop himself from grinned sheepishly.

Computer glared at him harder. “Or the one before that....”

“Look, I really, really need this!” He yelled trying to plead with the unicorn.

Computer rolled his eyes, “You know I can't use the spell needed to find the metals. Getting somepony else to do it isn't cheap either, I can't just keep giving it away to any twit that just happens to walk in.”

He was right about not being able to find any of the metals he needed by himself. Computer was by far one of the worse magic users in all of Ponyville. Sure, he could probably list you off all the spells in a book like Tree Treble's Big Book Of Obscure Spells but if it was any kind of magic above the basic levitation spell he would struggle with it. Courage knew that most unicorns had at least one branch of magic they were good in but Computer seemed to be an exception, the last time he tried a complex spell he nearly set half of Ponyville on fire....

“Besides,” Computer continued. “that windmill doesn't even do anything! If you'd let me tinker with it I might actually be able to make it useful for something!”

Eustace would sooner battle a herd of migrating dragons before he would ever let anyone touch his beloved windmill. It was something of a stationary heirloom for Eustace's family. Even if it was utterly useless, it was the job of whoever was running the farm to keep it working no matter what. That old hunk of junk was about the only thing Eustace had any sort of pride in and it was the only thing he wasn't completely lazy about.

“You know how Eustace is.” Courage pleaded. “Muriel has that big party coming up soon! She'll be gone all week and if I'm on Eustace's bad side he could keep me out of the house the whole time! I-I'll have no place to stay!”

Computer sighed and rolled his eyes again. “Fine, fine, I'll give you what you need but you better tell that idiot I expect his payment sometime next week!” With an angry huff he turned and went through the door leading to the back of the store.

Courage sighed with relief as soon as Computer was gone. At least he hadn't made him get on the floor and beg or something. Had it been Eustace he probably would have been forced to do exactly that. Computer may be cranky but at least he wasn't cruel. He didn't dare think about how angry Eustace would have been if he had returned empty hoofed. With Muriel leaving soon he couldn't take any risks with the grumpy old pony.

While waiting for Computer to return, the bell above the door jingled as another pony entered the shop. Courage whipped around with surprise. He had never seen anypony else ever enter Computer's store, he almost never had any customers.

The pony that stood before him was rather odd looking. He was a dull green color much like Eustace. His mane was bright yellow and stylized in a way that Courage had never seen before. Both that and his tail hung in messy long strands. He had big bushy eyebrows almost never seen on a pony and a soft, almost smug, smile upon his face.

Something about the pony unnerved Courage to the very core. Something about him just didn't feel right. He offered a friendly 'hi' to the strange pony but only got silence in return. He caught a glimpse of his cutie mark which was a pair of scissors and this tipped him off as to who this pony was.

“Y-you're the new barber aren't you?” He asked. He couldn't stop himself from stuttering.

The odd pony simply continued to stare forward, ignoring Courage's question. He was still standing there with that strange, almost smug, smile across his face. This only unnerved Courage even further, he was certain the strange pony hadn't blinked even once since entering the building.

“Um....uh....” He stuttered out trying to make small talk. Why on earth was Computer taking so long?

The odd pony still didn't move but his eyes slowly moved until they fell upon Courage.

“Um, er....y-you...?” Courage stuttered.

The odd pony's head slowly turned, his unblinking eyes locking with his. Courage felt himself take a step back involuntarily. He could feel his heart pounding out of his chest.

The odd pony stood there staring at him for a moment. Nothing but silence filled the musty old room and then finally....

His mouth split open into a huge, horrible smile. Not one of his teeth were straight, each and every one of them was crooked. His lips seemed to pull back so far that his mouth seemed to take up the entirety of his head. Those awful unblinking eyes continued to stare down at him.

Courage backed away now, doing everything in his power to not panic. It took every fiber of his being not to scream in terror. Where in Celestia's name was Computer? There was something horribly and terribly wrong with this pony, even Computer wouldn't be able to deny that.

Just when it seemed things couldn't get any worse the odd pony opened his wide grinning mouth and from the depths of that terrible blackness he uttered a single and horrible, “Courage.....”

“H-how do you know my name?” He asked in terror. He was still desperately trying to keep himself from screaming. He hit the wall with a thunk, backing up as far as he could go.

The pony said nothing and continued to stare. He didn't move, he didn't do anything, he just continued to smile.

How did he know his name? Several explanations raced through his mind but none of them made sense. Could Computer have said something about him? No, that didn't seem likely. Computer wasn't the type to talk about other ponies especially not the 'twit' who was always bothering him.

A loud BANG caused Courage to break his eye contact with the terrifying pony. Several bits of uselessly deformed metal floated through the door followed by Computer who didn't seem particularly surprised by the strange pony who was now standing in his shop.

“Oh, back already are you?” He asked eying down the green pony with his usual level of disinterest. He didn't seem to notice or even care that Courage was currently looking as if he were about to have a panic attack.

The green pony had returned to his smug smile while Courage had been looking away. His head slowly moved away from Courage and onto Computer. A long silence followed as Computer waited for the odd pony to say something.

“Right then...” The unicorn said raising an eyebrow. When it became obvious the green pony wasn't going to say anything he let the metal he was levitating drop onto the counter and then picked up the red object he had been fixing. “I've been up all night working on it but I believe I've managed to fix it.” He said to the green pony. He didn't seem bothered by him at all. “If it keeps giving you trouble let me know. I may be able to put something together that will work better.”

The strange pony continued to leer at him. Computer raised an eyebrow again. “Yeah....that'll be fifteen bits then.”

The green pony exchanged the bits he owed for the repair. Since it was obvious that he wasn't planning on saying anything, Computer continued the conversation, “And remember, if you have any trouble, any trouble at all, I'm open twenty-four seven.” He put on a smile that would have made Courage gag under normal circumstances. He wasn't exactly good at pretending to be friendly....

With that finished the green pony nodded, picked the red machine up in his teeth, and left the building without another sound. It wasn't until Courage was certain that he was gone that he dared to remove himself from the wall he was all but plastered up against. Computer was giving him a look that Courage knew meant he had probably already figured what he was thinking.

“You think he's creepy don't you?” Computer asked with an exasperated sigh. “I swear you are the most paranoid pony in all of Equestria!”

“B-but look at him! He's really weird! He was staring at me with this creepy smile the whole time you were gone!”

“Aren't we being judgmental today?” Computer replied in a mocking tone. “So maybe he's a bit strange, that doesn't matter. You're strange too, being all misshapen like that. And you've got that blotchy meaningless cutie mark as well.”

“Says the unicorn who can't use any magic....” He replied under his breath.

Computer rolled his eyes again. “I'll pretend you didn't say that....”

“Look, I've got to get going! Eustace is expecting me and it's getting late.”

“Bah! You were only holding up my work anyway, you twit!” Computer replied. “Make sure that idiot pays me or else I'm going to make you work it off for him! This place could use a good scrubbing! Oh and something went bad in the fridge that I'd rather not touch myself...” He laughed loudly at his own joke.

“Are you going to help me load this metal into the cart or not?” Courage asked glaring at him.

“Hmph! You need a better sense of humor, you twit!” Computer replied, his smile quickly turning into a scowl. He levitated the metal off the counter and near dropped it again in a huff. The unicorn quickly brought the goods outside and place them into the cart. He headed back into the shop not even bothering with a goodbye. The door slammed loudly behind him.

Courage sighed, he was used to this treatment. He glanced around to make sure that weird pony wasn't nearby. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched...

He hooked himself back up to the cart and began the slow trek home. He had to move at a much slower now with the metal weighing him down. Even as he moved farther across the town he still couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched. He forced himself to remain calm but he didn't like walking down these roads all alone. He began to wonder if maybe he should just take the longer way home and move into a more populated part of the town. He shook his head angrily at the thought, maybe Computer was right, maybe he was just being paranoid.

Just as he managed to steel his courage a voice called out to him making him jump several feet into the air.

“Hey! Hey you!” The voice called. It was female.

Courage turned the cart around as fast as he could pull it. A cream colored pony was racing up to him and she looked incredibly worn out. He didn't know the pony's name but he had seen her in passing before. Wasn't she the one who was always hanging out with that green unicorn?

“D-do you need something?” He asked. He couldn't stop his voice from trembling even though he knew this pony meant him no harm.

The cream colored pony took a moment to catch her breath. “I've seen you around in town before so I thought I'd ask, have you seen a green unicorn around here lately? Her name is Lyra and I've been looking around for her for almost two days now. I-I don't know what she would be doing on this end of town but I-I've looked everywhere else...” She gave Courage a pleading look. She seemed to be at her wits end.

“No, I haven't.” He almost wanted to apologize because she looked so desperate.

The cream colored pony almost burst into tears. “Y-You'll tell me if you see her won't you?” She placed a hoof against her forehead. “I shouldn't have argued with her! Please, if you see her, tell her I'm sorry! I-I didn't mean to make her angry!”

Courage felt his heart lurch. Something about all this didn't feel right. First Primrose leaves in the middle of the night with no explanation, then a strange and very creepy pony just happens to take her job, and now a pony has gone missing?

He shook his head, he didn't like the looks of this at all. He said his goodbyes to the cream colored pony and picked up his pace. He didn't want to remain on this side of Ponyville all alone, not so long as that creepy pony was still out and about. He almost warned the cream colored pony to leave as well but then remembered that he probably was just being paranoid, it wasn't his place to make that pony any more distraught than she already was.

As soon as he was out of town he slowed back down to a trot. His paranoia was quickly being replaced with fear of Eustace's wrath. He knew Eustace would complain about his lateness but he was even more worried that this would effect the old earth pony's mood for the rest of the day. If he was really unlucky his foul mood would persist for the rest of the week and he shuddered to think of what might happen if Muriel had to leave for that party. He put that creepy pony out of his mind, he had bigger things to worry about. Eustace would do far more then just grin at him, in fact, Eustace would probably do anything but grin at him...

End Of Part One