"But Daaaaad, why do I have to go?" I frowned up at my dad, ignoring the calm look he returned. This wasn't the time for calm looks, this was war. My dad was being stupid. The job he was getting was stupid. The train we were sitting in was stupid. And now I was stupid for letting him bring me.
The carriage jolted, and a loud, ear-piercing whistle cut through the noise and made talking impossible for nearly four seconds. The huge impact of the train ripping at the carriages threw me into the air, catapulted me around and tossed me like a rag-doll. It definitely wasn't the train pulling away normally, and me just falling off my seat.
Dad looked down at me with a half grin on his face that tore at my pride. "Sparks, you know—"
"Call me by my real name, dad!" I was proud of my real name, it was literally the best thing ever, and since the laws said a foal could choose a new name when they became an adult it also made me a stallion.
"Sparks, you don't get to choose a new name until after you get your cutie mark."
Clearly my dad knew the rules, which was totally unfair. "No," I had a counter, and began deploying it, "it only says I get to choose a new name then, but the other part said a foal can change their name. So, I can change my name however I want!" Climbing to my hooves, I almost bumped my horn on the seat standing up. I tossed my lime green mane to the side so I could deliver the full force of my stare upon him.
"Sparks, I need this job. And with Wind Blossom…" Dad wasn't playing fair. Mom was gone, and just mentioning her name broke any desire I had to use my "real" name. "With her gone, I have to take care of you. So please, just bear with this."
I climbed up on the seat beside my dad, and leaned against his soft, brown side. "I miss Mom." Sober thoughts threatened to drown me, but with Dad's scent strong in my nose I could push them back.
Dad put a foreleg around my shoulders. "I do too, Sparks. I do too."
Waiting a moment, I tilted my head up to look at my dad. His silvery mane was trimmed neatly, as neat as Mom used to keep it for him. Of course he had trimmed it, with his new job starting he wanted to look his best. "But why couldn't you have gotten a job in Canterlot?"
He ruffled my ears, something I usually hated, but Mom used to do it too. "Too many builders here already. There isn't much more mountain to build on, and the bat ponies need—"
"Bat ponies?" My interest focused on the point. I had seen a few of them around Canterlot, mostly near the castle, and always during the evening.
"I told you it was Hollow Shades we are moving to." Dad's chuckle was at my expense, and I knew it. He had said where we were moving, but if I remember rightly I was "holding my breath in protest" at the time.
It was time to cover. "I thought you meant Hollow Shades in… in Manehatten!" It was flawless, perfect.
"There isn't a Hollow Shades in Manehatten." Dad ruffled my ears again, which let me cover my cry of anguish. "Since Princess Luna's return, the bat ponies have been looking to grow, which means more houses, which means more builders."
Even the lure of meeting bat ponies didn't cover one terrible fact. "But all my friends, Dad…"
The afternoon warmth seemed to fade as our train dove into the cover of a forest. Big trees loomed around the train tracks from all sides, and the lanterns in each carriage now showed their purpose.
"Cool!" I watched the huge shapes of the wooden giants fly by, but each one we passed seemed to pass a little slower.
"They are amazing. I have been building houses with Shades' Redwood a lot lately, didn't think I would get the chance to work with it at the source." My dad's words held the same reverence as the single word I had said. "We're almost there, Sparks."
It was pretty cool, and I struggled to not show it even as the train slowed all the way down to a crawl, then a stop. The carriage jerked around us, and I followed Dad to the end of the car. "Where's all our stuff?"
"Don't worry, Sparks, it's in the luggage area. They will unload it for us." I doubted my dad's words, and was eager to ensure all my comics and Power Pony figures were okay, but as we stepped from the train we were pushed into a strange quiet. It wasn't the silence that being truly still and alone would bring. The train was still noisy, as were the ponies tending to it. The town of Hollow Shades that sprawled out before us, however, was quiet. "That's strange…"
Panic rose within me, and I reached for the scariest scenario I could think of. "Princess Luna must have turned back into Nightmare Moon and has taken them all away!"
"EEEE!"
The high-pitched sound startled me out of my panic and into terror. I looked up to where it seemed to come from, only to see a huge creature of the night swooping towards us. "AAHHHHHH!"
"He. Is. So. CUTE!" The monster was upon me with its strange war-cry. Huge leathery wings hooked around me, and the talons on the leading edge of each tore at my fur. I had to run, I had to fight to get free, I had to stop the crazy bat pony from tickling under my chin.
"Sparks is a brave and daring colt." My dad knew what was up, and the moment he informed the monster of my reputation she backed away. "My name's Load Bearing, I don't suppose you could—"
"Load!" The vicious monster spread her wings in excitement and reached up with a hoof to clop my dad's. "I'm Halfa Grape! I hoped it was you. You have to forgive me for being a little mopey, but it is hours early for me."
Dad connected his hoof with hers in a good clop. "That's perfectly fine, Halfa. What time does the town normally… wake up?"
I saw some ponies unloading our stuff, and trotted away to make sure they were doing it right. "Hi!" I fell in beside the stallion unloading my big toy-chest with his magic. "Are you making sure not to tilt it? It looks like it is tilting…"
The big, gruff-looking stallion paused and looked down at me. "This is your stuff?" I nodded sharply up to him. "Don't you worry. I got me a colt all grown up who has things twice as heavy as this. I'll take good care of your toys."
My fears assuaged (I learned that word from my dad, and practiced it until I got it right), I decided it was time to check out the town. Trotting from the train station, I perked a single ear towards my dad. He was still talking with Halfa Grape.
The town itself seemed like the quieter parts of Canterlot, but it was so quiet I could hear myself think. Picking a house at random, I walked up and peeked in the windows. I couldn't see anypony inside, so moved around it. Finally, at one of the side windows, I saw a big bunk bed and two foals asleep on it.
I tapped on the window with a hoof, then a bit louder, but I had to go louder still before one of the ponies inside woke up. "Hey!" I waved a hoof at the pony, and felt excitement build as I saw their wings spread wide in a stretch.
The bat pony foal came to the window and opened it. "What are you doing?"
"Just got here. My dad's moving in. Why is everypony asleep?" In the dim light of the town, I only just realized the foal was a filly.
She rubbed at her eyes with the balled-up knuckles of her wings. "Because it's not sundown yet! Why are you awake for?"
"Uh… because it is day time? Do you sleep all day?" She nodded to my question. "That's really cool. So will I get to stay up all night now, too?"
"Sure, I guess. You are going to be goin' to school, right?" She yawned, and I had a moment of silent awe as I studied her teeth. She noticed my attention and tilted her head a bit to the side. "What're you looking at?"
"Your fangs are awesome!" I started reaching up, grabbing at the window and climbing into the house. "Can I see them closer? You really have fangs!"
More movement on the bed only barely caught my attention, but I was too focused on the filly to look now. "Tuftette? Eeeee… What time is it?" The other pony wobbled and fell from his bed. "Is that a unicorn? Why is there a unicorn in our room?"
"He's cool, he just got here and wanted to see how awesome my fangs are!" Tuftette picked that moment to open her mouth and shove it into my face. "Hree?
My eyes widened, and I managed to jolt my mighty horn to life. Tiny fizzing sparks and fireworks accompanied my light spell, but it was enough to let me see in her mouth. "How sharp are they? Do you eat animals with them? Would I turn into a bat pony if you bit me?"
"Sorry Tuftette, you found a stupid one." The colt walked up to me and poked me with a hoof. "Hey, why are you here?"
"He is cute! And it's none of your business, Mango." Tuftette stuck her tongue out at her brother.
It took me nearly five seconds of the pair arguing before I realized what Tuftette had said. "Wait a second!" I puffed my chest out. "I am not cute! I am a brave unicorn warrior!"
"Brave warrior, huh?" Mango looked at me with disdain. "Okay, let's wing wrestle. If you can't beat me I get to call you a dweeb forever!"
I blinked in confusion before the best idea ever came to mind. "You're on!" Tuftette pulled a low table over, and I sat across it from Mango. "Okay, how does this work?"
"Well," Mango grinned like he had just bitten into chocolate, "you put your right wing out, like this." He demonstrated, and I saw the problem with this game. "And then we push on each other's wings until one of us pushes the other to the table. GO!"
The look on Mango's face, of pure astonishment, as my magic held his wing in place was worth it even if I lost. I started pushing, and he pushed back. "What? You thought I didn't know how to play? Stupid… stupid-face."
"He's going to beat you, Mango!" Tuftette clopped her hooves together in excitement. "Go… uh… unicorn!"
"What's all this noise about?" The door to Tuftette and Mango's bedroom opened, and an adult bat pony leaned in. "Who is this?"
My concentration was broken, and Mango shoved his wing down to the table unopposed. "Noooo!"
"This is Unicorn." Tuftette gestured at me with a wing. "And he totally didn't lose, did he mamma? To win, Mango would need to push Unicorn's wing to the table, but he hasn't got any wings, so he can't lose!"
"Well, you would need to talk to your grand-papa about the rules, but how did your new friend get in?" The big bat pony was focused on me, and mustering all the bravery I could, I managed to not shake like a leaf.
"Please don't bite me and turn me into a bat pony!" My bravery gave out as my mind unrolled the horror ahead. Dad would get bitten too, of course, and we would both lose our magic and be… I yanked on the reins internally. I was cowering on the floor before the fearsome mare.
She leaned down over me, and before I knew it one dread-wing reached out to tilt my chin up. I knew the move, she was going for my throat. I stiffened up and started to shake. "Hey, I don't bite good foals. Are you a good foal?" I tried to nod, and even say something, but all that came out was a whimper. "You haven't… what would a bad foal do?" I was confused now, she seemed like a scatter-brained monster. "Oh yes, they would steal the moon. You didn't do that?"
"N-No…" I tried to look for an out, a way to escape the house of monsters. A familiar face was at the window. "Dad! Help!"
"Tapped on the window until somepony let him in, then made enough of a ruckus to wake everypony up… am I missing anything?" Dad was entirely too clever for his own good sometimes. He didn't know about the wing-wrestling, though.
"He was wing-wrestling with Mango here." Tuftette and Mango's mom was giving away all my secrets now. If two parents started sharing too much information, then foals everywhere would be undone. Nopony would be safe! "Why don't you come around the front, I will get you some juice."