[Chrysalis’ P.O.V.]
We hadn’t been walking for long before the masses of ponies began to thin slightly, the later lunch breaks coming to an end. This was a welcomed reprieve and I felt slightly better. Marking and I hadn’t said too much yet, too focused on navigating the concrete jungle with thousands of other ponies moving every which way imaginable. Looking at a nearby clock of a store we were passing, I couldn’t help but question what exactly I was doing. I did not have the time to be going for a stroll, yet, I had to admit, the company was pleasant.
As a queen, I rarely, if ever, went out on my own expeditions to collect love. The infiltrators were designed specifically for that. So, while I did have intimate knowledge of the world via my connection to the hive mind, I had little to no actual experience and contact with other free willed beings. It was a breath of fresh air and, while I was in disguise and not in immediate threat of discovery, I did not have to manipulate this stallion any further. He was untouched and sound of mind.
Best of all, he did not have an annoying snitch for a sibling.
Not wanting to remember my past mistakes and failures, I spoke to Marking. “You know, I was thinking over some things and I realized I had completely forgotten to ask about something.”
Marking looked at me curiously, “And what was that?”
“Earlier, you had sort of asked whether or not I had any suitors…”
“Suitors? That’s a… lofty word.”
I glared at him for being so picky about my-, well, he was right. My language was odd at times. I shrugged internally. Nobuggy to blame but myself and the royal customs I enforced.
“You know what I mean.”
Marking nodded, “Right, right. And? What about my question?”
Stepping around an elderly pony, I maintained the small space we had between one another. “I figured that before we spend any further time together and you take me along half of Manehatten with you, I’d ask if you had a mare of your own waiting for you somewhere.”
A small strained smile sat on Marking’s muzzle as he thought over his answer. “Not currently.”
I could taste the bit of sadness he visibly tried to keep under wraps. “Oh. Any particular reason as to why? You’re nice enough.” I grimaced slightly at my rather low encouragement. Marking didn’t seem to mind though, his worries focused elsewhere.
“Normally I would blame work or that I didn’t have enough time in the day, but in all honesty? I’ve always had rotten luck with mares.” He sighed. “I still don’t understand why. Is it because I’m too nice? Is my profession something not interesting in a relationship? I really don’t know. I must be doing something wrong though.” He shook his coat briefly, adjusting the dress jacket he still had on after. “The best I’ve ever done is a few good friendships and one… well, it didn’t work out.”
I eyed him intently. “I see. Well, their loss. You seem like a good stallion to me. Better than that actually.” I blinked as the words just spilled out of my mouth.
Marking smiled, gratitude in his eyes. “I’m glad you think so. But, even if I was grade A material it still doesn’t seem to help. I’ve often wondered if it’s just the environment I’m in. Manehatten isn’t exactly known for it’s pleasantries.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “I know full well. Speaking of which, why do you stay here then? Surely there are better positions in more desirable places. Warmer too.”
“The work here is good. My college recommended me to the museum and they were impressed by my qualifications and the work I had done previously while shadowing.” He glanced around. “Plus you can’t beat the shopping.” We both laughed aloud, continuing our trek along the city streets. “The cold is something I treasure having grown up in a desert most of my life. Unfortunately, it doesn’t snow too often here due to the urban heat and the city's proximity to the ocean. Plus when it does snow it’s really not all that good to look at.”
I nodded knowingly. “Yeah, it’s not really all that clean is it?”
“You got that right. Nonetheless, my work is good and the city is fine. I’d love to live in the country, but so do most ponies who want to get out, so there’s not a lot of availability. Plus getting to work would be a hassle.” Marking stopped and pointed his hoof at a nearby shop. “I have to make a quick stop.”
We both entered the small yet rather charming store. Warm wood paneling coated the room with many seasonal themed paintings and developed images hanging on the walls to give it more life. The smooth and worn floor oddly consisted of a darker wood which was rather strange to see as most places in a city were built with more modern and less flammable materials. The small space had a few aisles occupying almost all of the room with a small counter near the door. The salespony was currently busy with a customer and only took the time to give the newcomers a quick cheerful hello before continuing the transaction.
Marking moved into one of the aisles and began quickly perusing through them. I noticed that most of the items were winter clothing, very, very high quality clothing at that. I followed after him and watched as he inspected a dark brown beanie. The stallion looked at me and held out the hat for me to check out. “What do you think?”
I reached out and touched it, admiring the work somepony had put into it as it was clearly homemade. “It’s really nice. The color matches you really well too.”
Marking smiled before taking it back. “All of the stuff here is made by the family who owns the place. I found this place my first month here and it’s quite famous around these parts. Can’t find anything better.” He pointed further on down the small row. “It’s going to get colder later today. You should pick something out.”
I shook my head. “I can’t ask you to do that. I’ll be fine and you’ve done more than enough for me.”
“I insist!” Marking moved on without me, gesturing for me to join him. I reluctantly followed, wishing that the stallion would stop being so generous. It was only making my black heart harder to find a reason to dislike him. However, when he waved at some scarves, my eyes almost bulged out of my head.
“Marking, I cannot accept one of these. I don’t even have half of the bits necessary to buy one of these!” The clothing was expensive but fairly priced for it’s quality. It was still too much to accept, especially since I saw Marking eyeing some more feminine hats. “This is too much to ask for.”
“Nonsense!” Marking looked full on into my eyes. “Listen, it really is going to get cold later on and I would like to give you something to remember your time here. This stuff will last for years. Besides, I want to do this. Money is not a major issue in my life. I don’t spend frivolously often.”
I chewed on my lip, thankful that I wasn’t in my original form as I’d have to be more careful with my fangs. Seeing the same look I had seen on Marking earlier during the confrontation with the guards, without the influence of my magic, I realized he would not give up easily. I sighed. “Alright,” I agreed defeatedly.
Marking gave me an encouraging smile before helping me choose both a scarve and a hat, the latter which I only put up a brief resistance against. We approached the stallion manning the cashier and Marking signed out a check, not having carried the tiny fortune necessary to fulfill a cash purchase with him. The stallion graciously thanked us and wished us a good day.
I won’t lie, after having stepped out of the heated building I was thankful for the new clothing. The little bit went a long way. I faced Marking as he continued to lead the way. “Thanks, Marking. This... it means a lot to me.” Before he could respond, I added, “And please don’t say it was nothing. I really do appreciate it.”
Marking closed his eyes and half smiled. “You took the words right out of my mouth.” He opened his eyes. “You’re welcome Cosmetic. Take good care of those and they’ll do the same for you.”
Nodding, I asked, “So, where are you taking me then?”
“Oh, here and there and everywhere in between.” At my suspicious gaze he chuckled. “Alright, alright. I figured we’d go visit a few monuments, check out some of the more famous stores, stop at the park, go to Times Square, and finish off at the bay.”
“The bay?” I asked.
“Trust me, it’s a sight worth seeing.”
I was a bit doubtful, but so far he had proven to be trustworthy and a level headed individual. “Alright.”
The two of us set off and began our tour of the city, now protected against the elements. True to his word, we passed by some monuments that were of various shapes and sizes, all of them possessing their own stories and legends. Marking shared their histories while keeping us at a decent pace. There was a lot to show and most of the day had already passed. At one point we had to start competing for space as ponies began getting off of work. Sure enough, the streets began flooding with massive amounts of shoppers, cutting our visit of some of the more popular shopping centers short. There was no disappointment as we were only window shopping to begin with and I had no desire for most of the merchandise to begin with.
The food was a whole new level though. While consuming it provided very little nutrition, my taste buds still praised Celestia as I experienced many different snacks, Marking insisting that I wouldn’t get the proper picture of Manehatten without trying some of its more famous delicacies. With that said, there was a lot on the downside. Both sugar and spices proved to be a very overpowering item to me. Marking had found that rather odd, stating that “mares love chocolate!” After a quick playful jab that I must have been the gray duckling, said ‘playful jab’ having quite the opposite effect on me as I stressed over my disguise, he didn’t pressure me any further after that.
As the sun dropped ever lower, Marking decided that it was about time we high tailed it over to the park before it got colder. I was rather happy with his decision, the park proving to be much less hectic than the city streets. The two of us had found a more secluded bench to sit on, cradling steaming cups of coffee in our hooves to ward off the chill of the snow that was able to survive here away from the streets. The sounds of the city were muffled by the sheltered snow in the park, allowing the sounds of winter birds and the excited yelling of a few foals making the best of the sticky snow to be heard.
We sat for a few minutes, simply enjoying the moment with one another. I took this time to carefully reflect the events of the day. A lot of rather unexpected things had happened throughout my life, but this was by far one of the more stranger ones. Who knew that after a small slip up in my identification and a mad city dash away from the authorities would result in this moment with a generous and well mannered stallion in a massive brick and concrete jungle filled with plenty of your stereotypical city dwellers? I couldn’t complain. A quick glance at Marking showed that he too was lost in thought, a content smile on his face as he shifted to take a small drink of his coffee. I copied his actions as I too enjoyed my new favorite drink. A warmth flowed through me and, after noticing Marking glance at me, I couldn’t tell if it was the coffee or not.
It had to be the coffee, right?
“I hope you’re enjoying the tour so far?”
I turned my head and smiled genuinely at Marking. “Yes.” I looked up into the bare tree branches arching above us at the slowly darkening sky. “It’s beautiful here. I can’t imagine what this place would look like with a proper snowfall.”
Marking sighed nostalgically. “That is one of my more cherished experiences in this place. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does…” I did not need him to finish the sentence as I could feel the emotion behind his unsaid words. I closed my eyes and let my imagination paint the image. I could feel the cold bite of a winter night and the cool crunch of snow beneath me. The sounds of the city nightlife buzzed pleasantly in the background. Looking up, I could only see the strongest of the night stars twinkle while the rest were beaten out by the massive amounts of artificial light emanating into the atmosphere. It took my breath away in a strange sort of way and yet I let myself be taken with it. I drank in the surreal sensations, feeling elated and free. The emotion and love made me happy and full as I continued to… drink… in…
My eyes popped open, causing me to flinch at the bright light. This broke my connection and both Marking and I gasped a bit. I stared at the stallion and held my breath as he shook his head and blinked rapidly. ‘I… I was feeding on him! Oh you- stupid, stupid, stupid!’ I mentally yelled at myself, knowing for certain that my cover was blown. I hadn’t bothered to make a secure connection to Marking and moderate my feed rate as I hadn’t planned on taking any love from him. The rapid break in connection would have been like a slap to the face to him.
“Oh, wow!” He shook his coat. “I must have really been caught up in the moment there. That was an intense rush.” My jaw dropped in disbelief. How could he dismiss that as ‘being caught up in the moment’? There was no way! I knew for a fact that Equestrians had also been warned of the signs a changeling presence left behind, said warnings including rapid loss of energy and drive, confusion, and time displacement. Feeling very full, I knew I had taken a lot from the stallion really fast. He had to know that something was up now. Nonetheless, I fumbled quickly to a response.
“Y-yeah, you kind of zoned out there for a bit.” It was a bit shaky, but it would have to do.
Marking took a big gulp of his coffee, almost finishing it off. He let out a satisfied sigh, eyeing his drink. “Wow, I need more coffee. I’m feeling a bit tired. Mind if we stop by the barista on our way out?”
“Uh, no?” ‘How in the world could he think that was a rush!? The speed I was feeding at couldn’t have even moderately felt comfortable.’
Marking tilted his head at me. “You sound unsure.”
‘Snap out of it!’ I shook my head. “It’s fine. You look like you could use it.”
“Alright, cool.” The curator cracked his neck and stretched a bit. “Set to go?”
I started to nod before stopping to chug down the rest of my coffee quickly, enjoying the bitter liquid. I slammed my cup down on the bench and let out a small burp, excusing myself quickly. Marking only stared at me in surprise before blinking. My eyes darted around briefly before I pouted slightly. “What?”
The stallion shook his head, “That, that was impressive. Not many ponies can chug down hot coffee like that. I myself can barely do it.”
Caught in the moment, I giggled a bit. “What can I say? I’m one of a kind.” Oh, I could almost taste the irony in that statement. “Shall we get a move on?” I glanced at the rapidly darkening sky.
“Yeah! We should get going. I don’t want to keep you out too late,” Marking winked before getting off of the bench. I was stupefied to see that he was able to move around normally after a feeding like that, but I kept moving with the flow.
“What’s that I hear? You don’t want to keep me overnight? Why, that’s heresy!” I got up as well and trotted to catch up to him. “Don’t you know that it’s only proper for you to invite a mare that you’ve been hanging out with all day back to your place to prevent her from walking home alone and in the dark?” I too gave him a teasing wink. Both Marking and I laughed jovially as we continued on. I let out an internal breath as well, seeing that he had no suspicions and had simply slipped back into our new found camaraderie.
“Careful there Cosmie. I may just take you up on that offer.”
“Cosmie?” I questioned the new nickname he had given me.
The stallion didn’t waver an ounce, continuing to walk towards the park’s exit. “Yeah, it just came to me off the top of my head. Would you rather not have me call you that?”
“Cosmie…” ‘Huh. Well, it is shorter…’ I nodded my approval. “It will suffice. But nopony else is allowed to call me that but you!” I quickly rectified.
“Psh, like I would do that to you.” The curator winked at me again, a playful glint in his eyes. I rolled mine in return and we both chuckled as we finally exited the large park. Marking and I quickly went over to the coffee shop, the mare barista greeting us for the second time in an hour, a knowing look in her eye. Armed with fresh coffee, we hurried along to our final two destinations.
We were only a few blocks out from some really flashy lights in the distance when Marking suddenly pointed to our right. “One last thing to see before we reach the square. That is the Manehatten University of Cultural Sciences.” I looked to where he pointed and my eyebrows lifted in awe. The college was built out of carved white marble and had many other more modern buildings surrounding it, each housing different areas of study. Everything was built in almost alien designs to improve efficiency and appeal to the eye. It was easy to see that they had sunk a lot of money into the place. A few students were hustling between the buildings with their classroom materials, not wanting to stay out in the cooling dusk.
“Wow,” was all I had to say. I valued education and if things had been different, who knows? I may have even attended. That is, if I was really up to dealing with tuition in the first place. I suppressed a shiver, one that was not caused by the cold. ‘Loans.’
“Mhm. So, where did you go to school?” Marking asked, leading the way down the sidewalk.
After a very short deliberation, I decided that telling the truth would be better here. “I didn’t.”
He paused briefly. “You didn’t?”
“Nah, never had the time or money.”
“You’re an entrepreneur then? Or did you go to a trade school?”
“I haven’t had any formal education in cosmetology. Everything I know I’ve picked up on the fly.” I continued to play it cool. “All on the job experience really.”
“Wow. That must have been quite the challenge,” Marking stated, mulling over the information. “You must have worked pretty hard to get this far then, coming all the way to Manehatten to expand. I wish you the best of luck.”
I thanked him, internally cheering at having executed a textbook cover story on the fly. If there was ever any suspicion about who you were, the best cover story is the one that is most easy to tell, or something unexpected. A professional cosmetician looking for more store space in a big city like Manehatten with no education whatsoever? Very shady, but an easy deterrent for most ponies. Kept them thinking about how said things might have happened and not what was currently going on in front of them.
“And what about you?”
“I went to the Canterlot Art Institute. I was lucky to attend there in the first place.” My muzzle wrinkled as an irked expression painted itself on me. The stallion felt my change of mood and looked at me questioningly. “What’s wrong?”
“Canterlot.” The word left a bad taste in my mouth from simply uttering it. “I’ve had some bad times there. It’s not exactly what it’s made out to be.”
Marking agreed, “Yeah, I can see where you’re coming from. But I can’t fault them too much. I did land a pretty good job from my education there after all.” Marking checked to see how much further they had left to go before adding, “Manehatten is better in my opinion. More ponies of a more balanced class.”
“Fair enough,” I stated. Our conversation turned to better things during the past few blocks it took to reach the square. Now I had seen the lights during our approach, but I was not expecting the intensity and color to be this shocking. I could almost feel the heat emanating from the fixtures. I looked around in awe as many flashy signs and advertisements clamoured for my attention. It was simply an amazing thing to experience after having lived most of my life in the darkness.
“Welcome to Times Square,” Marking proudly said as he waved a hoof in front of him, showing off the popular tourist site. “It’s the greatest light show on Equis, no matter what others say. Nothing as extensive as this can brag to be on all hours of the day, every day of the year.” I only nodded dumbly in agreement as the lights mesmerized me, almost compelling me to move towards them against my will. “So, what do you think?”
I shook my head of the strange force. “Wow.” That’s it, that’s all I could utter. Though it was short there was plenty of feeling behind it.
Marking smiled, knowing full well that I appreciated it. “This is probably one of the more crowded areas of the city where life bustles about daily. As I’m sure you can tell, the lights bring a lot of shoppers to the numerous businesses here.” He wasn’t lying. I had to keep myself walking along as a particularly tempting distraction was making itself known at the nearby restaurant. There was a small crowd of cheering ponies surrounding what was revealed to be a couple proposing. The stallion that accompanied me gave a quick ‘daw’ before we moved on.
“We only have one more stop for the night,” Marking said. I nodded in agreement as night had finally taken over, taking away the radiating heat of the sun, weak as it was. Marking led the way onto quieter streets, a small offshoot of the main drag really. The well maintained apartments lining the street was a good sign of the safety in the area. We stepped around a final corner and stopped at a black iron fence, the dark bay spreading before us. Although, it wasn’t a pit of blackness like I expected. It was instead a field of what almost looked like fireflies bouncing around in the water.
“I know it doesn’t seem like much, but-”
“No. No, I can see it.” I didn’t let Marking defend his reasoning for bringing me here. The reflected lights only reminded me of the quieter nights at home, in the hive. Whenever I found the time to get away from my work, I would go to one of the underground palaces’ balconies and stare upwards. The top of the cavern had never been fully visible as the weak bioluminescent lights scattered across the hive were consumed by the dark. The only way one was able to tell it was even there was by the presence of glow worms illuminating a gentle blue. If I used my imagination, I could picture the night sky and it’s infinite stars spanning above me.
It was the one thing I held dear to myself before the drought arrived.
The distant call of a fog horn caught my attention and I scanned the darkness until I saw the shipyards. Giant steel vessels belching smoke from their coal boilers moved in and out of the trading port 24/7. My mind clicked and I smiled, relief and anticipation working its way through my system. I had found my ticket out of Equestria at last.
“Hey, are you okay?”
My planning on how I would get aboard a ship undetected was interrupted by the curator. “W-what?” I stammered.
“Are you okay? You seemed to have zoned out there for a minute,” he said with concern. I shook myself fully back to reality.
“I’m fine. I was just thinking, that’s all,” I responded. I completely forgot about Marking during my thoughts.
“I see. Good things I hope?” he smiled at me cheerfully.
“Yeah,” I replied, a slight note of hesitancy in my voice.
“Good! I wouldn’t want to leave this night on a bad note.” He moved over to a nearby bench. “Today was a lot of fun and I’m glad I got to spend it with you. Finding time for friends is hard when everypony is busy in a city like this.” He sat down and patted next to him. “Here, we can sit for a little while longer and think some more,” he laughed. “I like to think too.”
I gave a false smile before shuffling over to him. True to his word, he let me be in silence after I sat down, his eyes closed as he listened to the breaking water. I watched him for a few seconds before turning away. As I stared at the boats in the distance and my thoughts of escape returned, a new pain made itself known within me.
‘Could… Could we really be friends?’ I struggled with the concept, mulling it over in my mind. The feeling was made worse when I saw Marking gently blowing at a small snowflake falling from the sky, cheesy as I found it. I didn’t like this new and foreign part of me, one I had forgotten long, long ago. I didn’t want to feel anything for this stallion and yet I couldn’t help it. Everytime he did or said something only drew my attention more and more. And, while I had tried my best to ignore it throughout the day, I had tasted a very slow increase of love from the stallion. It wasn’t much and it wasn’t any deeper than friendship, yet the sincerity and cleanliness of it was very surprising. There was nothing polluted about it.
‘And its taste…’ I had to stop myself from divulging in my hunger. He didn’t deserve to be taken advantage of from an insect like me.
“You know Cosmie, I really do appreciate the time you’ve spent with me.” Marking began to pour his feelings out into the open, causing me to almost flinch. “I meant what I said about being friends. I have a few here and there, but we’re always so busy for the most part.”
“Yeah,” I said simply, not really knowing how to handle the situation. I personally have never had a heart to heart with somepony I even remotely considered a friend.
The stallion continued to stare out across the water, a stiffening wind beginning to blow in from the bay, biting the skin on our muzzles. His gaze became a bit more solemn as he continued to think aloud. “I was concerned at first that you might have thought I had other reasons for taking you around today, like maybe I was hoping you’d ‘owe’ me in a way.” He looked at me, “I never expected nor do I desire anything like that, you know that right? There are enough ponies who are like that out there. I don’t need to be another one.”
I knew he spoke the truth as I would have picked up on any negative emotions or other hints long ago. I nodded, “I know. You had nothing but good intentions throughout the day. I’ve enjoyed my day, not to mention how much more than it would have had you not saved me earlier.”
He frowned slightly. “About that…” My guard flew into place as his tone changed further. “I’ve never seen guards confront somepony like that. They almost always either give a pony summons or they wait for a more convenient time to take somepony away. It’s different if the crime is more severe of course.” I expected him to look at me imploringly, but instead he just sighed. “I don’t know what compulsed me to stop them. Sure, the reasons I gave earlier about wanting to preserve my job had something to do with it, but that doesn’t warrant a complete resistance against ponies like the Guard.” I had to lean closer to hear as he whispered. “I hope I didn’t make a mistake.”
I looked at him sadly, not realizing just how much I may have worried him. I attempted to rectify the situation, again choosing to use only half truths to keep him off track. I had to preserve my cover, no matter the cost. “Listen, Marking, I-”
“No. No, I don’t want to hear it,” he interrupted, catching me by surprise. “Whatever you did, I don’t need to know. It’s probably better that way.” He took a deep breath, “You may have been honest about why you’re here, or you may not have. In the end you’ll most likely be gone soon. I’ve thought about it for a bit now. But there is one thing,” he paused, studying the bay. “No matter what happened, or happens, I can tell you’re a good pony.” He gave a weak smile. “Try to stay that way, okay?”
My jaw stayed tight, having nothing to say. It was hard to tell how I felt. There was some anger, both directed towards him and myself. I was angry that he was claiming he knew the nature of what I was or what I have done, only to talk about his assumptions and offer words of comfort. This feeling was only enhanced by the fact that a small part of me found him to be right. Maybe I HAD been getting too close to him. He was nothing in the grand scheme of things, possessing little value and influence to my goals and needs. But was this true? If he was nothing more than another pony to use as leverage, why did I listen to him? My anger lessened and confusion took its place. The things he had said, what exactly made them truthful? What did he see in me? Was it just the disguise he was seeing, or could he see deeper than that?
The dropping temperature around us was ignored as we both struggled with our own thoughts and feelings. Nopony was there to bother us, having been driven indoors by the cold. The sloshing water was the only noise to fill the background. My face contorted every now and again, showing the different moods I suffered through. I closed my eyes against a strong breeze and was able to come to at least one conclusion out of this mess. Marking was an honest and kind pony, something not easily found in the big city, but not anything especially unique or rare. He was different, but not an outlier. He acted with strong personal responsibility yet cared enough to risk breaking it based on what his gut told him. Whether he knew it or not, he had saved me. And after all of that he had even offered to make up for something he was not responsible for. He had somehow managed to worm his way into my emotions, yet it didn’t feel like he forced himself in.
The stallion… this stallion, was a friend. I couldn’t think of any other reason why I felt as conflicted as I was, nor why we were able to relax so well around each other. I knew that if I really wanted to I could still take what I wanted and leave, disappearing into the night, but something inside of me recoiled at the thought alone. That couldn’t be the way, and it wouldn’t. I looked at the ships again, knowing that if I delayed any further, I would be risking my entire world. A brief battle was waged inside of me, both sides viciously ripping into each other, struggling to gain control of my next actions.
A sharp breeze hit me, blasting icy air over my false coat. I only shivered slightly though as the warmth on my head and neck, having been provided by my friend as a pure gift out of concern for my comfort and nothing more, was more than enough to help me tolerate the worsening weather. That thought alone pushed one side of the dueling factions over the other, smothering them in a triumphant victory. Taking a deep breath of the salty air, I spoke.
“I can’t promise you that I’m a good pony, nor that I can continue to be a good pony. I’ve done a lot of bad in my life. I had my reasons, and while you may think that I have enough good in me to outweigh the bad…” I paused, taking in a shaky breath, finding it difficult to express myself to him, “that is far, far from the truth.” I saw Marking look at me in dismay, yet he held his tongue. “I’ve never been treated with kindness, at least nothing on the level that you have gone through. I was raised on what I am now. I didn’t have a lot of options.”
I turned towards Marking and hesitantly, yet carefully grabbed one of his hooves. “You have shown me something else, something that I cannot freely give back. Believe me, I wish I could. I simply lack the ability to do so.” I squeezed his hoof. “But I’ve learned a lot today, and maybe I can go home with something new to work on and teach. Maybe I can change and thus stay as you see me now. I have you to thank for all of this. Thank you, Marking, for showing me what a friend is like.”
The stallion moved his other hoof over mine and squeezed equally as hard. The two of us sat in silence, neither finding any more appropriate words. Instead, our emotions spoke for us as we both hurt in new ways for one another, Marking depressing over my words while I regretted allowing myself to get close enough to cause this hurt. We ignored the wind and the sound of the bay while maintaining our silent revere under the choked twinkling of the night’s winking stars. The quiet night promised only more cold.