//------------------------------// // Flash Light // Story: The White Pony // by CocoaPone //------------------------------// It was always quite lonely next to the stone wall, my only friend, he never really spoke that much, but he would always listen, and that was more than what I could ever ask for. I had studied the wall countless times, counting each and every stone and storing all my valuables within the small fissures. Not that I really had anything others would consider valuable that is. Why would any pony think I had anything valuable? That’s nonsense. I found myself sweating, worried I almost gave away my secrets to myself. I took a few deep breaths and decided to count all the stones again. The stones were stacked two high and eight wide, resulting in a total of sixteen stones. It was strange to why a wall was needed here in the first place, but it was my home, and my home it will stay. I took a few steps back until the tree on the other side of the wall was perfectly aligned with the wall. Everything aligned correctly and I was pleased. After some time had passed I began to think about Flash Light, why would any pony hurt him of all ponies? Then I thought back to my wooded sword, reaching over with my hoof I picked it up and held it in the slowly fading sunlight. The sword had a small chip from where he was hit. I stared at it for a while before realizing something was watching me. I turned and saw Flash Light there on the wall, staring at me with his big round eyes. “Hello” he said with a hint of laughter. “How long were you here?” “I don’t know, but my mom says to stay away from you, but I think you’re nice.” I thought about that for a moment. Tilting my head as I continued to look at him. “I think you’re nice too…” He let out short squeak and jumped down next to me. I continued to look at him as he walked around me. Suddenly I heard another voice, coming from the other side of the wall. “Flash are you here? I told you not to come out this late!” It was clearly his mom and from what I figured, she was here looking for him. Flash Light was about to respond when I found myself covering his mouth and pushing him into the bush. He suddenly looked scared. So I held him there until I was sure his mother had left. Then I slowly let go and looked at him. He stared back seemingly unsure of what to make of this. “Where did she go?” He asked, poking his head out of the bush. “She’s gone..” I whispered. “I want to go home.” “You can’t.” “Why?” “I.. im not sure.. you just can’t…” There was long silence as we sat next to each other. He was itching to do something, I could feel it as he nervously tapped his hoof. “Are you okay?” I asked him. He slowly nodded then looked back down towards Ponyville. It was almost completely dark now, the sun was gone and the moon had not yet appeared into the sky. Hmm the sky.. I had looked at it many times, each time I would see something different. I never understood why the stars would disappear when the sun came, nor why the sun and moon would never be together. Maybe they were scared of each other, or maybe one was scared of the other. “Which way do you think it is?” Flash Light looked up at me and for a second, he thought he had missed something. “To my house?” “No, with the sun and moon” “I dont know what you’re talking about” He turned back to face Ponyville. We sat in silence again until the moon showed up. Flash Light was beginning to feel uneasy. He went up close to me as if there was something in the darkness out to get him. “Please take me home” He whimpered. “Where do you live?” He lifted up a hoof and pointed off to a house close to the path that lead directly to the wall where I lived. I thought about it for a second then finally came to a decision. “Well alright.. I know the safest way to get there.” I said, noting that I had never been to Ponyville in the short amount of time I had been able to remember. It was quite easy to fake it however, I was only a few years older than him so to him anything I said was pretty much a fact. I took him by the hoof and together we walked down the hill and passed the tree, but as soon as all that was behind me I felt so exposed, almost as if I had lost all my fur. I stopped almost too suddenly, turning back. Flash Light looked up towards me suddenly worried, I faked a smile and continued on with him. Knowing that he had his faith in me gave me some confidence and so we carried on. After what seemed like an eternity (it was only about a 5 minute walk), we made it to the outskirts of Ponyville. The houses looked so much clearer and bigger from where we stood and I suddenly felt curious. I needed to explore, there were so many things to count, and lots of things to discover. Then I remembered our mission, returning Flash Light to his mother. I recreated the view from atop the hill by the wall and zoomed in until the house he pointed to earlier was recognizable from the distance I was currently at. So that would mean his house was right over… there! Just 3 feet away. Slowly we walked up to the house and looked inside, Flash Light’s mom was pacing around the center of the room, looking clearly distraught. “I think you should go on now… your mom is worried.” I nudged him towards the door. “But what about you? Where do you sleep?” “Dont worry about that, I’ll be fine” I replied, with almost too much false certainty, “I’ll be fine… go on now, go see your mom.” He took one last look back and me and then disappeared in the doorway. I waited until the door closed then I put my ear next to it. The sounds inside weren't quite clear, but it was somewhat understandable. “Flash?? Where have you been!” She seemed angry, but then sighed and that anger was replaced with relief. “I was with the filly by the wall on top of the hill.” “I told you not to go by her! She is not safe to be around, she has no parents and she's a wild creature without a mind, it’s only a matter of time before she is gone anyways.” “But mom… she’s nice, she said I was nice too.” “Nonsense.. I want you to-“ The voice trailed off, probably stating the punishment and some orders for bed. I had heard enough, I never understood.. why was it this way. I couldn't accept it, no it couldn't be true! Slowing I began to pick up speed, heading back towards my home. What does she mean by gone? What is wrong with me? Am I really that bad? My mind was racing with questions, I couldn't stop, no not until I was home. I sped past the tree and quickly dove behind the wall, placing my hoof on one of the stones to hold me steady. I had to busy myself, fog my mind so I wouldn't have to think about any of this, make my mind completely shut down. I always knew the truth… but oh how hard a truth becomes when it is said by some pony else. I woke up the next day feeling not rested at all, I thought about it for a moment when everything from last night hit me. I laid there for hours, completely unaware of the passing of the time. What had happen honestly wasn’t anything new, but for some reason it now really bothered me. I was angry, some pony is going to answer for this. And it wasn’t going to be me. Though I'm sure that was clear. Why did life have to be like this, was I born any more different than every pony else I saw? Are we all here for the same reason or is there even a reason? Why am I so upset?!?!! That last thought came out screaming in my head, I had always loved how I narrated and thought at the same time. Slowly I poked my head over the stone wall, that tree was still there. It annoyed me. Picking up my sword I ran at it and hit it as hard as I could, a piece of bark broke loose and hit me in the face. “Oww” I rubbed my eye “You won’t get away with this!” I gave the tree one more hit and picked up the bark that flew off the tree. Holding it up to the sun only revealed eight holes in the piece. Interesting. I looked through the bush looking for the piece I had found yesterday, but as it turned out, it was somehow on the wall… Almost as if someone had picked it up with their mouth and placed it there for examination, that wasn’t a good sign, but luckily whoever had done it didn’t have the second piece which I had. Slowly I put the two pieces on top of each other and held both to the sun, with the older one in front of the new one. Surprisingly only eight of the holes were covered up, the rest still allowing light through. Doing so the other way also resulted in eight holes, but that didn’t make any sense to me. I put the two pieces into a small opening between two of the rocks in the wall, that should keep them safe. Actually it needs to be safer, just incase someone happens to look. So I grabbed some mud and smeared it covering the crack completely. “Sorry wall, I just need to make sure these stay safe, I hope you understand.” Once that was finished I turned back and leaned against the wall holding my back hoofs in the air. I sat there for a while thinking, the sun was moving pretty fast across the sky, or maybe that was just time passing. I decided to look over the wall again, ignoring the tree this time. There was Ponyville down below, and beyond that were mountains, and beyond that was the sky. I wonder how far the sky goes, maybe one day I could follow it and be happy. That was a nice thought. I closed my eyes for a bit and sat there. When I opened my eyes I saw two big eyes right in front of me, I wasn't scared though I recognized those eyes. “Hey Flash Light...” I said, he was hanging upside-down from the wall so I held him and gave him a hug. He was surprised by the action as much as I was but he returned it anyways. “I thought you couldn't be he-“ “My mom said I could” He said cutting me off almost too quickly. Something wasn't right, I could tell he was lying and from the looks of it he could tell he was too, but I guess he was too young to really understand. “Well okay.. I don't really have anything planned, what do you want to do?” He shrugged, then looked over at the mud that was covering the secret pieces of bark. “The wall is dirty.” “Oh uh.. no I was painting my wall a different color..” “Why didn't you use paint?” “Mud is uh cheaper and more effective.” “Whats effective mean?” “I wouldn't worry about it if I were you.” He didn't seem too bothered that I didn't explain it to him, personally I would have been annoyed if someone was using big words that I didn't know, but I guess thats because it gives off a sort of patronizing effect. Oh but he was bothered by the mud on the wall, don't tell him, but I think he knows something is up. I watched him go up to the wall and wipe the mud off and look inside the crack. He instantly saw the two pieces and picked them up in his mouth smiling. “You have more of them! Can I keep them? Pleaseee.” “uh.. um I uh sure.. I guess so.” I couldn't believe it, my own mouth just betrayed me! But aw look how happy he is. No thats beside the point, I will get them back, just need to come up with a way.. nothing too complicated. Ill work on that later. “You should go back to your mother now.” I said almost too hopefully, my first plan was that he would leave them behind and hurry home, but he kept them pretty close to him. He nodded and began to move down the mountain, towards his home. I had to do something quick, I looked around in hopes of finding something I could use until.. aha! My sword! My mind completely stopped, instantly memories of me hitting him came back. I had forgotten… that was impossible.. how could I have forgotten.. but.. I guess that you'd never know that you've forgotten something unless you were able to remember it. I turned back and looked at Flash Light slowly get smaller, he'd have to get pretty small to make it to Ponyville because at my current size I could squash the entire town. I don't know… maybe that wouldn't be such a bad idea.