Emerald jerked awake, the fading images from his dream lingering before his eyes. He groaned lightly, then proceeded to roll out of bed. Suppressing an abnormal shiver at the cool air, a yawn tore through his throat as he made his way into the bathroom.
It was a simple enough routine. Take a shower, dry off, then curse his unkempt mane and tail for existing.
After that he'd simply brush his teeth, then run a file along his fangs for a few moments to make sure they were still sharp. Then he'd run a few swabs through his ears to keep them from getting blocked, and then gently groom the fur to prevent it from getting tangled.
The whole process took him nearly twenty minutes, most of it dedicated to his ears and fangs, but it was something he had to do.
He brushed the lock of hair that wormed it's way over his eye, remembering to put 'Go to the barber' on his mental check list, and headed downstairs, idly noting how bare it was. He nearly walked into the kitchen to make breakfast, but stopped upon remembering that he didn't have anything to make.
A memory popped into his head, and he grinned happily, making his way back upstairs and over to his bags, where he proceeded to extract a pair of finely ripened apples.
He strolled through town, his stomach somewhat sated by the fruit he'd consumed, idly thinking about buying some more.
Honestly, those were some of the best damn apples he'd ever eaten!
Granted he hadn't been able to eat too many in his life...
The point was still there, though.
Something hitting his nose broke him from his thoughts. He blinked at the wet feeling, before looking up, just in time to receive the downpour face first. He huffed a little through his nose, then chose to scan the sky.
Gray clouds had been moved in without his notice, a testament to how deep he was in his thoughts. He'd just have to pay more attention to his surroundings then.
He sighed, ignoring the rain that continued to drench him. Well, there went his idea of buying supplies for the house. He really didn't mind the rain, though, so he wasn't in any hurry to head inside.
Besides, it felt good against his newly trimmed coat, having decided to get it over and done with before he forgot. His coat was trimmed to a proper length, and he no longer had to worry about it getting caught on something stupid and end up killing him. He'd even gotten his mane cut a little, so instead of hanging over his face like some vagrant, it hung around his face, framing it.
The sound of pattering hooves caught his attention, and he turned to face the direction they were coming from.
He could see Applebloom running down the street, a pair of saddlebags on her back. Behind her were two fillies around her age he didn't recognize.
One of them was a young pegasus with a bright orange coat, and a purple mane and tail with eyes of the same colour. He noticed that her wings were much too small for a filly her age, much like his had been when he was younger. He idly wondered if the filly was related to him in some way, as small wings were a Skies family characteristic at that age.
It wouldn't surprise him, really. Of all the thestral families, the Skies had the most number of non-thestral family members. He'd even met several during his various jobs.
He'd even met a changeling who was related to him!
He wasn't entirely sure how that union could even work, but it did, and he didn't care to find out.
The other filly was a small unicorn, with a simple white coat, and a mane and tail divided into pink and purple curls, with her eyes being a very bright green.
He noticed that both fillies, like Applebloom, did not have a cutie mark.
Feeling a bit of amusement at seeing the three run around like that, he stopped them, via standing in their way, and covered them with a wing, using their, by Equestrian standards, larger than average size to keep them all relatively dry.
He noticed the pegasus give a small glare at her own wings as he did this.
"What in the world are you three doing out in this weather?" he asked, ignoring her for now,
"We're headin' ta school mister!" Applebloom said excitedly, staring up at him with her bright orange eyes,
"Without an umbrella?" he asked. All three fillies looked down in embarrassment,
"Mine's broken," the pegasus said,
"I fergot mine," Applebloom muttered
"Rarity wouldn't let me borrow hers," the unicorn pouted, causing him to raise an eyebrow at that.
...
Neighbors, perhaps?
"I'll walk you three," he said before he could stop himself,
"Really?!" the unicorn asked, her voice cracking in the middle of the word, which caused her to flush slightly. He chuckled, before nodding,
"Yeah," he replied, beginning to walk forward, towards the school house, making sure his wing still covered them.
"Thanks fer the help Mr. Emerald!" Applebloom said, smiling up at him, he nodded,
"It's no trouble Applebloom,"
"You two know each other?" the unicorn asked, looking surprised,
"Uh... Yeah, I kinda... Uh..." Applebloom murmured,
"She sold me some apples yesterday," he said, choosing to help the flustered filly,
"Uh, y-yeah!" she said, latching on to his explanation quickly.
"... So, are you going to introduce us?" He asked, changing the subject after a moment of silence.
"Oh, right! Girls, this is Mr. Emerald!" Applebloom said, smiling at the fillies, then turned to him, "An' these are mah friends, Scootaloo!" the pegasus gave him a sheepish wave, "An' Sweetie Belle!" the unicorn smiled brightly at him.
"And together we're THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!!" the three practically shouted in unison, causing Emerald to wince at their volume.
"Ohhoho... So, you three uh, go on crusades for your marks?" he asked uncertainly,
"Yeah!" Sweetie exclaimed,
"We go around trying out new things to see if we can get our cutie marks!" Scootaloo added.
He was pretty sure that cutie marks didn't work like that.
Then again, thestrals really don't care about their marks, so who was he to say what was right and what wasn't about them?
"Good luck with that, then," he said.
His casual acceptance of their antics was met with surprise on the three fillies part. Most adults they told that too usually tried to tell them that cutie marks took time. For any adult to not try, especially one who seemed as serious as Mr. Emerald, was a surprise.
"So... what's your cutie mark mean, Mr. Emerald?" Sweetie Belle asked, inspecting the question mark on his flank. Emerald bit his tongue slightly to keep from making a joke at her expense, as she was likely too young to understand the possible implications of her stare.
"Well, I suppose it represents my questionable ability, and my burning desire, to just keep going. Even when I should, by all rights, stop,"
"What?" Scootaloo and Applebloom asked together, looking confused. Emerald thought on a way to 'dumb it down' for them for a moment, before speaking once more,
"It basically means that once I put my mind to something, almost nothing can stop me," he said, earning an understanding 'Ohhhhh' from the two of them. Sweetie Belle, however, seemed more confused,
"But... how'd you get that kind of cutie mark, Mr. Emerald?" she asked.
Emerald grimaced as the memories surfaced, before he ruthlessly crushed them back down, ignoring the maddening giggling that lingered in his mind.
"I'm afraid that's a bit too... personal for me to tell you, Sweetie," they 'Aww'd in disappointment, before he spoke again, "But I will say that I earned it because I found hope," he said, throwing a glance back at the mark.
He really didn't like his cutie mark. It brought back too many memories.
But, at the same time, he loved the mark. He earned his mark the day that his life suddenly had meaning again. When his whole world was a cloudy gray, something happened that gave his life colour again, and his mark appeared. It was his mark that helped him understand what he was meant to do, that he needed to be free from that place. Eventually, it happened, but then his life lost meaning once he felt it had been fulfilled.
And then Celestia appeared, and gave him a new life.
He'd likely never say it to her face, but he owed Celestia everything.
The rest of the trip passed in silence, the schoolhouse coming into view minutes later.
"Alright, we're here," Emerald said as they approached the large red building, "Go on, then," he added, seeing that they hadn't moved yet. Applebloom and Scootaloo shared a look, before running into the building. He would've turned to leave at that point, if it wasn't for Sweetie Belle suddenly hugging his leg, causing him to freeze,
"Thanks for walking us to school, Mr. Emerald," she said, beaming up at him. He stared for a moment, before chuckling, a small grin on his face as he did so. He gave the filly a gentle pat on the head,
"No problem Sweetie Belle. And just call me Emerald," he said. Sweetie's smile brightened considerably, before she too rushed into the schoolhouse.
"Bye Emerald!"
He chuckled once more, then turned and walked off.
Today might not be so bad.
Emerald grunted slightly as he stood from his little workout.
After having made it home, still drenched in water, he'd headed up to the bathroom to dry off, only to remember that they didn't have any towels.
Annoyed, he instead headed to his room, where he'd at least use the cool water still on his body to help him with a little exercise.
He'd likely be staying Ponyville for a long time. If that was the case he'd need to figure out a proper backstory to tell in case he ever needed to give it to anyone. Not only that, but he had to find a way to make some extra money so that no one could question him on how he was affording his stay in Ponyville without a job.
He couldn't go out and work with the weather team, unfortunately. As a thestral he didn't possess the same latent magic as pegasi that allowed him to manipulate the weather. That meant he'd need to find a job that didn't involved the weather, which really shouldn't be too difficult.
However, his options were limited. He needed a place that had decent access to one of the Bearers. He'd need to find where they each worked and decide which one would provide the best possible benefits. And if he couldn't get a job with one of the Bearers, then he'd need to find somewhere with access to a place they all tended to frequent so he could watch over them.
He was broken out of his thoughts a few hours later, by the sound of knocking at his door downstairs.
Freezing in place, he quickly went over the number of possible creatures who'd want to seek him out, and could be aware of his location. Flicking his ear slightly, he managed to pick up enough vibrations to get a rough approximation of size and shape of the ones at his door.
There were three small figures standing outside his door, each one wearing a pair of saddlebags. A trio of familiar fillies, a pegasus, unicorn, and earth pony, sat there. Curious, he headed downstairs quickly, and pulled open the door.
"Why aren't you three in school?" he asked immediately, not giving them a chance for a greeting.
"One of the boards in the roof broke and the school started flooding, so Miss Cheerilee had to end school early today," Scootaloo answered after a moment. Emerald frowned,
"It broke? Under a bunch of rain? How old is that building?" he asked,
"Mah Granny Smith said somethin' about the schoolhouse bein' here since Ponyville was founded," Applebloom said, "I think that was 'bout a hundred years ago, or somethin'," she added.
"Really? Well, I suppose you can't really be mad then," Emerald muttered, "So, why are you three here?" he asked,
"We were hopin' you could help us get our cutie marks today!" Applebloom gushed excitedly,
"Uh... in what?" he asked after a moment of thought.
Why was he considering this?!
"Doing stunts!" Scootaloo said.
"I thought we were gonna try tour-guide cutie marks..." Sweetie muttered,
"Yeah Scootaloo, we've already tried a bunch'a stunts befere," Applebloom agreed,
"Well, yeah, but we always end up covered in tree sap! If he's helping us, then we'll definitely get our cutie marks!"
"I'd appreciate a tour," Emerald cut in,
"See! We can try fer our stunt-mare marks later!" Applebloom said, rushing forward to grab Emerald's hoof, "C'mon Mr. Emerald!"
Emerald allowed himself to be dragged away by the three excitable fillies, internally wondering why he was letting such a thing happen in the first place.
Granted, they did a wonderful job showing him around town, that, he would admit.
Although, they did get a bit too enthusiastic when it came to some areas of town.
Mainly the apple orchard, a boutique, and Rainbow Dash's cloud house outside of town.
Given Applebloom's family, he honestly expected her enthusiasm, to a degree, but he was honestly surprised by the other two's.
Though, in hindsight, he supposed Sweetie Belle really did look a lot like Rarity in more than just passing, whom he was introduced to. He'd only seen a picture or two of Rarity in the past, so he wasn't too certain earlier. He wasn't sure what caused Scootaloo to idolize Rainbow Dash, however. She was lazy, arrogant, and somewhat stupid from what he'd read.
Then again, perhaps he shouldn't base his entire perception of her on a bunch of reports?
Eh, he'd see.
As it stood, the girls had taken him around town for the better part of two hours, before they finally finished. The three had been hopping excitedly the nearer the four of them got to the end of the tour, and Emerald had a small, but ultimately sinking feeling in tandem with their excitement.
A feeling that only worsened when the three happily checked their flanks, only to find them still completely blank. He supposed he might've felt bad if he knew, intimately, how cutie marks worked. As it was, he didn't.
Cutie marks, as far as he knew, were things that appeared on certain species that dictated what their special talent was. Whether it be cooking, dancing, or even fighting, everyone, within those species, got one eventually once they discovered their talent.
What he didn't know was how anyone found that talent. What dictates what their marks becomes? What affects their very being so much to determine their mark?
He'd gotten his mark by hoping for a better future, by denying everything around him, and steeling himself for the fight to come.
But would he have the same mark if only he'd been born a pony?
The question haunted him for the longest time. What if? What if? What if?
His entire life was based upon 'What if?'s'!
He often wondered where he'd be in life if he had born differently. Even something small like just having a different name, what would he have become?
Would he have had more friends? Would he still have a family? Would he be a fighter or a lover?
His biggest regret in life, was being born as a thestral.
The thing he valued above all, what he put his pride into, was also being born a thestral.
That didn't stop the questions, of course, nothing could. Thankfully, he's been getting better since coming into Celestia's employ.
Another thing he'd never say to her face.
"It's alright you three," He found himself comforting them, "I'm sure you'll get your marks, someday,"
"But we're tryin' ta get them now!" Applebloom pouted, sitting down roughly, "Why won't anythin' work?" she asked, looking up at him sadly. Emerald merely gave them a semi-guilty grin,
"I don't know Applebloom. I can't help you. From what I've heard about cutie marks, they're just... something that happens. I never planned to get my mark. Matter of fact, at the time I didn't even know what that mark was. I was... a little behind in education at the time. But if someone who didn't know what a cutie mark was could get one, then three little fillies who put their heart into trying will get theirs eventually, there's no doubt. So... just keep trying, I guess?" he said.
"Yeah!" Scootaloo spoke up, cheering, "Mr. Emerald's right! We just gotta keep trying, and not give up!"
"Totally!" Sweetie squeaked, though she ignored it, "And besides, even if we don't we'll still be together, right?" she asked.
"Right," Applebloom said, looking much better, then jumped back onto her hooves, "We jus' gotta keep goin'! Cause we're..."
"""THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!"""
Why did he feel like he just made a mistake?
He was... amused.
Those three certainly had spunk, he'd give them that.
That sinking feeling he'd had was proven to be true once they, somehow, roped him into helping them with their potential stunt-mare marks. It'd hadn't been anything too bad, at first.
A zip line here, a ramp and hoop there, nothing too bad.
Then they set the hoop on fire.
Of course he'd stepped in immediately, as he really didn't want to explain to anyone why there were three heavily burned fillies in the hospital. Regardless, they'd been disappointed he'd stopped their 'fun'. Thankfully, they'd come up with something stunt-related that wasn't quite as dangerous, namely high-diving.
They'd shown him to the local swimming pond, where they got him to lift them into the air and drop them into the water. He'd avoided telling them that it wasn't how high-diving was actually done, and just let them have their fun.
He would later deny the fact that he'd been grinning a little the entire time.
Once their fun was done and over with, he'd kindly escorted them all back home, giving minor introductions to Applebloom and Scootaloo's families, earning thanks for entertaining them as well.
When that was over, he headed back home, just in time for the sun to set, and the moon to begin it's dance.
Emerald quickly ran inside his house and gathered his things, before rushing back out and taking off. Setting up the barrier took a few minutes, but it was easy.
Emerald quickly headed to the schoolhouse, making sure everything was fine. He could still smell the timberwolf's blood, which wasn't easy as it mixed quite well with the surrounding trees, as well as the slight smoky scent left from the burning.
Regardless, if he could smell it, so could the other wolves, meaning they likely wouldn't be coming anywhere near here for awhile.
Satisfied, he went to check up on the other locations, making the first round of what would be many that night.
-----
It wasn't until the sixth round, where the moon was just beginning to descend once more, when something happened.
Emerald was making his way back to Rainbow Dash's house, passing over the town, when he spotted something underneath her house in the distance.
His flight over the town gave him an excellent view of the town and it's surrounding area, which was making things wonderfully easy to keep an eye on. However, in sacrifice for such a wonderful lookout, it took him outside of the barrier's influence, meaning that, while he could see the figures under her house speaking, he was completely unable to hear what they were saying.
Emerald continued on his way to Rainbow Dash's cloud home.
The night air was pleasant against his fur, even more so as it cascaded over his sensitive ears, nearly sending shivers down his spine.
This was why he enjoyed flying without the disguise.
In his honest opinion, flying was the closest thing he could get to being free. More so without his disguise on. As long as he had the damn thing on, he was trapped in a figurative cage, waiting for the day it somehow failed and he was outed.
Though, he mused, he really wouldn't care. Him being revealed as a thestral wouldn't change his job. The only thing it would probably do is lead the ponies to try and drive him out of town or hide away until he left.
Either way, he'd probably have to knock a few skulls around until they understood that he wasn't leaving, not yet.
A small part of him, however, honestly didn't think they'd care either, but the more reasonable, more logical side of him crushed that part, buried it, and ignored its cries for help.
He slowed to a stop when he arrived at Rainbow's, identifying the figures he'd seen as a group of five griffons.
They... were here earlier than he'd thought they'd be.
He knew it was a possibility they'd come by tonight, but he had pegged them as more intelligent than that.
Oh well, best thing to do in a fight is to overestimate your enemy.
He flew over to the group, landing a few feet away. They didn't notice him, which annoyed Emerald already. Looking around for a moment, he finally found a stick, which he promptly stepped on.
The loud crack it made was more than enough to startle the griffons.
"GAH!" one of them shouted falling backwards, nearly hitting another,
"Watch it you idiot!" they shouted, sounding male, before they started hitting the fallen one.
The other three stared at the duo for a moment, before one of them, finally looked in Emerald's direction.
"Well well well," the griffon said, standing up, with an overly confident grin on his face, "If it isn't Rainbow Dash," he said, walking forward. His announcement had caught the other four's attention, which stopped the little fight going on.
Emerald didn't speak. If they wanted to think he was Rainbow Dash, fine. It would help with his cover anyways.
"Nice contacts you got there," the griffon, likely the leader, said, "Hope you weren't trying to scare us off. 'Cause it ain't workin'," he added, sounding almost sickeningly smug.
Emerald silently fumed.
Couldn't he just get on with it?
The other four griffons finally surrounded their leader, putting them into an arrow formation. He idly wondered if that was intentional or not.
"See, Gilda happens to be a friend of ours. An' when she came back to Griffonstone lookin' all ticked about how you abandoned her for some dweebs, well, we knew we'd have to get some revenge,"
Emerald was getting bored.
"An' see? There's five of us," Emerald rolled his eyes, "So that little self-defense of yours is totally worthless," he finished, a shit-eating grin on his face.
Rainbow Dash knew self-defense?
Huh... he'd have to get the archives to update their information.
Meh, not like it's important.
"Let's get her, boys!" the griffon shouted, pointing at Emerald dramatically before he, along with the others, rushed at him.
Too slow.
He ducked under the punch sent by the first griffon, swiftly uppercutting the idiot, breaking his jaw, if the crunching sound was anything to go by. The body flew over the rest of them, who barely had time to register what happened.
By then, he'd already rushed to meet them, twirling around the second, knocking him out with a strong elbow to the back of the head. The third was swiftly knocked out as well, due to a hoof to his temple.
The fourth and fifth griffons, the two that had been fighting a moment ago, were a bit farther back than the others, but that mattered little. Emerald darted past the fourth, having grabbed his front limb, and quickly dislocated it as well as one of his wings, before throwing him to the ground.
All of that had happened within the span of ten seconds.
Emerald stopped there, watching as the final griffon halted in place, looking at Emerald and his downed allies in fear.
Emerald glared at the final griffon, giving him a silent warning to get out.
Thankfully, he seemed to understand, as he rounded up his friends and, in an adrenaline induced panic, managed to carry them all off.
Emerald sighed.
That wasn't as much fun as he'd thought it'd be.
The sun was due to begin rising in ten minutes, which gave Emerald plenty of time to file out a report on what had happened.
He was sitting by the town's fountain, a pencil and bit of parchment in Emerald's hooves.
"... And done," he said, signing the letter in his name, before he lit the paper alight with the lighter he'd been given. Emerald watched as the blue flame ate up the parchment, before the ashes suddenly flew off towards Canterlot at an impressive speed.
"So... do I wait, or...?" Emerald thought aloud. His answered appeared a moment later as a new ash trail suddenly zipped towards them. There was a sudden, unexpected flash of bright white light, a bag of bits were where the ash trail had stopped.
His eyes stung violently, the bright flash of light having burned his retina's. Thankfully it wasn't too bad.
Of course he was still laying in the fetal position, covering his eyes with his hooves as the spots danced brilliantly over his vision.
He'd probably get it checked at a hospital, just in case.
Damn it, Luna.