//------------------------------// // Chapter 36 – A Living World // Story: Infinity Era // by JDPrime22 //------------------------------// 36 Equus Klugetown, Bone Dry Desert 6:07 a.m. Beyond the point of nowhere, resting on the very edge of Bone Dry Desert, the small industrial city of Klugetown was currently in the midst of rebuilding itself. Nearly from the ground up, considering the massive flooding the city had endeared not too long ago. Not many understood what caused the flooding. Some saw the alien planet drift over their heads and blamed it. Others weren’t bright enough to understand the catastrophic events that befell not only their town, but their very world, and went about their business just trying to repair what they owned, helping no one. Even though Capper Dapperpaws was smarter than arguably everyone in Klugetown, it was still quite the phenomenon that he was trying to wrap his head around it. It was quite the chore. The damage was chore enough. All of Klugetown was in the dirt-filled streets, picking up debris that they believed belonged to them. There were always quarrels on what belonged to who, a few confrontations and fights breaking out. They didn’t last long, what with others stealing the goods that remained in the midst of the fighting. Overturned carriages, barrels, stands, and even homes lay in ruin within the streets, making travel difficult and helping even more so. Mostly everyone tended to themselves, only the small, feeble, and weak-minded who hadn’t yet learned the harshness and cruelty of the real world offered their assistance to others. They were shooed away. People tended to themselves, stayed away from others. The cruelty, the total loss of friendship was there, as ripe as ever. Capper had seen what the world was capable of. He had personal experience of hurt, betrayal, hatred, fear, everything that came from the world and made it what it was. He could have easily went by his own business, sneaking a few fruits here and there to ease his growling stomach. Maybe the old him would have done something like that. That wasn’t Capper anymore. Since he met those seven little heroes a while back, they helped change his perspective on things. Just because he had the ability to steal, to lie, to thieve, to be exactly what Klugetown expected from its inhabitants… that didn’t mean he needed to. He did his best to be the first of hopefully many to change their ways in Klugetown. Capper left Verko and his crime spree. He didn’t steal from anyone. He did everything he could—and he couldn’t even believe it himself at first—to help others. His efforts were small. But that’s how great things usually started: small. Capper told himself that every day, especially on that bright morning as he lifted a market stand back to its legs. It weighed a ton, but Capper managed, settling it down for its owner. Capper smiled at his handiwork, wiping his fur-covered brow of sweat. “There you go, ma’am. Right as rain,” he said, resting his paw on the sign of the fruit stand. The owner, a female lizard, smiled appreciatively to the anthropomorphic cat, settling her bag of fruits down on the table beneath her, already beginning to reorganize them. She didn’t pay attention to Capper as his eyes stared hungrily down. His eyes fell to her bundle of oranges resting on the face of her table. Capper could feel his mouth watering at the fruit, his stomach crying out to him. His tail swished back and forth behind him, almost crawling instinctively up to the table. She wasn’t looking at him, bending down behind the table to pick up more fruit. The temptation was there, but Capper knew better. He was better now. She came back up, meeting his green eyes. Shaking his head and swatting at his tail, Capper offered a smile and a tip of his head, saying, “You have a good day now.” The female lizard smiled at him, tossing the cat an orange. He fumbled with it at first, then gazed at the bright orange resting in paws, almost like a slab of gold resting before him. His eyes shimmered, then fell, his voice doing just the same. “I can’t. Really, I can’t. You look like you need it more than me.” She shook her head, closing her scale-covered hands over his, assuring him that he possessed the fruit now. Capper smiled at that, then quickly smirked her way. “Can’t talk much, can ya?” he asked, seeing her nod. A mute. He nodded his head to her anyway, saying, “Much obliged, madam.” They waved to one another and parted ways, Capper returning his gaze to the debris-filled dirt road ahead of him. He tossed the orange up in front of him, almost playing with his food, and caught it with one paw, his smile much brighter than it had been earlier that morning. Even with all of Klugetown dealing with the worst flooding its ever had, not a smile for miles, Capper couldn’t help but keep one on. Maybe it was the thought of the fruit he was soon to devour that put him in a good mood, but he knew it wasn’t that simple. He smiled because he didn’t steal from her to get what he wanted. He smiled because he did the right thing. Even if he got nothing in return—which was most of the time he performed a good deed—it always felt nice to be helping someone. Capper almost chuckled at the thought. He never imagined he would have left the life of thievery, ever since he was abandoned by someone he would have considered to be his only friend in the cold, depressing world. Chummer. Capper almost tried to rid himself of that name, of the cat that betrayed and almost killed him, and for what? A life of crime, of stealing, of living on the streets and making everyone else’s life worse than it had to be? No. Not Capper. He didn’t need that life. Not anymore. It had been years since the last he saw of Chummer escape Klugetown in that burning airship. Capper shook his head, digging his claw around the edges of the orange and ripping a piece out. He tossed the fruit in his mouth, munching on it with content. Screw him. Capper couldn’t care less what happened to that traitor. He was much better living off a life of helping others instead of stealing from them, which is what Chummer thought their future relied on. But when Capper passed by several of Klugetown’s market folk, several of which he had helped in the past, they waved his way, calling out to Capper in a friendly, non-hostile way. Most of the time, and with many similar faces, they would have sent curses his way, threatening to actually hurt Capper if he didn’t leave their business alone. Now, they just saw him as a helping hand. As a friend. Capper smiled and waved back. He could get used to that. As children played in the mud that had accumulated in the dirt streets ever since the flooding, and others tended to their business and homes to get everything back up and running, Capper moved directly down the street, looking for those who needed help, eating his orange with every sashay of his hips, with every step he took. It was no easy life by any means. It was rewarding, though. Much more rewarding than the life he left. Sure, he didn’t get as much food and money as he had in the past, but the satisfaction he earned more than made up for that loss. And Capper strode through the streets of Klugetown eating his orange, almost on top of the world, as the sun disappeared. The warmth he felt on the inside didn’t feel as good when he couldn’t fell the warmth on his fur and red coat. Lowering his orange from his mouth, Capper turned his eyes skyward and shielded his gaze for a brief second, flinching at the brightness of what remained of the sunlight. Once it faded as well, Capper, including all of Klugetown, were trapped under a blanket of near-darkness. The shadow that fell upon the city nearly left them blind, yet slivers of sunlight managed to spill through and give some clarity to the town. Curious, Capper kept his eyes peeled as he stared up into the sky. Maybe it was the tall buildings blocking his view, but it appeared that all of the bright, blue sky was consumed by a dark cloud. As he trailed the cloud lower and farther away, he noticed it appeared to be spreading, consuming the skies surrounding Klugetown and the desert and ocean that separated them from the rest of the world. The black clouds, with what appeared to be lightning striking across its surfaces, originated somewhere deeper, somewhere beyond Bone Dry Desert. Capper kept following the clouds, his curious eyes eventually landing north. Deep where the Badlands remained. Resting an arm beneath the other, his paw gripping the orange and the other tapping beneath his chin, Capper hummed to himself, staring at the dark clouds, taking in their features. Nearly pitch-black, lightning striking within it, no smell of rain but rather the smell of burning sulfur ripe in the air and causing several citizens to cough agitatedly. Capper even managed to notice smoke filling the air, small ash particles snowing within Klugetown. He brushed a few pieces of ash off his coat shoulder, taking several more steps closer to the darkness. His bright green eyes stared at it, almost glared at it, as he said, “That can’t be normal.” An ash particle fell in his eye, causing Capper to flinch and shake his head. When he rubbed at his eye, that’s when he felt the earthquake rumble throughout the city. “Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Capper stated, hands held out in a fleeting effort to grip onto something to prevent falling flat on his face. He felt no need to, as the tremor was short and ended as soon as it had arisen. Several citizens within Klugetown began to cry out as their homes and buildings shook, startled and even frightened screams rising from even the deepest portions of the city. Capper didn’t have time to understand what the earthquake meant. Something else came just as fast. Just as impactful. Just as startling as everything that fell upon Klugetown that fateful, summer morning. A growl. A growl. Even Capper couldn’t believe it at first, but that’s what he heard. As clear as his feline ears could have picked it up, Capper was certain he heard what sounded like a deep, hellish growl from deep below ground. Not only beneath his paws, but all around him. Filling the smoke in the air, billowing down from the black clouds above their heads and shielding the sunlight. Deep from within even himself. Capper tried to hide it, but he couldn’t He couldn’t hide the shiver race across his skin beneath his fur. “Oh, that really can’t be normal,” he muttered, shaking his head and staring up at the clouds once more. And once more, he followed their trail, back to where they originated within the Badlands. Beyond that, into the more… civilized world above, Capper could fondly remember the inhabitants that lived passed the mountains. More so, he remembered of the higher authority within those lands, one of which held command over the sun the clouds above tried to hide. Capper could bet on his hidden stash of catnip that she wouldn’t be too pleased to know about that. Not too pleased one bit. He smirked, opening his coat and stuffing what remained of his orange into his pocket. “Luckily… I know some ponies who can deal with that,” he said with that same, knowing smile, closing his coat and pulling on the shoulder straps. After clearing his throat and cracking his knuckles, Capper took the first few steps on his long journey to Canterlot, to inform said higher authority of what had occurred. And maybe… get a little sneak peak of what was brewing in the Badlands. Those thoughts seemed fleeting when he took another look above. One last look for a while, as he saw lightning strike across the darkness, lighting it up for a brief second. The clash of thunder followed, but Capper knew it wasn’t thunder. It didn’t sound anything like thunder. He gulped, pulling on his shoulder straps even tighter when the ash started to fall even harder. The air was becoming thinner, more smoke filling it. “Got a nasty storm brewin’,” he said, a slight pinch of fear escaping his tongue. He may not have accomplished his goal of being the first of many to change their ways within Klugetown, but he was the first of many more to leave it.