//------------------------------//
// Beware of Leprechaun 
// Story: The Marvelous Misadventures of Oddball Scruffington the third, twice removed 
// by Twisted Brew 
//------------------------------//

The best thing about school; Summer vacation.

The sun rises in the sky, as bright as ever, signalling the beginning of a new day. As the light peers through the windows of every home, ponies begin to stir and rise from their restful sleep. One such unremarkable unicorn is following suit. The light beams through his window, illuminating his bright blue coat and messy yellow mane. He opens his shining yellow eyes and slowly begins to sit up in his bed. He feels relaxed and ready to take on the day. The colt wiggles his form out of his blanket and hops off of the bed, making his way over to the bathroom just outside of his bedroom. It takes less than three full steps to cross the hall and enter the private room. Once in, he closes the door and turns to face the sink directly behind him. Closing in on the porcelain structure, he grabs his toothbrush in his magic and-

"NYLON!"

The pony known as Nylon drops his toothbrush into the sink with a yelp, his head snapping to the side just in time to see an all too familiar appendage grab his shower curtain and pull it to the side. With the obstruction now out of the way, he can see his human 'friend' resting on his knees within the large tub; As usual, the human's one patch of hair on his head is a complete mess and his body lightly trembling. That never-ending crazed look in his eyes is as lively as ever. The unicorn places a hoof to his chest and takes several deep breaths to steady his heart. He swears that this so-called friend of his will be the death of him; If not through antics alone, then through the scares that continue to lower his ever shortening life-expectancy.

"What the heck, Odd!?" Nylon snaps at the human, still breathing deeply to regain his composure. "Stop doing that! You're going to give me a heart attack!"

"Hush!" The human retaliates, grabbing a nearby bar of soap and throwing it at the pony. Nylon yelps again and tries to dodge the projectile, but manages to get hit where his cutie mark should be. "Now listen! I have something incredible to show you! Something that could very well change the world as we know it!"

Nylon can already feel the oncoming headache of yet another one of Oddball's rants. "It's way too early for this." The pony mutters to himself before turning his attention back to the human. "Okay, but can it wait until after I'm done getting ready?"

Oddball thinks hard about this, his expression twisting in thought before he settles on a decision. "I can give you ten minutes. Any more and it might be too late!"

"I can work with that." Nylon says with a sigh, waiting patiently for his friend to leave. Much to his own dismay, excluding the consistent shaking, Oddball doesn't move a single muscle. He simply continues to sit there in the tub and stare at him. "Can I have a bit of privacy?"

"Do you want me to close the curtain?" Oddball asks, pointing to the colorful, plastic tarp he was hidden behind earlier.

"No, I want you to leave my bathroom." Nylon replies with a bit of venom in his tone. It's one thing to lie in wait in the bathroom, it's another sit there and watch the whole time. On top of being downright creepy, it's just plain awkward.

"I cannot do that." Oddball begins, wiggling a bit to emphasize his point.

Nylon raises a brow at this, feeling more annoyed than anything else. "Why not?"

"Because I lined the interior of your bathtub with super glue and now I'm stuck." Despite what was just said, Oddball is remarkably calm about his situation of literally being glued in place.

Nylon felt the familiar twitch in his left eye as Oddball explained his current position. This twitch is something that happens too often these days, but never existed before meeting the human that is now stuck in his tub. "W-w...Why!?"

"It was to protect you!" Oddball yells out in defense of his actions. "I didn't want something to come crawling through your drains so I put glue around everything!"

Nylon growls a bit at hearing this, but keeps his cool. "I'll just use my parent's bathroom..." He goes to pick up his toothbrush with his magic again, only to be met with nothing. At first he wonders if he's doing the spell wrong. However, upon further examination, he discovers that the spell is working fine but the brush itself is now stuck to the sink bowl. His eye twitches once more before he turns around and opens the door, stomping down the hall as his body shakes in anger. "Mom! Dad!"

"Yes! Call forth the peasants!" Oddball yells out from the tub. "Their experience may just be enough to free me!"



Nylon steps out of his house nearly an hour later. After a quick shower and a filling breakfast, he's feeling refreshed and at ease. He takes a deep breath through his nose, taking in the scent of the outside world as he basks in the warm sunlight. Looking around, he takes in the sight of Ponyville; his birthplace and his home. Truly, there is no place as peaceful and tranquil.

"Incoming!"

Nylon's content expression falls as he looks to his left just in time to see Oddball come flying out of his living room window, curling up into a ball before hitting the ground and rolling a good foot and a half before unfurling himself and getting to his feet. The unicorn can't help but to sigh in aggravation. "Why can't you ever use the door?"

"Because doors don't like wigglies!" Oddball responds loudly, holding up his hands and wiggling his wigglies in front of his own face. Feeling his point had been adequately proven the human runs to the pony's side, standing nearly twice the height of Nylon. "Now come with me! Avenuture and riches await!'

"Adventure...You mean adventure."

Nylon didn't have a second to react as Oddball's wigglies grab onto his muzzle and pulls it close to the human's face. "Don't sass me, Nipple Twist." The human lets go of the unicorn's muzzle and then slaps him hard enough to make an audible smack. "Now grab the biggest stick you can find and follow me." Oddball finishes, walking off to somewhere and leaving the pony to rub his cheek before going off to find a stick. As much as he hates going along with his friend's ideas, it's a lot less painful to just do as he says.

Upon finding the requested item, Nylon began his search for the human, eventually finding him digging through a garbage can outside of the Carousel Boutique. Despite asking many questions as to what he was doing, none were given a comprehensible answer. Once Oddball was satisfied, the two set off to the outskirts of Ponyville before leaving the small town entirely. Much to the unicorn's surprise, the human leading him was rather silent throughout the whole trip; a very rare, but welcomed, change in most cases. However, the lack of communication at this particular time is both worrisome and slightly unsettling. Before long, the two came upon an opening with a hole in the ground big enough to fit both of them going down side-by-side.

Oddball stops at the edge and looks down into the deep, dark hole. His near-constant trembling causes the dirt to flake and fall deeper into the small abyss standing in front of them. Without even turning to face Nylon, the human holds out his hand and maneuvers his wigglies. "Give me the bonker."

Without even thinking Nylon obeys and hoofs over the stick, placing it into his friend's hand. Oddball's wigglies tighten around the stick before his free hand goes into his pocket and pulls out a cracked gem and a crumpled up piece of paper. He holds the gem over the hole and lets it go, letting it fall into the hole before taking a step back.

With the gem now lost, Oddball shoves the paper into Nylon's face, rubbing it against his head as if trying to physically cram the words into the unicorn's brain. "Read. Read this. Read it loud."

Nylon raises a brow, capturing the paper in his magical grasp to levitate it at a respectable reading distance. His face shifts in confusion as he reads the note in his head. His eyes look questioningly at Oddball, who is staring back at him with an intense expression. Seeing how the human looks way too ready to tear through his own skin, the pony submits and reads the note aloud.

"Oh, nooo-" Nylon says in a very unconvincing tone, something that Oddball notes and will likely punish him for later. "I dropped my expensive gem down this hole!" The pony struggles to keep from rolling his eyes at the obvious lie. The spastic creature he calls friend could at least try to have any of this make sense. Just a little bit. Just one time...Please? "This gem cart is just sooo heavy. I should leave it here and go for help." After finishing the last line, the colt lowers the note and looks back to the biped, who is staring intently at the hole in the dirt and holding the stick high above his head.

Much to Nylon's dismay, something actually happens. He can hear something scurrying deep down in the hole. Panting, growling, snarls and more echo out of the pit and into the world. Fear quickly begins to grip the young pony's heart and he steps back, sending a look of worry to Oddball. The human in question continues to hover beside the hole, with a large, twisted grin plastered across his face. His smile is so wide that the colt can see those unstintingly sharp teeth in the back of the human's mouth. The commotion from below draws nearer, until finally something comes out.

A tall, canine-esque creature pulls it's upper body out of the hole. Its eyes are crazed and it seems excited. The creature pants heavily, its long tongue hanging out of the front of its mouth as it looks around. Oddball has moved to stand behind the overgrown mutt as it searches for the promised riches in the form of glistening gems. Seeing no treasure to be had, the dog's gaze rests on Nylon. It's expression shifts to one of pure rage, realizing it had been lied to. It lets out a growl and slowly lifts itself from the hole.

Nylon is three steps away from that heart attack he mentioned as the diamond dog ascends from the pit it crawled out of. Fate smiled upon the pony this day though. There is a loud crack from behind the fur covered biped before its eyes roll into the back of its skull. The dog falls forward, its upper body resting on the edge of the hole, the weight being enough to keep it from falling back down. Meanwhile, the colt no more than a few feet from the unconscious creature is praying to Faust in thanks for extending his time on this earth. 

Oddball walks around to stand in front of the diamond dog, casting the now broken stick aside as he looks the creature over with only mild fascination. He hit the mutt pretty hard, but that doesn't mean that he will be out for long. They will need to act fast if his plan is to be executed properly. His head jerks to the side, his eyes locking onto the petrified colt standing in place like some kind of stupid...stupid! The human points a wiggly at the dog's backside, "Take him by the paws! I'll grab him by the bald..."

After a short argument- and maybe a kick or two to the head- this human and pony show was on the move. Oddball had the diamond dog's head locked in his armpit, his short arms wrapping around the back of its skull to keep his upper body suspended. Nylon is more accurately described as being under the diamond dog, its lower body resting on the pony's back with its tail hole uncomfortably close to the colt's muzzle. Their trip was not a long one, only intending to move the dog to the nearest tree. Once there, they set the dog down and Oddball, after pulling a rope from...somewhere, got to work typing it to the tree. He made sure to pay special attention to the diamond dog's arms and hands. With their capture now bound and immobile, they could continue-

"What the hay, Oddball!" Nylon snaps at his friend. The human has put them into some crazy situations before, but this is nuts. It's practically a crime! It could very well be a crime! Maybe! "We just dognapped a diamond dog! A diamond dog! Do you have any idea how dangerous these things are!? We could have been killed!"

For the first time in his life, Nylon saw a look that he never thought he would see on Oddball's face. Not in a million years; Disappointment. Tried and true. The human is upset and it's clear on his features. "W-we...Y-ou mean..." The colt leans forward, his eyes widening at the human's stuttering and strange reaction. Perhaps, for once, he actually feels bad. The child clenches his eyes shut and takes calming breath before turning his full attention to his pony friend. "You mean to tell me...That isn't a leprechaun..."

Nylon feels something strange in his head, like a pulsing in his brain. His eye involuntarily twitches as he stares at the human waiting expectantly for an answer. Gritting his teeth, the colt loses his composure and throws all caution to the wind. "Of course it isn't! What the hay is wrong with your brain!?" He finally snaps, incapable of holding in his anger any longer. "What in the wide, wide world of Equestria would make you think, even for a second, that a diamond dog is a leprechaun!?"

"Have you ever seen a leprechaun?" Oddball inquires, both appearing and sounding surprisingly calm about this whole situation.

It takes everything in Nylon's power to keep himself from punching the human in the side of the head. No pony can possibly be this stupid. "Of course I haven't. Because leprechauns aren't re-!"

"Exactly!" Oddball calls out matter-of-factly, taking a few steps closer to Nylon so they are only standing mere inches apart. "You've never seen one, so how would you know that it isn't a leprechaun?"

"Diamond dogs are not leprechauns!"

"But they could be working together!"

"Oh for the love of-!"

An unfamiliar groan pulls their attention back to the tree. The diamond dog Oddball had tied down earlier is slowly returning to the waking world. Its legs kick out a bit, scratching at the dirt as it lifts its head upright. Blinking focus back into its vision, the dog spots the two creatures standing in front of it. He can easily recognize one as a pony. The other one, without fur, that one is a mystery. There's something about it though, something strangely familiar and terrifying. The dog makes an attempt to stand, only to fail in even being able to do so. The mutt's eyes widen as it looks down at its bindings and begins to struggle against them.

The diamond dog's struggles are in vain, as it can hardly find enough room to wiggle, let alone break out of its rope-prison. The sound of quickly approaching footsteps pull its attention upward just in time to see a furless hand cross its vision. A loud smack is heard and the dog feels a pain on its face as it eyes the small, but oddly scary, creature standing above it. "Tell me where the gold is, you little green monster!" The human yells, leveling a wiggly in the dog's direction. "Or so help me, I will eat your skin!"

The diamond dog's ears lower, going flat against its head as it whines in response to the threat. However, the dog doesn't get the chance to respond as the colt standing not too far back begins to step forward. "First of all; he's purple. Not green." Closing the distance further, the pony rears up on Oddball and jabs a hoof in his side. “Secondly; He's a DIAMOND DOG! Not a frickin leprechaun!"

Oddball glances back and forth between Nylon, who is glaring at him fiercely, and the diamond dog, that is nodding its head in agreement with Nylon. The human's sights rest somewhere in the middle before he stretches an arm out and smacks the dog again, getting another whine from the larger creature. "Where are you hiding the leprechauns!?" The human grabs the dog, who is trembling terribly in his hold, by the vest and gives him a shake. "Are you protecting them!? Working for them!? Mounting them!? Tell me your secrets!!!"

This torture only lasts a few seconds before Nylon bucks Oddball with his back legs, forcing the human to lose his grip and sending him tumbling to the side. With that out of the way, the colt moves closer to the slinking diamond dog. How something as small and weird as Oddball could scare a creature of this size is beyond the young pony's comprehension. He captures the rope in his magic, making quick work of untying the knots holding the dog in place. "You don't have long." He says to the now-free diamond dog, discarding the rope as the creature gets to its feet, but keeps its head low. "Quick! Get out of here before he gets back up!"

The diamond dog nods, "Thank you, little pony." He says with a small bow, quickly moving its legs to put as much distance between them as possible. "Thank you!" The dog runs back to the hole in the ground and wastes no time diving back down, disappearing into the abyss below.

"NoOoOOoooOOO!" Nylon hears from his side, looking over to see Oddball staring at the pit from the distance, sitting on his knees as he reaches his hands up and digs his wigglies into his hair. "We were going to be rich! RICH!!!" The colt lets out a sigh and rubs his temple with a hoof.



The journey home felt much longer than it actually was. Oddball wouldn't stop ranting and raving about how the diamond dogs were hired on to keep the leprechauns and their gold safe underground. He had come up with over a dozen different plans on how to sneak down into their home and take it; One of which involved integrating into their society and taking on dog wives to blend in until they rose through the ranks and could reach the gold without arousing suspicion. Nylon hardly registered any of the human's delusional fantasies or his rants, having tuned him out five minutes into their trip. During that time, he wondered how this all came to be, how his life became so bizarre and complicated. He's known Oddball for years, they grew up together, played together. But, as they got older, Nylon grew to appreciate the simple things. He enjoyed peaceful walks, spending some quiet time with his family, reading and writing. Oddball, on the other hoof, became something else entirely. He was a weird one from the beginning and he only got weirder as time went on. He was Nylon's polar opposite in many ways, especially with the way he carries himself. Nylon liked to go with the flow, but Oddball would force himself into some sort of twisted leadership position. That human would command an army of sex zombies if he could.

A loud crunch pulls Nylon out of his own head. He looks to the side to see his long-time friend, his only friend, Oddball. The human is holding half of an egg in his hand as they walk, chewing on- what he can only assume is- the other half of the egg. A small trail of gooey egg yolk runs down the child's chin as he grinds the shell to bits with his teeth. The colt suppresses a gag as he sees this. He knows better than to ask; but, "Where did you get that?"

"Found it." Oddball replies, still looking forward as they close the distance between them and Ponyville. His usual trembling is quite visible to all and it jolts slightly as the human tosses the other half of the egg into his mouth and begins chewing once more. "The game is set!" He exclaims, chunks of uncooked egg whites and shell flying out of his mouth as he speaks. "I have a plan, I have my loyal minion. All will be good in the coming days."

Nylon rolls his eyes and turns his attention toward the town, if only to avert his gaze from Oddball's most recent eating habit. They are greeted with the usual scene as they begin marching through Ponyville; Ponies are still wandering the streets left and right. A few of the grown ponies stop and wave to Nylon, but pay little mind to the biped at his side. The adults here were so nice, unlike the fillies and colts his age. 

"Intruder!"

Nylon chances to look at Oddball as he yells this. He's pointing at something in front of them. He follows the human's wiggly, which is aimed at one particular mare. As per usual, many of the surrounding ponies just ignore him. The mare he's pointing at, however, is making her way directly toward them. Her coat is bright, shining red in color. Her mane is similar, but darker. Not by much, but enough to notice. She is donning her usual black-rimmed eyeglasses and the mark on her flank is one of an open book and quill. The colt recognizes her instantly, having known her almost as long as he's known Oddball.

"Hello, Miss Gaze." Nylon greets her with a wave of his hoof while his friend continues to point accusingly at her.

The mare offers a small wave in response, stopping just shy of the two young-lings in front of her. "A pleasure as always, Nylon." She says in her signature, sweet tone. Her voice almost always has a loving, motherly effect to it. She directs her attention to Oddball, who finally lowers his hand and stares at her with his tongue poking through his lips. "And how's my little colt doing today?"

"I got to play with a dog." Oddball replies, giving her the abridged version of the events that transpired earlier today. He bounces in place for a few seconds before charging the mare, crashing into her with enough force to cause the grown pony to fall back onto her hindquarters. The human wraps his arms around her, resting his chin on her barrel so he can look up at her.

Ruby Gaze is taken by surprise at first, but that passes by pretty quickly. It's amazing the things you get used to when raising a colt like this. "Well it sounds like you had a lot of fun." She says softly, looking down at Oddball before giving him a look of confusion as she holds out a hoof and wipes a thin layer of goo from his chin. "What's all over your face, hon?"

"Egg." Oddball answers plainly.

A somewhat stern look crosses Ruby's face as she lowers her hoof, her eyes locked onto her son's. "Really?" It's amazing to Nylon how she can deal with her child as well as she does. He can tell that she's not exactly happy, but she's still remarkably calm. "Please tell me you didn't get into Fluttershy's chicken coop and steal another egg."

Oddball goes silent for a moment, meanwhile Nylon is trying to figure out how he would have done that given that he has been with the human all day. "What is this egg you speak of?"

Ruby lets out a small huff. Her eyes suddenly light up, a look of excitement spreads across her face as she takes in a deep breath. "Do you wanna play, Oddball?" Her son's eyes mimic her own, going wide at the idea of playtime. "How about another game of Bobble?" The human child doesn't say a word, simply bouncing up and down slightly in front of her as he releases his grip on the mare. "Ready? One...two...bobble!"

As she finishes her countdown, Ruby presses the frog of her hooves to Oddball's ears, covering his ears completely as she slowly rocks his head around in circles, which he seems to be really pleased with as he hums in delight. With him now thoroughly distracted- and unable to hear anything- the mare looks over at Nylon with an almost pleading expression. "Please tell me he didn't get into too much trouble today."

Nylon thinks carefully on how to answer this, "Well he...we uh...I tried to..." The colt lowers his head and lets out a defeated sigh before looking up into Ruby's eyes with a look of exhaustion and disappointment. "You...don't wanna know..."

Ruby feels all the strength practically fall out of her body, her hooves dropping down to the ground and allowing her son to hear once more. "Sweet Celestia," She says in a hush tone as she turns her attention to the human child she has been raising for so long. "what am I going to do with you?"

Oddball's response is to wrap his arms around her neck and then fall back, letting his mother handle his weight as he dangles backward. "Hug me, love me, name me Harold the Hairless."

That little comment manages to get a laugh out of Ruby, one that she desperately needed. Taking a breath, she stands back up on her four hooves. "I think it's time I got you home and got you fed." She says to her son, who straightens himself out so he's standing up on his own again. "I don't want you ransacking anymore chicken coops so you can 'devour the unborn.' anymore."

Oddball's eyes are suddenly full with panic. The human releases his hold on his mother and sprints to Nylon's side, pulling the colt into a one-armed hug that easily forces the air out of the small pony's lungs. "We can't go home yet!" He calls out, his death grip on his pony friend only increasing in strength. "I have so much I have to do today! SO many preparations to make the invasion of the leprechaun hive! I'm a busy Sir Scruffington!"

Seeing how dangerous this situation is getting, Ruby pulls out her trump card. "If you can hold off on your invasion for just one more day, I'll make you your favorite; Smore cakes~" 

Oddball’s usual trembling nearly doubles as he releases Nylon. He turns to face the colt, grabbing him by the muzzle and pulling the pony's face close to his own. "We will finish this tomorrow." On that note, the human takes off like a bullet toward his house, leaving behind both his mother and his confused friend. "Smore cakes!!!"

Nylon rolls his jaw as he watches Oddball running off like the loon he is. The colt spares one last glance to his friend's mother, Ruby. Again, he knows better than to ask, but a child's curiosity is almost insatiable. "What’s a smore cake?"

"A nightmare and a heart attack waiting to happen." Ruby responds almost instantly. She offers the colt one last look and shakes her head. "Trust me, you don't want to know." Letting out a sigh, the mare begins following after her son, albeit at a much slower pace. "Have a good rest of your day, Nylon."

"You too."

The walk home was significantly more peaceful now that Oddball was out of the picture. Nylon thanks Fuast that he finally has some peace and quiet. At least, mostly. He passes by a group of ponies his age standing out by the school, all playing around in the playground. He quickly averts his gaze and tunes them out. Even while ignoring them, he can still hear their calls of ridicule. It used to affect him more a few years back, but he's gotten used to it. That's what he likes to think, at least. The colt slowly comes to the house that he calls home and trots up to the door, pushing it open with a hoof before stepping inside and closing it behind him.

It doesn't take long for his appearance to attract attention. His father, Gemstone; a turquoise blue stallion with purple eyes and a short, spiky purple mane approaches. He's wearing a pink apron around his neck and has a mixing bowl and spoon held up in his magic. "Welcome back, sweetie!" He greets pleasantly, "How was your day?"

Nylon really has to think hard on how to answer this, but nothing sounds right. With his mind drawing a blank, he settles on his usual response to this question. "It was...interesting. You know how it is."

Gemstone can tell that today has been exhausting for his son. He can see it in his colt's eyes; he was tired and worn down. It's no surprise. Nylon always comes home like this whenever he hangs around Oddball. "I understand, dear." He says in a relaxing tone. "Why don't you go upstairs and wash up. I got all of the glue cleaned up and I'll have lunch ready shortly."

Nylon smiles at his father, nodding to him. "Thanks dad."

Gemstone nods in return before turning around and going back to the kitchen to finish the meal. As he leaves, Nylon begins making his way to the stairs leading up to his room. However, there's some strange noises coming from the room beside the steps that catch his attention. At first, he assumes that his father is just messing with things in the kitchen. Then he notices that he's saying something and trying to be quiet about it. He knows better, but...

Nylon takes a step back from the stairs and leans closer to the dividing wall between him and the kitchen. His ear flicks lightly as he listens in to the conversation on the other side. It's difficult to make out at first, but he can easily recognize the sounds of his father and his mother talking in the other room. The first voice he tunes in on is his mother. She's saying-

"Why are you still letting him see that...thing?"

"That thing has a name, Sapphire!"

"I don't care what you want to call it, but it's not safe to let Nylon hang around it!"

"I know Oddball is...well, odd, but-"

"The kid's a bucking freak! You know this! Everypony in town knows this! Ever since Ruby found it and brought it back here, it's been nothing but trouble for the whole town!"

"Well what do you want me to do? Tell Nylon to stop hanging out with the only friend he has? No pony else gives Nylon the time of day! We should thank our lucky stars that he has at least one friend! Would you rather he just sit up in his room alone all day?"

"It's better than him sticking around that monster all the time!"

"You're such a-"

Nylon pulls his ear away from the wall. There's a pit in his stomach as he slowly moves back to the stairs and ascends the steps. His head hangs low, his ears flat against his head as he tunes out the world once again. He can see drops of water falling onto the carpeted steps as he trots his way to his room and closes the door behind him. The colt's body feels as though it's moving on its own as he goes over to the window and sits down in front of it. Staring out the window, he wonders how things got this way. How did his life get so bizarre and so complicated?

This is a question Nylon often asks himself, but he has yet to find an answer. Taking a breath he looks over at the small cabinet by his bed. His horn becomes alight, pulling open the drawer and levitating a small, black sack out from it. Pulling it over to him, the sack opens and is set down on the windowsill. He pushes the sack with a hoof, knocking it over and allowing several colorful marbles to roll out. He creates a small wall with his magic to keep them from rolling off as he looks down at them with an unsure expression. He can still remember the day Oddball had gifted them to him;

It was his first time going to school, his very first day. As it was with everypony else. He felt so scared and uncomfortable about it all. The anxiety of meeting other ponies felt like a weight crushing his chest. For whatever reason, Oddball simply walked up to him with the sack held in his trembling hand. The disheveled human looked at him in silence for almost a whole minute, his eye twitching wildly. Then suddenly, without warning, he set the bag of marbles down on Nylon's desk. The colt was lost in a state of confusion by the creature's appearance alone and the bizarre gesture did little to help. Not only was this the first interaction he had with somepony outside of his family, but it was the first time someone he didn't know actually spoke to him. The words are still stuck in his mind, 'Take these. Keep them. Hide them. I keep losing them.'

Little did Nylon know that day would be the birth of, what is quite possibly, the strangest friendship to ever exist. Oddball became a regular figure in his life after that day. He would just appear out of seemingly nowhere and drag the colt along with whatever craziness he was involved in. What a strange life he lives. As he looks down at the marbles, shuffling them about with his hooves, he can't help but wonder; Will it ever get any better?