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// Story: It's a very mad world we live in. 
// by SkyBreaker 
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I left the day we buried her. I couldn't stand being in that house with out her. It wasn't that it was empty, it just I don't want her old home to change from what it was. 

"Whats yer' name son?" A voice said sternly 
"M..My name?" I asked as I waked from a sleep I don't remember entering. 
"Yes, Yer' name!" the voice said again but this time more irritated.
"S..Sky...SkyBreaker...sir."  I said as I opened my eyes that were only greeted by a flashlight to be shined in them.
"Where ya from." the voice demanded. 
"Kings Trough." I responded slowly. 
"Now where in the hay is that?" He responded laughing with other voices I couldn't see. 
"It... it's near the..." 
"It's Near the Crystal Mountains, now if you scum would leave that would be Much appreciated." A more regal voice sounded as the men surrounding me gasped and ran. 
"Get up." the man who had just helped me now sounded as if were going to do harm towards me. 
"We don't have much time they will be back with more now Get Up." 
As I tried to get I was lifted by a set of stronger arms and what I could see, I was being carried to a type of Trailer, after which I slipped in and out of consciousness. After a little while, (well for me a little while) I was finally aware of what was going on, my head was pounding as if someone were banging a gong, but only the vibrations were reaching me. "You're okay, you're just a little banged up." a sweet voice said as I felt a moist cloth pat my forehead. 
"Where am I?" I asked. 
"You're on a train going towards Manehattan." the voice replied.
"And if it weren't for HoofWheel you wouldn't be here, who knows what those men would have done to you." I could smell a sweet perfume coming from her... L'Instant de Guerlain to be exact, before my mother passed she taught me multiple perfumes, I could tell by the citrus honey sent. My mother wore it. 
"Go back to sleep we will be there in no time at all."

I continued to drift in and out of consciousness, due to the rumbling of the train, and because of voices I could hear coming from the next car.
"Who the fuck is this kid?" A deep voice said.
"I don't know but Hoof seems to be awfully protective of him." a second voice chimed
"Looks like Hoof either found us dinner, or a brand new puller." a third voice said with a cracked voice.
I opened my eyes and they darted towards the desk across the room, the woman was sitting in her chair, she made a "Mmmwah." sound towards the mirror as I could see she had just put on some bright red lipstick. She stood up opened the bottom left drawer on her desk, reached in and pulled out a record and played it on the record player... It was I don't want to set the world on fire. By The Ink Spots, she began to hum along with it the took out a cigarette with the long filter, she put it to her mouth, inhaled then made an O then shot a smaller one through it. The room filled with smoke, and I drifted out of consciousness.

I was woken up the next day by loud crash of what sounded like a large metal frame falling to the earth, I could hear a lot of talking coming from outside so I checked what was going on.  Out of the window I say many pony scattered across a large field like area, as I tried to get up I was met with a striking pain in my right wing and shoulder. The woman from the day before entered the car.
"Did you sleep well." she said cheerfully as she pulled out a table like panel that was connected to the bed, I nodded yes. 
"Good." she said as she set down a plate of eggs, and a glass of milk. 
I was starving because I hadn't eaten in at least a week, or it felt as so."Eat up, we need you to make a full recovery." she said sweetly as he sat at her desk and applied makeup and perfume, then proceeded to change into a beautiful yellow sun dress, then carry herself outside. I finished my meal and tried to stand, and to my surprise I was able to, despite the pain in my right shoulder I began to make my way outside in my rough Leather boots, a saddle, and my lucky Black Leather Hat. As I walked outside I was greeted by a stern looking man, who smiled to me and said.
"Well it looks as though you've made a quick recovery." 
"Not quite I'm afraid, my shoulder and wing are still in a great deal of pain." I said as I examined my shoulder and wing more carefully.
"I assumed as much, but it's good that you are able to walk on it, Oh, where are my manners, I'm HoofWheel." the man said with a kind smile on his beard stubble face.
"Oh, I'm..." before I could finish he said.
"I know who you are, most everypony here knows who you are." still smiling he said.
"Come on, I have people for you to meet." I followed close behind as we walked up to the woman who was helping me before.
"This, is Juliet, she will be helping you recover while you are here with us." the woman gave her heart warming smile after seeing me.
"Aw, you're even cuter in daylight." she said as she raised my muzzle with her hoof. A striking pain surged through my right shoulder as a metal rod hit me, I released a."ARGH!" before falling to the ground, nearly breaking into tears.

I was carried back to the car and left there, so I wouldn't become injured any more than I already was.Throughout the day Juliet came to check up on me and see how I was holding up, she brought me lunch, and then later shared dinner with me so I wouldn't be as lonely. 
"I'm sorry you had to give up your car for me." I said in a sort of joking fashion. 
"It's fine, I'm willing to share my space with anypony who truly needs it, and right now you need it the most." she said sweetly, as she moved her mane away from the front of her face. Due to my shoulder, she would have to feed me, I felt bad that she had to help me do the simplest of tasks, so when ever I could I would try to do things on my own, but that never ended well for ether of us. Whether it was me getting injured, only prolonging the recovery process, or me making a mess of things, by trying to feed my self, and end up getting more on me than in me. She was such a kindhearted woman, always giving but never asking for anything in return , in fact, I don't ever recall a time after my accident that she wasn't by my side. Some nights I would wake up and she would be sitting up watching, making sure I was always okay, and all because of me. She was always a fan of records, she showed me her collection.
"Pick one." she said, so I pulled one out and it was Ain't That A Buck in the Head, By Dean Stallion.
"Great choice!" she put the record on and  I was amazed of how good he was, she was singing and dancing along to it, she was amazing the way she could move was unlike I've ever seen, then again I never watched anyone dance before.
"Wanna dance Handsome?" she asked.
"I don't know how." I said looking down at the floor.
"Well you ain't gonna learn sittin' down" She said as she lifted me out of the bed. We danced for hours I loved it, I hadn't felt so good in months.

I was pacing the fair grounds near Baltimare, I over heard Juliet talking to somepony.
"Well hun, if you pay enough bits your evenin' will be nice, then yo can go and send me on my way." I didn't understand what she was talking about, but I didn't dare interrupt.
"How many bits are we talking here?" the stallion asked.
"Well I like you, so hows... 50?" She responded. "Ehhh, I don't know."
"Now ya cain't send me away empty hoofed Can ya?" she said in a more innocent voice.
"Well....okay." They then disappeared into a building, after that I just when t the car and waited for her to return, when she did she had a large sack of bits and put it into a locked chest under her desk.
"Who was that you were talking to?" I asked
"Oh, just an old friend." she said in a breathless voice.
"Oh, okay... why did you need 50 bits from him?"
"Well... We had a friendly wager, about the Wonder Bolts race, I bet on the one that won." she said letting out a nervous chuckle, and then proceeded to wash her face in the sink near her desk, I could see the marks on her face from the mirror, I could see a scar on her neck, almost as if someone had branded something there... I thought nothing of it and slowl went to sleep.

I had made a full recovery, luckily I had Juliet, if I hadn't, I would have never made it. It took 2 days before I was able to finally run again, and that was the time HoofWheel gave me the offer, he told me that all I had to do, was pull the train, me being a young and rambunctious colt, I thought it would be fine. So, I signed a contract saying that  would pull his train... I didn't read the contract, I wish I would have, what it said was that I would have to pull the train alone, for 1 bit a week, for the rest of my life. This train wasn't much of a train, it was more like a caravan on tracks, it was hard at first, but as I got used to pilling a 10 car circus on tracks, I think the heaviest part of the entire train was the frames of the train itself. When Juliet found out about the contract, she demanded that it was voided immediately, When HoofWheel refused she went into a fit of rage, bucking, cursing, biting, etc. HoofWheel slapped her down to the floor, after which she got up and charged at him, leaped at him and tore his left ear off, she was knocked out by a larger stallion then dragged back to her car, a few moments passed, and I heard a ruckus then a loud bang.

They killed her, I watched as they dumped her lifeless corpse into the woods near the tracks. I couldn't believe it, I refused to believe it was true, I told myself it was a dream, that I would wake up from this... It was no dream, I pulled the bastards train. After the event, HoofWheel became very vicious towards me, this circus went from something I loved, to something I couldn't bear to be in anymore, I was barley every fed, and when I was it was what everyone else wouldn't eat, I wasn't allowed to sleep until we got t the place we were at our destination, but I wasn't given a bed, no, I had to sleep standing up, and even when I was allowed to sleep, I was plagued by nightmares of Juliet decaying in those woods. after six months, I was malnourished, tired, and weak, that's when he came along, a young colt by the name of Moon Sketcher, he was about three years younger than I was, and he already had his Cutie Mark, it was the moon surrounding a pencil, weird how some ponies names match their cutie marks. I objected, saying he was far to young, all he would do is slow me down, and he responded.
"SkyBreaker hold your tongue, you're starting to sound like Juliet." I was enraged at the fact that he dare say her name... but there was nothing I could do.

The colt was nothing but an annoyance, and being in the state I was, didn't help much either. But after a while he became quiet, either due to my lack of compassion or the fact that I wasn't responding to any of his attempts of small talk. But finally he crossed the line, I knew he would ask this sooner or later. "Who's Juliet?" In mid gallop I completely stopped the train, and hit him square in the muzzle with my front hoof. After realizing what I had just done, I unstrapped the colt and put him on the front of the train, and quickly got back to pulling the train. Many hours passed, and I began to worry because the earth pony hadn't woken up yet, so when we got to our stop in Dodge City at around midnight, I checked the young colt... to my worst of fears, he was dead. I took the young colt and buried him under a rock where no one would find him, when I had returned HoofWheel was waiting for me."I saw what you did, all the way back there." he said in a playful tone, and I returned the comment with a heated glare."You got blood all over the front of my train, you must of hit him pretty hard." he said, as if about to reveal something."What makes you say that?" I responded."His brains are here too." he gave a sick smile while picking them up and then throwing them onto the ground in front of me, his sick smile changed into a serious glare."Now you're either going to eat that, AND lick this train clean of blood, or... I'm going to turn you into the sheriff." my stomach convulsed at the idea of it, and I pulled my head back a bit."Well what's it gonna be?"

We continued on towards Manehattan the following week, right on schedule. I had completely forgotten about the young colt, mostly because I didn't want to remember what I had done to him, it seemed like an eternity before we got to Manehattan, we finally got there and I was joyful that we were, I didn't know why but later events showed me that not all was lost. I watched the others set up and talk, occasionally I would get to talk to a pony or two before their parents nudged them on, but on the final night a young mare came up to me and in a beautiful voice said 
"What are you doing out here in this cold weather?" I looked up and saw the pony who asked and responded.
"I have to pull the train, I'm not allowed to leave." 
"All alone?" she continued, I nodded yes.
"Well that aint' right." changing from her original upper class accent into a country accent.
"No pony can pull an entire train by themselves."
"If you would have told me that a year ago, I would have agreed." HoofWheel had put locks on my metal bracer so I couldn't get away, but that didn't stop the young mare, she snuck aboard the train and not a moment latr came back with a set of keys.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"You're gonna get caught!"
"Oh hush, ah got this." she said confidently, a second later, I was free.
"WOW! Thank you!" I said as I gave her a hug.
"Oh it was nothin', anythin' for a pony in need." Memories of Juliet filled my head, I could feel a tear rolling down my face, I wiped it away, and began to head towards the loot car at the very back of the train, when I turned and asked.
"Whats your name?" she responded.
"Apple Jack!" I thought to myself her name, and I swore that one day I would repay her for the kindness she had given to me. I sprinted to the last car, unhooked it from the others, saddled my self up and ran as fast as I could when I finally came upon a town called Pony Ville I stopped there and proceeded to bury the piles and piles of bits, gems, and deeds to properties I didn't even know existed.

A week passed and I was burying the last of the loot, and as I laid the last chest into the hole a shock-wave rolled across the trees and a giant rainbow formed in the sky, and I smiled thinking of my mother and Juliet looking down on me, and I thought to myself... I'm...Free.