//------------------------------// // Moving on to Better Things // Story: The Equestrian Stooges // by J.A.I //------------------------------// The Equestrian Stooges Chapter 1 It was an understatement to claim the room was ‘messy’. With all of the equipment around, the place resembled a workshop. Nuts and bolts were scattered all over many complex schematics that littered the room. Close by, there was also a desk holding an array of fine tools from crude wrenches to delicate screwdrivers. All of these, along with variety of odd machinery, took majority of the rooms otherwise large living space. A bed that sat in the corner of the room was one of the only things that made this a bedroom. And by it stood an earth pony stallion; grand in size and light brown coat shining under the lamplight alongside with his jagged, dark brown mane and tail. Yet the pony continued to look down at the bedsheets. “Guess that does it,” he mumbled to himself as he close the large suitcase. It was the same leathery color as himself. He then grabbed the handle with his mouth to test its weight. Thanks to his large size, the case was light enough to easily carry. *Knock, knock* The earth pony quickly turned his head to look at the bedroom door before lowering his suitcase down to the floor. At the same time, the door slowly opened to reveal a cream coloured earth pony mare with a short blond mane and tail like a rocker. On her head she wore a rose red beret with a golden crest pinned in the middle. “Hey Iron, Pa’ said you-” the mare’s words stopped as her eyes fell upon the suitcase. She sighed as she proceeded to walk over to the stallion. As she stopped, their grey eyes met. Grey eyes was a trademark of the Defence family. Another one was the substantially larger size of male members, forcing the cream to look upwards. “Floret I...” “So you’re leaving for good?” Floret asked; keeping the eye contact. After a moment of silence, the stallion nodded. “It’s for the best. Best for all of us if I just leave this good for nothing ‘elegeant and innovative’ waste of a city.” The stallion sighed. “Especially when I’m not even wanted by my own family... Not you, of course, but...” Floret opened her mouth but was instantly muffled by the light brown hoof. Same time, the stallion shook his head. “Please don’t. You and I both know how father sees me. The only reason I’ve been able to stay for so long has been that he believed, somewhere deep inside, that that I’d come to my senses and abandon all of this...” the earth pony waved his hoof to the room, at the machinery trinkets “and follow my true destiny. Bah!” He then took a deep breath and turned back to look at his younger sister. He gently placed his hoof on her shoulder. He looked over to his flanks. The mark of a hammer over a shield shone, like a burning fire. “I need this. To get away and have a fresh start. And who knows, perhaps the old moron will finally comes to senses.” Iron weakly laughed. “Iron... Please don’t leave.” Floret said as her head dropped along with Iron’s hoof. The stallion backed away, took his dark bag and slowly walked past the mare, whose face was now hidden underneath the gold locks and shadows. But he did stop at the doorframe to glanced over his shoulder. “Goodbye, dear sister.” Iron stated. “Get out you idiot.” The mare weakly laughed. She heard her older brother’s steps and the door closing; leaving her alone in the room. She raised her head and let the first tear fall down her muzzle. Iron slowly trot through the hallway looking from door to door. Leaving a part of his life seemed so hard, but he couldn’t bear with the how almost everypony in his family saw him as a great failure. He began to trot down the flight of stairs to floor level trotting by he came into the living room, and there in a big chair sat his father. He was a older pony, the hair in his mane began to grey out. The father looked up from a book and faced Iron, squinting his eyes. “Iron.” “Total.” Iron said while returning the gesture before moving back to grab a grey scarf from the hatstand. It was the same shade as his eyes. He threw it around his neck, he briefly turned his gaze back to the living room and to see the old geezer had returned to his book, eyes still squinting yet firmly locked on the written word. As Iron finished up the tying the piece of cloth, the old man hadn’t moved an inch. “Well, goodbye then,” Iron stated. Total responded with a shrug whilst taking out a pipe, before the younger stallion grabbed the suitcase. “Oh by the way...” The old stallion turned to look, and instantly his eyes bulged open. Loe and behold Iron stood there with one hoof in the air pointed to the roof but facing his father. A look of anger grew on the older stallion’s face to the point in which he began to ramble in a low tone getting louder and louder. On the stairs laugher could be heard being made by a young mare. The office was what you could expect; grey bland walls with different kinds of framed diplomas and metal cabinets filling all sides. There was only a small amount of space for an oak work desk in the middle. The greyish green carpet brought at least some form of colour to the room. “Look, can't you just let me leave?” The unicorn mare, wearing what looked like a lab coat alongside framed glasses, shook her head weakly and glanced to other side of the desk. She looked rather old, both in flesh and spirit. “You know that’s not possible. Absolutely not. It’s against the law to let creatures-” However a snort interrupted her “So what, I’m suddenly some form of savage creature that will burn down everything in sight and make ponies flee; screaming in terror?!” “That’s not-” the unicorn tried to talk. “Okay, what then?! It’s just some stupid law you’re following. It’s leaving me trapped just because some asshole nobles don’t want to-” Now the unicorn slammed her hoof down on the table and the impact sent a stack of memos falling down to the floor. “Jasper! Manners!” On the seat opposite side to the mare, the silver greyish dragon returned the stern look. A male one no doubt due to the thick eyebrow scales and long spiky back scales, all dark red in colour. But over from his forehead, a single black scale rose up and formed a spiral, much like a pony with a long front brace. His dark magenta eyes narrowed down as he pushed his glasses further up his nostril. “Oh please, not this thing again. I’m perfectly able to express myself.” the dragon sarcastically commented while the unicorn huffed before falling back to her chair. She then sighed “Look... Jasper, I’m sorry but you know the rules and regulations. No dragon, under any circumstances, is allowed to leave the city. You’re of course free to walk around, as per usual.” The dragon kept his look stern “That’s the problem. Same streets, same ponies, same city, same all!” He then rested his two claws above his dark pink stomach before continuing “Basically, this place is just a huge prison complex. And don’t you dare say anything different.” “I don’t need to, because I know that too. However, that doesn’t change the law. No dragon can leave unless-” *Brrring* The unicorn inaudibly muttered something, being interrupted yet again but this time by the alarm of her intercom box. She reached out towards it, ready to push the button, nevertheless stopping in mid air and gestured her free hoof at the dragon. “You’re free to leave, Jasper.” the pony ordered. Even he understood his limits. Moreover when the director had bad mane days and some nobles expressed their ‘safety concerns’. He reluctantly jumped off from the stool and landed down on the floor with a loud thump. Jasper barely barely even reached the top of the desk, but that’s what most of his kind were like. A baby dragon. That's what they would call him. Fillies and colts would ask him to join playing whenever he went to the Canterlot Park to waste some time. Rather annoying gimmick he had grown up with. But adults were the worst ones, at least the little ones took him seriously... Jasper weakly closed the door behind, just as the director of his ‘home’ answered to the call in a polite manner. He knew it was wrong for him to act like that to her, but it was frustrating to be heard yet not listened to. Being a seventeen year old dragon is a hard business. So the dragon did what he did best and sighed deeply while starting to walk down the corridor. The same colorful tapestry, with animals and forests, greeted him in a blitz of unnatural colours. No, mocking him like the ponies of the Canterlot College that made fun of him until he finally graduated. The greatest height of heroism to which an individual, like a pony, can attain is to know how to face ridicule, he recalled his former teacher once quoting somepony in class, while giving him a meaningful look. Jasper wanted to rip off the teacher’s ballsack so badly that day. Nevertheless, his movement came to a halt in front of a glass pane. One large enough for even him to peek through and that’s what he did. What he saw is something that many would consider marvellous sight. In multiple baby caskets laid rows of eggs; kept warm by the powerful lights from above and the pre-heated air purposely filtered inside through air vents. Best growing environment for the eggs, it was meant to mimic a mother dragon’s body heat. It was a hatchery Jasper kept staring for quite a while, his right claw leaning onto the window, as his mind returned to face a fact. He’s stuck here in Dragon Rescue Foundation. But for how long? At least up to the point when he takes over half of this governmental building and then the guards would come to- “I thought I’d find you in here,” the dragon’s gaze fell to right where now stood a stallion, wearing same kind of overcoat as the director expect with a green cross on the back. Otherwise the stallion looked kind, little bit puffed up and face bright as a light bulb, as his eyes drilled into the eggs “You always stop here after talking with director.” To that Jasper grinned “A big surprise there. Kinda like I always know you’re at the cafe when Donut Joe comes to restock donuts.” he sarcastically commented, making the stallion laugh too. They both continued to look at the eggs, as if waiting for something to happen. This went on for a minute, both keeping quiet, until the dragon coughed. “So, did you get it?” The stallion kept quiet for a moment. Then sighed “I’m sorry, but it wasn’t the-” *CRACK* The shocked stallion took a step backwards as Jasper’s claw punched the glass panel with full force what the little dragon packed. Luckily not enough to harm the glass. His claw stayed put as Jasper flung his head to stare at the stallion. His look wasn’t furious, just cold. “You said it would be there, Hatcher...” Filly Hatcher sighed “Yes, yes I did. I should know, being the caretaker of eggs and the one to write it. But they have taken the documents to someplace else, out of my reach. One of my assistant said some suited ponies came about two months ago and took everything in the name of homeland security.” “Where?” the dragon whispered dangerously low. “I...I don’t know Jasper. The director would know, but you realize she follows the law to the last comma. You won’t get anything out of her,” the stallion said somberly. He truly felt bad that he couldn’t help the little fellow out Jasper gritted his teeth before pushing himself off from the glass. “One egg is cracking,” he mumbled; leaving the gasping stallion behind to race up to the hatchery door. Jasper himself walked away calmly as ever. Even if inside he felt like he needed to explode. The dragon tried to keep his cool. Seconds turned to minutes as he slowly yet steadily walked in halls of the building he knew too well. In fact, he knew it enough well for him to be assigned as a guide for groups of ponies visiting this place. But deep inside, even Jasper had to admit the Rescue Foundation had offered much to his life. They had essentially taken care of him ever since he was born, and provided a decent living space. As he grew up, they even offered to him a diploma to get a seat in the College along with few other dragons from the Foundation. Yet it was nothing. As he grew up, he came to see how his former childhood friends and growing mates were allowed to leave as they reached the needed limits. Leaving him behind... Jasper, passing by the canteen are and after walking up a set of steps, arrived to start of an oval shaped hall. A bit redundant, however this one differed greatly from the rest. There were many of doors on all sides; each connecting up to a room. He moved out of the way as some young dragons, somewhere near age seven, rushed past him and down the steps. Every single one of them carrying a bundle of toys. Yet each of them took a look at him. They were fearful looks. So too did the few others around center of the room as he passed by; everypony stopping whatever they were doing. They knew who was the boss around here. He gave final look over his back, to see everyone had returned to play, so he sighed and grabbed the doorknob. The wooden door cringed open and Jasper walked inside, closing the door behind him. His room was quite large for his size. It was big enough for him to have bed, desk of sorts and even a wardrobe. Though it didn’t have any purpose because he didn’t own any clothing. Well, if you didn’t counted one little colts tuxedo he had to wear at the graduation party he had gotten from Filly Hatcher. Last time he checked, they still didn’t make anything ub his size, and custom ordering some was too expensive. On the dark red walls, same shade as his back scales, hung various different posters from Wonderbolt, to some science ones he had gotten from school. Oh yeah, and a poster with All Mighty Celestia giving a gaze with word ‘Obey’ on the bottom. But all this were just minor details to the dragon. The first thing he did was crawl over to the bed; landing on the pluffy mattress with a small leap. He then crawled up to the pillow and hugged the thing before rolling up to a ball. Broken. “Screw this place...” he mumbled as he closed his eyes. *Knock, knock* “Keep it down! Trying to sleep here!” Jasper shouted; his eyes firmly closed. Yet he heard the door open up, to which he responded by shooting upwards. “For fucks sake, just leave me...” However his words fell, along with his jaw, as he got a first glimpse of the being by the open door. It was a stallion. One he knew really well. “Iron?” the dragon muttered in disbelief as he jumped off to greet the stallion. “What are you doing in here? Visiting time’s supposed to be over.” The light brown stallion lowered his suitcase to the floor. He looked at the dragon with a confident grin. Jasper’s eyes widened as he saw Iron pull out a what looked like a pile of papers. They were all stapled together and stamped with official emblems. “I’m here to bust you out little guy, what else?” Ponies couldn’t help but look into the alleyway as they passed. The sound of garbage cans being opened and slamming shut could be heard along with the muttering of a stallion. “Is it really too much to ask somepony to throw me a bone here? i mean come on. Two alleyways, and nopony has thrown out a mattress, some pillows, and a blanket. I’m starting to think i should just give up.” He levitated a pizza box off his back and opened it. “Hell, food was easier to find.” He took one of the slices of pizza out and took a bite. “Some ponies really need to take better care of their food. I only had to punch one little brat to get this. Sweet Celestia that kid could cry.” He shoved the rest of the slice into his mouth. “I just wish i could have gotten more before the kid’s parents came after me. I’m still hungry.” He tossed the box in a random direction. He lifted a big brown box off the ground; securing it on his back with a strap of torn off bed sheet. “I suppose as long as I have my box of treasures here, everything will be juuuust fine.” He began walking down the alleyway once again. “At least I’m nice and safe in this alleyway. Nothing will be able to...” He stopped dead in his tracks as he heard something coming around the corner. His eyes widened in fear as it’s foot became visible. “Do you even know where we’re going?” asked Jasper as he rode on Iron’s back. He too had gotten his own backpack, filled with all he owned and could bring along with him. “To the train station. We’re going to catch the next train to Fillydelphia and try to find work there.” “Yea, this plan sounds like it’s going to work out perfectly,” Jasper said sarcastically. Iron sighed. “I’m not in the mood for your sarcasm right now Jasper.” He looked up into the sky. It wouldn’t be too much longer before the moon would replace the sun. “We better hurry.” Iron picked up his pace. “My point still stands though. What if moving to Fillydelphia doesn’t work out? We only have so many bits. If you can’t find a job that suits you, it won’t be very long until we’re on the streets.” “Which is why I did some research before I started,” Iron said with confidence. “There’s a forge in Fillydelphia that has a few open positions. I’ve been in contact with the foreman over the last week, and from the sound of it I’m sure to get the job. All I need to do is get down there and show him what I’m capable of.” “What about housing? Did you have a plan for that?” “That’s the best part. The owner of the forge also owns an apartment complex across the street. Those under his employment have the option to rent an apartment for a reduced cost. In his words, ‘it may not too big, but it’s better than nothing.’” Jasper smiled. “Well, it’s good to know you thought this all through before leaving. I was afraid you were just…” “GET OUT OF THE WAAAAAAAAAAY!!!” Before either of them could even react, Iron was tackled from the side by somepony coming from the alleyway they were passing in front of. There was enough force behind the pony to send Jasper tumbling to the ground. Being as well built as he was, Iron barely moved an inch as the other pony crumpled into him. Iron looked around in confusion. He took note of his surroundings. To his left he saw jasper’s tail, claws, and feet sticking out from beneath his case. To his right, he saw an indigo unicorn stallion with a brown mane, and a longer than average tail. On his flanks sat three explosions; one red, one green, one yellow. His glasses were skewed on his head from the crash, and he had a box with the words ‘KEAP OWT’ written on it lying next to him. Iron lifted the suitcase off of Jasper before turning to the other stallion. “Hey, are you okay?” The stallion rubbed his head as he sat up. “Fucking hell. I think I just ran into a slab of iron.” He looked at the big stallion in front of him. “Why the hell don’t you watch where you’re going?! Can’t you see that I’m fleeing for my life here?!” The stallion suddenly froze up as he turned back to the alleyway. “Wait...do you hear it? It’s coming! FLEE FOR YOUR LIVES!!!” The stallion then dove behind Iron who just looked on in confusion. Iron looked back into the alleyway as a small kitten slowly walked out. It looked at Iron with a big, innocent smile before running down the street. “Is it gone?” The stallion poked his head out to see that the cost was clear. “What is your problem?!” Both Iron and the stallion looked towards Jasper. “First, you run into us and knock me to the ground, then you use Iron as a shield to protect yourself from a cat?!” “Calm down Jasper. Nopony got hurt.” “Nopony got hurt?! Do you realize just how much your suitcase weighs?! That thing is really heavy!” Jasper looked back to the stallion who was looking at him with a horrified look. “What’s with the look?” “AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! TALKING, MUTANT, HOMOSEXUAL IGUANA!!!!!!” “Excuse me?! I am not a gay iguana! I am a…” Before Jasper could finish, he was hit upside the head with the box the stallion had with him. “Take this you freakish newt!” He smashed the box back down on top of Jasper a few more times before running down the street with the box floating in his magic. Jasper rubbed his head as he sat up. “What was that pony's problem?!” “I have no idea, but we should hurry to the train station.” Iron lowered himself so Jasper could climb back. After Jasper was back on, he grabbed his suitcase and continued down the road. Iron began to quickly trot to the Canterlot train station, due to the delay he had, Iron had no clue if they were late. After a while they arrived at the station just in time to see a train pull up. The train came to a screeching halt. The doors opened to reveal a crowd ready to exit. Iron quickly began to move out of the way rather than be trampled by ponies. They were viewing the ivory city with a gleam in their eyes and excitement in their hooves, as Iron was soon to notice. “Jasper! Can you see the timetable?” the stallion shouted while trying to fight against the mass of ponies. Meanwhile, the dragon on his back stood up, balancing himself with the help of tail, and gazed over the other ponies around them. He searched inside and out the entire place. In no time, Jasper noticed the wide black board up on other side of the train hall. “I see it! It says... it says... Woah! The train’s supposed to be leaving just now!” “Blast it,” Iron muttered; still keeping a firm stance against the flesh wave pressing against himself. But just then, somepony threw his or her bags right against Iron’s hooves, making him fall down with Jasper alongside him. The impact left the stallion staggering for air, yet he was able to maintain balance. But he felt frustrated. “Okay, that’s it!” he roared before using his strength against the crowd. And it worked. With ease, Iron drilled himself a path while Jasper had a firm hold around his friend’s neck; his eyes were clenched shut. In a matter of a minute and a lot of pushing around, the two of them found themselves standing inside the large hall with ticket booths and very huge crowd of ponies ready to board trains. Iron took a deep breath before racing down the open space like a madman. He had already booked tickets for both of them in advanced, and aren't they expensive! There was way that Iron was willing to pay for them twice, even if he could have. “Quick Jasper, check what platform the tickets have on them!” The dragon did what asked, taking out one of the silver coloured tickets from Iron’s suitcase out and reading the fine print. “Lets see... Aha, Platform 4, The Ever Sunny Day. It’s just over there, past those columns.” Iron nodded in acknowledgement and kept his steady pace, dodging other passer by ponies with agility large pony like him shouldn’t have had. He had to admit, being in a family where everypony had a military training was sometimes beneficial. Even if he didn’t enjoy it very much. And it did help that the crowd grew.. smaller? Nevertheless, Iron’s hooves didn’t slow down until finally making it pass the stone pillars. And when he did, he had a screeching halt. Jasper hurt his nose as it got smashed up against Iron’s neck. “Ow, what now?” the dragon grumbled to his partner before looking over the pony’s head and at the train waiting by. But what kind of a train. Carts were nothing like you’d normally expect to see. There was only few cars and all came in different, bright pastel colours. They a lot like wrapped candies. Then there was one cart with open walls and some form of overtop with an open window with no panels. It looked more like an animal transport cart than a travel one, however they saw some elderly ponies already inside. The most striking feature, out of all others like the one wagon cart on the backside, was the actual train itself. It was cherry red in colour with yellow carvings and the windows were, no kidding, shaped like hearts. Friendship Express, read in the side of the engine. “What the...” Iron mumbled in disbelief. “Wow, now I’ve seen everything...” Jasper joined in. Just then, a conductor pony jumped off from one of the pastel carts and began to blow on his whistle. “All aboard!” the pony shouted, and the nearby ponies all began to trot inside the carts. Jasper gave a quick pat on Iron’s head “Well what you’re waiting for? The train’s leaving.” However the stallion continued to eye the train. Or rather at the very small amount of ponies that boarded the train. For a train leaving for a city as big as Fillydelphia, he expected there to be a lot more ponies on the train. In the end, he just shrugged and headed over to the open door of a cart. “Fillydelphia, here we come.”