Opening Up

by Chiron

Chapter 3

Stalwart noticed two things after walking out of the hospital: first that it was very bright outside, causing him to wince at the sudden change in lighting and secondly; that there were more ponies in this small town than he originally suspected. It was roughly mid-afternoon and everyone was going about their business. Some were running errands, others chatting in front of stores or homes, and even some children running and playing. This brought a smile to Stalwarts face for a moment until he realized that he had no idea where he was in town or how to get to his camp. Not sure on how the locals would react to a new pony in town, Stalwart decided he should just try to blend into the crowd and avoid eye contact as best he could.

Stalwart was a pony who could handle a lot of different situations, but one thing he didn't like was large crowds. There was something about being around large numbers that set his nerves on edge, almost like sensory overload, and make him want run in a full gallop to the nearest corner of Equestria that had a grand population of zero. Realizing that having a mental breakdown in a town he had just arrived at was not at the top of his list of things to do today, he forced himself to remain as calm as he could muster.

Wandering through town he started hearing the various conversations going on throughout the town mostly talking of weather and other general topics. However passing one shop which looked to sell flowers Stalwart picked up a discussion that caught his attention.

“You hear about what happened? Somepony was mugged by ruffians last night!” said a pink mare with a blond mane.

“I did Lily, I also heard that the victim was Nurse Redheart.” replied a pink mare with an almost neon green mane.

“Uh girls you may want to tone it down, you've caught somepony's attention” said a third mare, this time white with a very pale yellow coat with varying red streaks in her mane.

In that moment, Stalwart had realized he had stopped and was unintentionally looking in their general direction. Instinctively his ears pinned back and he began to turn and walk away. As he wondered, he heard one of them speak again. “You think that was one of the muggers? I mean did you see his clothes and those scars!?”

A scowl crossed his face at the gossiped accusation and he turned back toward them to tell them off when an orange blur whizzed past him, the stallion jumped back on instinct and blew a sigh of relief. Looking toward where the blur went he saw it was a small pegasus filly on a scooter towing a red wagon with a white unicorn and yellow earth pony with water buckets in tow.

“Hurry up Scootaloo!” said the unicorn, “It may still be burning and maybe we can set out the fire...”

“...And finally get our cutie marks!” finished the pegasus who began flapping her wings even faster and kicked up more dust in their wake.

“Fire?” asked Stalwart wondering how nopony town was panicking if there was a fire...unless, “Oh no...” he thought before bolting in a full sprint after the three fillies.

Ignoring the glances he was now getting, being the only pony in town that wasn't walking, and the dull pain that was in his shoulder, he kept running. Following the tracks left by the scooter and wagon until he saw a building he recognized as he walked into town last night that looked like and oversized carousel set. Looking down he saw the wheel tracks went past it out of town. He stopped running and just stood in in place for a moment, not out of exhaustion but to prepare what he was about to deal with. After a minute or so he walked the trail set by the three fillies toward his camp.

A few minutes later he came upon a scene that had gathered the attention of several other ponies including the fillies he had been following. After walking around the group he saw what they were all watching, the smoldering remains of a small camp site. A slow pain stung Stalwart’s stomach as he absorbed the inferno that had befallen his home. He took a seat at the farthest edge of the group and sat there watching his stuff turn to ash. Slowly the small crowd began to dissipate until it was just him and the three little ponies that had almost crashed into him. He was sure several minutes passed before he stepped forward and began looking through the remains before provoking a response.

“Hey! What do y'all think you're doing?” he heard coming from one of the fillies. He said looking over to them with a placid expression before answering.

“Finding whatever I can salvage from my home,” he replied simply, turning back to rummage through the pile. There was no response from the fillies. How could there be? That was the last thing they expected to hear. They watched with open jaws as this stranger dug with a hoof through the ash and not show any sign of emotion. That is until they saw a glint of shiny metal.

A small twinge of hope crossed Stalwart as he found was he had hoped survived. The one possession he valued more than any other. After digging through the ash he saw the remains of his duffel bag, which was burnt almost beyond recognition, what gave it away was the top of the bag was still intact enough to be labeled. Brushing it away he saw a simple bronze frame poking out, he quickly bent down, pulled it from the ash and held it up with both fore-hooves and a desperate look upon his face. It was a picture frame but only the frame was intact. The glass had shattered from the heat and the picture beneath no was nothing more than burnt paper. Numb... That was all he felt if you could call it “feeling”. The discouraged stallion closed his eyes and dropped his head as he let the frame slip from his hooves and crash to the ground; shattering what little glass remained. He didn't even notice the three fillies jump back as it broke.

“M-Mister are you okay?” asked one of them, he didn't bother to look at which one it was.

“...”

“Mister?” he heard them call out again, but this time he stood up and walked toward them. They stood there shaking as he approached them and looked toward their wagon and scooter. His unamused eyes glanced over saw that the water buckets were out of the wagon and emptied of their previous contents. Looking down in each one’s eyes he asked, “ Did you try to stop it burning?” All three nodded in unison. “Do you know who did it?”

“We didn't s-see them, but were heard some ponies who were pretty beaten up did it.” answered the pegasus. He figured as much.

“Thank you.”

“W-What?” asked the earth filly.

“You did more than anypony else to save this stuff, I didn't see anyone but you three move to stop the fire. So thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” they said still slightly dumbfounded. They were sure that somepony would be mad about this or something, but to be thanked for not saving someone's home stunned them. He started to walk toward town before the unicorn reacted asking, “Where are you going?”

“To find some place to stay.” he responded and walked away leaving the three fillies with very quizzical looks on their faces.

The next couple hours for Stalwart felt like a blur and like he was detached from his own body, while it was on auto-pilot, he remembered finding a small apartment complex and renting a room out for a week. He remembered getting the keys, opening the door, and stepping into his temporary home. It was the definition of Spartan. Four rooms (bed, bath, kitchen, and living room). The walls were white, a bed with plain sheets, stove, sink, and small couch were all it contained. Closing the door he locked the doorknob and deadbolt then went to the bedroom and climbed on the bed facing the pillow. That's when it all hit him and he did the only thing he knew to do as he slammed his face into the pillow: scream.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” yelled into the pillow to suppress the noise.

The only thing he owned that meant anything, the only picture he had of him and his parents was gone, destroyed because of him. He laid there yelling until he physically couldn't scream anymore. He was so mad at himself that he barely noticed that he had tears running down his face. Stalwart was in that bed for a couple hours breaking down before sitting up and trying to rebuild his composure. He was glad there was nothing in this room; otherwise he was sure he would have broken it all in his fit. He had a meltdown like this before a few years back

It took him several moments before he could get up, fighting the exhaustion he now felt, and realize he hadn't eaten anything in almost two days. Looking out he noticed the sun sat low in the sky so he pulled himself together, turned off the lights as walked out, and locked the door. Stepping out he noticed several shops but one caught his eye and made him raise an eyebrow. It looked almost like a gingerbread house and after walking toward it he read a sign that said Sugarcube Corner. He could smell baked goods coming from the shop so he figured it had something to do with food. Stepping in he noticed that it was a bakery. There were doughnuts and cakes in the display case, all looking delicious, but he didn't see anyone at the counter. He walked up and looked through the case at some of the food. He heard a door open behind the counter and saw an adult mare, whose mane looked like it was made of cupcake icing, walk out.

“Oh hello dear, I thought I heard someone walk in. Let me get someone to come take your order.” she said with a smile and turned back to the door and yelled, “Oh Pinkie we have a customer!”

“On it Mrs. Cake!” said a pink pony that popped up from behind the counter saluting the older mare and startling both Stalwart and Mrs. Cake. The pink pony turned to Stalwart but didn't take his order. She just stared at him for a moment the gasped very loudly, jumped up above the counter, and then sped off mid-air leaving a fading pink streak across the room and out the door.

“What the hell was that?” he asked still staring the door .

“I'm not quite sure what got into Pinkie Pie all of the sudden, but since she took off how about I take your order?” replied the managing baker.

Stalwart ordered his food and took a seat at one of the tables. He sat there eating the doughnuts he bought and stared through the window at the setting sun and watching the ponies close their shops and head home for the evening. He finished up his food quickly and took off back to the apartment. The sun was just about to set as he got to the building. After unlocking the door he stepped in and set the keys in the bowl just inside the living room.

“What the...that wasn't here before.” He thought as he observed the new container.

Just then the lights came on and he heard multiple voices yell “SURPRISE!”

***Authors Note***:

I want to take a moment to apologize for the long wait for this chapter. Multiple situations came up that kept me from being able to work on this as much as I wanted to. I do appreciate everyone patience in this and I am really hoping to get Chapter 4 out very soon which will add some additional depth to the story.

Also a special thank you goes to Daxisle for helping proofread this chapter.