//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: A Vicious Triangle // by EternalShadow54 //------------------------------// I awoke groggily to a knocking at my front door. Perceiving through the only window, I could still see the morning star just now breaking a distant tree line. It was early. Too early for me. Pulling off the hoof stitched quilt, I started wobbly toward the entrance. I took about a minute, the knocking having no attempt to cease in its barrage of poundings against the wooden foe that blocked its path. With heavy eyes and the weakness of a restless night, I started to ajar the door, the banging taking an immediate halt as its commander's objective moving inwardly. The more it budged, the more I began to see of her. She wasn't the prettiest of the mares, her shiny silver mane russled and tethered tail unkempt. Her coat dulled with lavender, and her mark resembled a chain link, one that only prisoners would have on the lead spheres that hindered their ankles. A few scars were scattered among her body, some at the shoulders and one under her jaw. She was worse for wear than any other pony I've ever seen, yet her luminous aqua eyes captivated me, her devilish grin sinister. “Well hi there!” she had said with glee upon noticing me. A moment passed, a sense of comprehension once more at a loss. What was it that stayed my hoof, that kept me from shutting the door like I obviously should have done like I would have for anypony else? A question I still wonder today. Gathering my thoughts, I started to think of a reason to ask her to leave, to go away before something happened, but as I began, so had her question that I wish I had never answered. “May I come in?” Her voice was gentle, like how a mother would coo her young in their time of distress. Her inquiry stunned me. I was unprepared, taken at shock to the perplexing question she so boldly asked. Under a possession that I could swear wasn’t my own, I lightly smiled and invited her into my home. She was a complete stranger, and I hadn’t seen her around town. In honesty, maybe it was sheer curiosity that took over, or maybe it was my own ignorance. Warmly thanking me for my kindness, the mare nearly stumbled over herself coming inside, clearly intoxicated by the way she took her steps, yet strangely skilled enough to portray normal under the circumstances that if she didn’t have to move. Her speech was perfect, not slurred in the slightest. A mare that wasn't new to cider, that's for sure. After barely knicking what little amount of objects that stand in my house, she finally crashed down onto my bed, snuggling tightly to my pillow and wrapping herself comfortably in my covers. I did know one thing however. If this was going to happen, I at least needed to know her name, to understand who it was I let stumble into my sanctuary and rest in my area of slumber. Taking a small hoofstep in her direction, I spoke aloud the question that bugged me so, saying, "Might I know your name?" Bustling from her own dreamy state, she lifted her head at me and responded with an indication of kindness, and with slight concern, as though I wasn't the first to ask, or the first to consider throwing her out. "Lane. My name's Linky Lane." Linky Lane. Once more a very unique name, one that would fit this mare's description more than either I or anypony else would realize. I was stumped. There didn't seem to be a point in trying to get her to leave. She was far too gone in her sleep, and I wouldn't feel right attempting to move her. From what I could gather, she didn't have anyplace elsewhere anyway. So, there I was, standing in my own establishment, the only area that should be mine and mine alone, and there was this pony, sleeping in a total stranger's home. My home. What else could I do but to continue standing there? My first reaction would have naturally been to nudge her awake and question her. My next reaction should have been to just leave and come back later in the day, everything, what little there was, ransacked to my expectation of such things, but I did neither. Instead, I sat there, surrounded by my fortress with false security, ready for it to be broken at any moment from a suspected rouse, yet even that never came to be. Some few hours passed as I stared at my wall, mind circulating an assumption of the mare. She moved a miniscule amount, and if it wasn't for her consistent snoring, I might have both gone mad and presumed her dead, accounted by how still she settled. I didn't look at her, nor even glance. A feeling of guilt and pity ran over me, though I couldn't tell you why. It wasn't until around eleven in the morning that she stirred, arousing a sudden awareness from me. A tint of fear and much hoarseness from waking, she spoke. "W-where am I?" Lane sounded like a lost filly, separated from the tender and unbreakable feeling of safeness only a mother could provide. Bolting upright with a notion of distress in her eyes, the feminine equine fiercely shot a view at me. "Who are you?" Her speech grew cold suddenly, like I had indicated a false implication at her. "The question is better directed toward yourself." I enunciated my response with a faulty bravery and delusive audaciousness. She answered harshly, glare even more furious than before. "Linky Lane," she replied with a snort, pressing her mane. "What am I doing here? Last I remember I was at home, drinking cider from my personal stash alone." I retorted with the most logical riposte I could think of. "You must have had a little too much and ended up here." That didn't seem good enough. With a hint of shock followed coincidentally with a shaky tone, she carefully chose her words. "Did I... do... anything?" At first, I didn't want to respond. It felt a bit awkward to remark to the question, but I guessed I would eventually have to, regardless if I wanted to or not. "You knocked on my door, let yourself in, and slept in my bed." Everything but the second part held truth, though it wouldn't have made much of a difference if I told her otherwise. The mare still didn't appear satisfied, and my tone didn't attribute to my cause either. "Nothing else happened? Nothing that either of us would regret, right?" It struck me that this might not have been the first time this had happened to her, and from what I know now, it wouldn't be the last. She peered at me with her icy eyes, trying to vainly gain a solution through my expression. Shying only slightly back from the stare, I gave the response I felt most true. "Nothing you'd regret." Lane quickly took up on my insinuating gesture and picked herself up off my bed, heading with sluggish pace in the general direction of her exit. I don't know what came over me, nor why I did what I did, but as she opened the door, I told her my name. She froze as my words pierced her attentive ears. Without ever looking away from the outside world that was visible before her, she replied with her living location, which was coincidentally just on the other side of the lake that Rezzly loved so much. Without another word, she continued on, shutting the door behind her with minimal force. I figured it noon. A stroll around town sounded good on my part. With nothing but a few bits in an old saddle bag, I was trotting around, observing the surroundings I would soon have to become greatly accustomed to. Just upon entering the city, you were faced with a mammoth of a store, the largest in the town. It was a general goods marketing building, holding most everyday appliances that one would need. It was large enough to house three families, and from what I understood about the owners lifestyle, that's how big they needed it. Just behind that was a small farmers market, several choppy stalls set up and selling mixed varieties of fruits and vegetables from local farmers that lived and worked on the outskirts. The rest of the city was just houses, all different types. Some were green, some blue, others of great many colors, and some with little to none. The houses were also old, not a single building that didn't have at least a few years on it. The only establishment left was the school where the children went to learn about subjects for a better future that was always promised to them, no matter their wealth or appearance. The school caught my interest most of all. There was no playground, save only a single set of swings and an open pasture for the young ponies to run around in. The walls were brick, at once bright, but color leveled by years of rain and wind damage. It was about two, class surely nearing its end. I decided to sit and wait for the bell, the loud and never familiar ringing that came an hour later. The children flocked out the door, a total equaling to a miniature mob scattering to their homes, a few in groups and heading off in their own direction together to do something as friends. There was one filly that did not go anywhere, did not rush as much out of, what it was to most young colts and fillies, the oppressive establishment. A sense of depression was not over her, for she seemed as happy as could be. She was a cute little filly, mane a vibrant gold and her coat a soft purple, eyes an iron shade. She had no cutie mark, and she had the tiniest wings you could imagine on a adolescent pegasus. It wasn't until I saw the teacher of the school step out that I was truly shocked. It was Lane. The mare hoisted the young one up on her back and playfully bounced her up and down as she started off northward, toward the lake. My mind was blown, and the matter wasn't better when she noticed me in the corner of her eyes as she trotted with her child. I did my best to avoid eye contact, to act like I hadn't seen her, but she came up to me anyway, a gleeful expression framed on her muzzle. "Well hello again!" I didn't answer right away. I pretended that she was speaking to somepony else at first, then turned around in false surprise to see her there. "Oh! Hey there. Didn't recognize you at first." That response was stupid. Of course it wouldn't have been that hard to remember a mare that blatantly came into your house and passed out on your bed, but she seemed to buy it. "Hope that I didn't cause too much trouble last night. You know how we mares can get when we've had a bit much. At least I could make it in time to teach a few hours of class." I couldn't understand what she was trying to deceive me into believing, but I figured it would be a lot less painful to just agree with a nod. She cocked her head a tad. "You don't talk much, do you?" I shook my head. "Mommy! I want to talk to the stallion!" The little filly's voice sounded just like hers, the only thing altered being the pitch. Without even a glance to see if I would consent, she lowered her daughter down to speak to me. "Wow, you're really green." She spoke so innocently that taking offense would have been a crime in itself. I just smiled and nodded. "And his hair is so dark! Did you have a unicorn make it that dark?" "Now, now Clary, don't bother the stallion. He's the one who helped mommy last night when she got lost." The young reincarnate grinned and hugged my leg. "Thank you for helping mommy." I looked down at her. She was so sweet, and she was so oblivious to the cruel nature of the world. It was one of those moments where you wanted to just grasp a tiny bit of that unknowing and just place it upon yourself, to ease the troubles of your own universe. I pat her head with my free hoof and relinquished her back to Lane. "You've got a nice kid there," I told her. She held her child close when she responded, nuzzling her daughter's mane. "The only one I've got." A feeling of disheartenment emitted from her at that moment. "If only she had a father..." Realizing instantly what she had just said, she snapped back from her thoughts and faced me with a sheepish smile and a blush light enough to only just be noticed. "How about you join me for dinner tonight? My way of thanking you for what you did." I began to say no, holding up my hoof to explain why I couldn't, even if what I thought up was a lie. But as I started to explain, the filly tugged at my hoof, saying, "Please won't you come?" I just felt downright terrible after that statement. Stuttering a few sentences I couldn't finish, I sighed and replied with a yes. "Great! I'll expect you around eight or nine, whichever suits you." With that she was off, not looking back nor stopping to say hi to anypony else she ran into along the way. In some way, I felt as though I had been tricked, and at the time, I didn't seem to mind. That night would be the worst mistake of my life, the night that my heart would give to one, and later fall for another...