//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 - Pink Dreams // Story: A Thieve's Redemption // by Gsbrill //------------------------------// Ten days. I have been walking for ten days and not a single city in sight, not even a small village. It’s just grass, hills and this narrow dirt road I have been following, all alone. “And that’s what you get for listening to strangers.” Except for himhim. “Shut the hell up Quill. You were the one that told me to listen to her in the first place. Someone that lives alone in a hut, in the middle of a forest, can’t be very trustworthy” “Aw c’mon! She had to be a witch or something, and we know they know all sorts of things” “She had twelve cats! Twelve! Twelve that I could see; there were probably more hidden somewhere. Well, at least I stole a few apples from her, or I would have starved to death already. We’re not that bad” “And now you ate them all and we have absolutely no food left. We’re screwed” I stopped and stared at him. That’s Silver Quill, my only traveling companion and the closest thing I have to a friend right now. He just stood there, staring back at me, floating a few inches above the ground. Quill had the annoying habit of changing forms all the time, and this time he was a brown coated earth pony with a disheveled mane and wearing a suit. Why can he change his shape like that and why is he floating? Well, that’s because he is imaginary. I know what this sounds like, and no, I’m not a pedophile or anything like that. You weren’t even thinking about that were you? Anyway, when you live by yourself your entire life, your head tends to get a little bit… messy, to say the least. I wouldn’t say I’m crazy per se but; let’s just say that Quill isn’t quite the only imaginary friend I’ve ever had. “You do know that you don’t eat right? You’re not even real” “Then how am I here if I’m not real? How are you seeing me?” “How come I’m the only one that sees you?” “Humans! It’s the humans I’m telling you!” I just ignored him. He did that a lot, talking about conspiracies and that sort of stuff. I just walked until I reached a small river to drink some water and fill up my canteen. I looked down to my own reflection on the water. My fire-red mane and white coat were tainted by dust and dirt from the road, making me look like a hobo. The old wrecked piece of brown fabric strapped on my back that I dare to call a cloak gave the final touch to it, especially the hood. I always remember my mother whenever I see my reflection, which you can guess, is more frequently than I’d like to. My mane and my red eyes are exactly like hers. I miss my parents. I decided to stop there to rest for a bit; while checking if all of my stuff was in order. I laid down all of my possessions on the ground and looked at them. A small survival knife, a hatchet, the cloak, an army canteen, a recently acquired pouch, stuffed with bits and a small red gemstone (the former owners seemed to be quite fond of it, but I can be rather convincing with the hatchet), and my most prized possession, a large, strange shaped object, with straps like a school backpack, covered in rags. Anyone that saw me from a distance wearing it like I usually did under my cloak would think I’m a hunchback, and it’s easier that way. No, I’m not telling you what it is. I hide the damn thing for a reason. “You know, your walk would be a lot easier if you dropped that thing” “And we wouldn’t have to walk so much if someone didn’t insist on following a random stranger’s advice. You know I can’t throw it away; I still have to fix it. It’s too important to me” I got up and repacked my stuff. In lack of food, there was quite a lot of grass around, but wild grass has a weird taste to it. I ate a bit before going back to the road; after all, it was going to be a long walk. /-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/ “Hey! Looks like we’re here!” “Here where exactly?” “I don’t know do I look like a GPS?” “You know what Quill? Just shut up and look for a sign or something” After two more days walking, we had finally found a village. A small sign by the dirt road read “Ponyville”. Small place indeed. At least my job is easier in places like these. It’s easier to gain the trust of the townsfolk. “Seems like the crazy cat lady wasn’t so wrong after all, just a few hundred miles off” I didn’t even retort, as a fat raindrop fell right on top of my head. “Crap, it’s raining” “What tipped you off Sherlock?” “Ha ha. I can’t let this get wet” I pointed to my backpack. I saw a bright colored store close by and ran for it. Upon closer inspection I noticed that it looked like it was made out of gingerbread. I stood in front of the door, under a ledge that blocked the thick raindrops. The streets were deserted as it would be expected, as the Moon was high in the sky. “Good thing I got here in time, the rain thickened pretty fast” “Are you a sugar cube now? Getting a bit wet never killed anyone” “Talking about food, doesn’t this place look kinda…” I looked back at the building looking for the right word. “Edible?” “Something like that. I’m glad that we finally reached someplace civilized; now I just need to find a place to stay and try to fix the cloudwalker” “Who are you talking to?” A third voice spoke, coming from behind me. I jumped back and prepared to get my knife. She just stood there and stared at me, smiling. It was a good thing that no one else could hear Quill scream or he would have awoken half the city. “WHERE THE HAY DID YOU COME FROM?!” I asked, trying to stay as calm as possible, but failing miserably at it. “I come from a rock farm far away from here; I left because it was really boring. What about you? I know you’re not from Ponyville because I know everypony here and I don’t know you” I just stared back in confusion as the adrenaline left my bloodstream, trying to put my thoughts in order and answer. She kept on staring at me expectantly for nearly a minute while I calmed down. “Yeah, I’m not from here, I come from Trottingham. My name is…” “Steve!” Shouted quill to me just before I finished. “Steve” I repeated right after him. The pink pony stared at me in suspicion for a few awkward moments. “Thanks a lot Quill” I muttered angrily between my teeth. “Always eager to please” He said sarcastically. All of a sudden, the smile came back in full force to the pink pony’s face and she gave me a strong hoofshake. Strong might be an understating as she literally lifted me off the ground and shook me in the air like a twig. “My name is Pinkie Pie, nice to meet you Steve” She stopped the hoofshake and looked at me “What was that sound?” “I think it was my wrist snapping” “No silly, the grumbling. Was that your stomach? Are you hungry?” Indeed, I was starving. I hadn’t had anything decent to eat since my apples ran out a few days ago. The idea of having anything different than wild grass was really appealing. “Do you want a cupcake?” “What’s a cupcake?” The pink pony burst out laughing, even falling down to the ground and rolling on her stomach. I just stared at her. After nearly a minute of laughing, she got up and wiped the tears on her eyes. “Good one, now do you want a cupcake?” “I’m not joking, what’s a cupcake?” Her smile disappeared. She took my hoof and walked me into the store and despite the lack of lights, she navigated around with ease. A sweet smell lingered in the air as we walked towards the back of the store. I don’t know why I followed her without much suspicion and just let her take me by the hoof like that, it was probably the prospect of real food, and after all, what could be so bad about these “cupcakes” anyway? As we arrived at a large kitchen, she let go of my hoof and turned on the lights. I protected my eyes with a hoof while they slowly adapted to the brightness of the room, and just as I lowered it, she was right in front of me smiling expectantly, while a white box was laid before me. Inside of it lay twelve round, bright colored things, that looked more like pieces of decoration rather than food. She noticed my confusion and grabbed one, shoving it in her mouth and chewing contently. I picked one of them up and took a humble bite out of it. I looked down to the other ten in front of me and just devoured the one in my hoof, proceeding to do the same with each one of the others. The pink pony brought two more boxes full of those things and I just chewed them up one after another, and she had to pull the boxes away or I would have chewed on them too. “So you really like cupcakes don’t you?” “It’s the best thing I’ve ever eaten in my entire life as far as I remember” Although that’s not much when you spend most of it having to steal to survive or pick food up from trash cans. Another thought crossed my mind. “Sorry to say that only now but I have no money to pay you” “If five hundred bits in your pouch is having no money than I don’t know what’s being rich” Intervened Quill as usual, I just ignored him. “Don’t worry about that, I’m just happy to see someone enjoy the stuff that I bake” She stopped talking and looked up with a thoughtful look “Wait a minute, you have no money and you’re not from around here right? So that means that you have no place to stay! If you want you can stay here for the night, you really look like you have nowhere else to go” Free food and now this. What was the catch here? Maybe she saw my pouch and wants to steal it while I sleep, maybe even kill me. That makes much more sense than a pony that offers a place to stay to a complete stranger. “Sorry but I’ll have to refuse, it would be too rude of me to freeload like that” And I like my kidneys where they are thank you very much. As I walked towards the door to leave and find a nice place to set up camp, I bumped into a small cabinet, and from behind it came a small spider, not bigger than one or two inches. I looked at it with disdain, not really being afraid of bugs. The pink pony however, had another opinion, and my look drew her attention towards it. She screamed and walked back, reaching for a frying pan, and charged towards the spider blindly. I happened to be between them, but she didn’t seem to care, as she came crashing down on me, striking a bowl of frosting on her way down with the pan, covering her coat and mane in white. Having to defend myself many times throughout my life, I had developed quite decent reflexes, and instinctively spun her and pinned her front hooves to the ground. I couldn’t avoid but to smile at the scene, the joyful pony from earlier going crazy like that because of such a small thing, even getting all dirty like that. “Pinkie what’s going on down there? Good thing the babies didn’t wake up or it would be…” A blue coated and pink maned earth pony came walking down the stairs and stopped as she saw me. Just as suddenly as she stopped, she fainted, nearly hitting her head on the handrail. I didn’t quite understand why, then I looked at the situation from her perspective. Just picture the scene: A pony that is probably her daughter or at least a relative of some sort, pinned down on the ground by a complete stranger, who happens to be smiling while she looks away to the wall in terror. And to top it all off she’s covered in a strange white substance. I got up and helped her get up too, the two of us blushing strongly and avoiding eye to eye contact. The sooner I left the better. “Soooo, I think I’ll be going, have to find a nice camping spot” “Right, I’ll handle everything here. Good night and see you again tomorrow!” With that I left the store and walked towards the edge of town, the rain having stopped a while ago. I chose a spot under a large three and lay down, wrapping my cloak around myself. I needed to get some sleep. But I just couldn’t. First because Quill continued to laugh like a maniac the entire night; apparently he found my embarrassment to be quite amusing. Second because I just couldn’t get the events of the day out of my head. I kept on remembering that mare that gave me food and offered me a place to stay without asking for anything in return. I almost felt bad about doubting her, and how I nearly accepted her offer. I always tried to keep an eye open when I interacted with someone else, after all you can’t just trust others like that, but she looked so innocent, it was hard to doubt someone with a smile like that. And her blushing face was absolutely cute. Maybe we could meet again tomorrow, maybe I could talk to her again, maybe… NO! Focus. No relationships, no befriending any pony or creature of any kind, just come to town, do your job, run like hell, get to the next town, wash, rinse, repeat. That’s how I’ve been living until now and it has been working. Bonds of any kind only hold you back and bring you pain. It was almost sunrise when exhaustion got the best of me and I finally fell asleep, and for the first time in weeks I dreamed. Dreamed of cupcakes and pink cotton candy.