//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 loyalty // Story: The Terra Affirmation // by Silver Eyes //------------------------------// The sunlight finally rose over the spiked palisade walls and shone into the eyes of the ponies sleeping in its shadow. Still curled up against her stallion Rising Dawn lazily tried turning her head away from the irritating beams of sunlight, she twisted her head against the chest of the sleeping pony eager to continue listening to the strong beating of another pony's heart. When her ear touched his torso her mind slowly processed her surroundings, she couldn't hear his heartbeat, she couldn't feel his chest rise and fall. She could no longer feel his warmth. The pony she leaned on, who followed her, who trusted her. Who may have even loved her lay dead. She felt the familiar sense of dread and revulsion creep back sending shivers through her entire body, once again just like the morning a decade ago she was alone in the world. Grimacing her mind fought back against the memory, she wasn't alone she had Shadow now, her precious Shadow to love her. She opened her eyes and lazily sat up looking at her son who was still standing guard beside her backpack occasionally teetering forward then realigning himself and shaking his head to clear the drowsiness away for good measure. She looked back at the dead pony beside her and brought the blanket over his peaceful face. A proper burial would need to be conducted by her seeing as nopony had come to collect him yet. She tried to stand feeling the usual soreness from fatigue mix with an unfamiliar sting in her right leg stopping her efforts to rise entirely. Gritting her teeth she held the temptation to call for help on the tip of her tongue and slowly started to stand up. He pain reached bearable levels, but every silent step she took toward her son sent spasms of heat into her body as if something was driving a hot poker into her. She momentarily paused as she recalled her efforts last night, she was so exhausted from meeting the mayor she had forgotten to see the blacksmith about her wound and instead went to sleep with. She shook her head and kept walking toward the nearly asleep Shadow guarding her bags and prodded him with her hoof "It's my turn to watch the bags now, Shadow" she said softly. He slowly turned his head toward her and looked at her with bloodshot eyes "it's okay mom you can go back to sleeping with mister blue pony" his head wobbled for a moment and Rising instinctively reached to catch him "I'll just keep an eye out for the ponies that steal things, like the hearts of mothers for instance". Her jaw dropped "Shadow how dare you say that" she scorned "say what, that after knowing a pony for one trip it's okay to sleep with them" he nearly fell again catching himself just before his head hit the ground "what has gotten into you" Rising asked walking over to him. He realigned himself and futilely tried to push his mother away "what's gotten into me? What's gotten into you" he exclaimed silencing his mother and drawing stares from some on duty guards in the tower above them. Despite her frustration seeing something upsetting her son like this was more painful than a few words against her pride "Shadow what's wrong" she said in her most gentle tone "it's not fair" he whined looking tired and defeated "we were doing fine without dad why do we need another one now" her son hung his head and continued speaking as rising walked over to him and hugged him "I thought if I helped enough we wouldn't need another dad" he sniffled and looked at the ground "but I can't even speak to other ponies" another sniffle escaped him accompanied by a tear "I'm so pathetic, look at me I'm even crying" he wailed burying his head into her barrel. She patted his back and held him tighter occasionally glaring at any passers-by who dared stare at her. Shadow's tears eventually stopped and Rising lay him down near the bag along with herself and began to stroke his mane. Shadow’s body remained tense and kept rapidly breathing in his traumatic state. The colt had probably been up all night trying to guard the bags letting her oversleep her fair amount; she mentally cursed herself as Shadow’s tense body began to relax. As minutes passed his sniffles became soft snores and Rising allowed herself a small sigh in respite before she began to work out the usual day's chores hoping to find some time for her son, and of course burying the stallion. She glanced at her leg which had formed a blackened scab over the wound and tried to gauge how difficult today was going to be. She put weight on it again and tensed up at the burn of an injury, yes today was going to be eventful indeed if she couldn't walk. She glanced at her son who was still sleeping peacefully by her side, he could easily collect the money owed from her trip and an inn keeper would probably take more pity on a child than a weary traveller. Money and time saved all if she let her son do her work for her. She closed her eyes and the memories of the river village where she grew up flashed before her eyelids, images of happy and well fed ponies who could afford resting once while walked around their peaceful village celebrating the harvest moon sharing their produce with the rest of the villages save for two; Riverstone and Rising Dawn. River was carrying a huge basket on her back laden with fruit and freshly harvested wheat while Rising was walking beside her carrying an equally large basket with roughly half the load the River was; though she remembered telling River despite her apparent disbelief that her fruit was heavier and there for they were equally burdened with food. The pair approached the town and was greeted by the smell of tobacco and the sound of a few dozen voices calling out in joy. Her memory of the next parts of her evening were blurry at best but Rising Dawn would always remember finding Riverstone afterwards carrying far less food than when she started out with, she had succumbed to a bleeding heart and given most of her stock to some peasants who had enjoyed themselves too much and had run low on stocks. She of course had given them some of her food and in the process had to return to the fields to make ends meet missing the celebration and any meals for the rest of the evening. The fable didn’t end with a teachable lesson though as Rising refused to believe ponies were that foolish without any ale being present and after a short search found the same beggars going after other townsfolk with the same stories they had told River. Even after she retrieved the food and apologised to the innkeeper for the broken furniture River refused to accept the food because of her own foolishness “I would rather be a dependable pony than dependant on others” River said sourly as she continued working. Rising remembered trying to reason with her but eventually she simply gave up and dragged her back to her home when she wore herself out trying to harvest three times the amount even the strongest stallion could manage. She shook her head to clear her mind and resumed running through her chore list; there was no way she could let an injury such as this go untreated for long and with only so many places one could be at any given time shadow would have to step up. She looked back at her sleeping son “five more minutes then” she said laying her head back down “just for you”. Shadow woke to a wooden ceiling and the sound of conversation and fearing the worst immediately shot up and looked around the room he was in. The building was one of the nicer ones he had the pleasure of entering considering it was still standing and made of solid timber rather than vine and bark used in the temporary shelters him and his mother were used to. He shifted around on the pillow he had been sleeping on and explored the room, if his mother had let him fall asleep and left him he would usually have to clean and repair the tools they brought with them on their journey and then maybe have a stroll around town for a bit. Supressing the urge to call her out to her he began to look around the room; he was never separated from her for long and the few times he had woken up without were only three hour waits at most. Regardless to what he knew he always felt scared when he didn’t know where she was, his dad had already left them and he couldn’t begin to imagine a world without her. Finding nothing he paced around the room trying to calm down, she was probably just going out to get their money and had taken the supplies with her just in case she needed to trade, but then again what if she was out with the blue pony. He stopped walking and shuddered at the thought of a new dad and slowly turned to the doorway knowing there was only one viable option left, looking for her in a village. Despite his desire to know what happened to his mother and their possessions Shadow hated towns, he could handle forests were the wildlife would either have the decency to hiss or growl at him before shying away when he waved their torch at them or try to trample him before he ran to the safety of the shrubs or hid among the tress or grass. Ponies on the other hoof were occasionally smarter than the average Timber wolf or Manticore and in towns he didn’t have the any trees to hide in if they tried to attack him, and now he didn’t have his mother to protect him either. He briefly glanced around the room again, it wouldn’t help him find his mother but it was at least safe from other ponies bothering him. He glanced out the doorway again knowing that while he may be safe his mother could be in danger, what if the pony from yesterday was angry and wanted to settle a score or worse yet the pony wanted to leave and was taking his mother with him! He dismissed his fears and walked down the corridor making sure that he didn’t look any of the grown adults in the eye as walked by. The inn or more accurately tavern where she left him was a two story building that rented four rooms to ponies who travelled between towns and needed a place to stay, the unusually slow trickle of visitors recently though had driven the owners to start drifting to other areas of business and thus the unused rooms became fermentation areas and the main room a brewery and bar well known as the only place in the village to find any sort of beverage. Seeing the unusually large group of ponies chatting and drinking murky liquid Shadow swallowed the lump that had risen in his throat and weaved his way through the crowd trying to find an exit over in the midst of the massed bodies. He was halfway to the door when the bar pony called to him “you there are kid, are you Shadow” he turned to answer him when until he saw the number of ponies looking at him “well?” the another pony asked. He shook his head and bolted towards the door finally free of the massed group “hey” called a voice from back inside sending him running around the side of the building. Once out of sight his breathing returned to normal and he swore in relief, perhaps a dozen potential threats and nowhere to hide from them. He promised himself he would try scaling the walls from his window rather than go through the main entrance again and cantered away not intent to waiting to see if they chased him. It was roughly still mid-day as the colt walked around the outskirts of the buildings trying to remain out of sight and find his mother at the same time. While he walked around haplessly searching for his mother around a pair of crimson eyes watched from the darkness and silently followed him, he had just turned a corner reaching one of the towns few dead ends between a pair of closely built huts, he would be trapped and have nowhere to turn to. Shadow was becoming worried now; his mother was nowhere in sight and he didn’t know the layout of the land he was in, out of his element and worse yet growing increasingly frantic. He walked behind a close trio of buildings and sat down making sure he was out of sight before he closed his eyes and tried to calm his nerves, of all the things his mother told him she was sure to put emphasis on staying calm “panic kills more ponies than pursuers” she said once after the hiding in a tree for two hours with him, it was a nice day though since he got to spend some more time learning about forests. The figure watched its prey sit down and shut its eyes; it felt a strange sensation seeing how distressed the colt looked, it felt for pity for this one and unlike the others it had pounced on before this one trigged a new feeling in its head, doubt. It quietly positioned itself in front of the colt debating whether or not to strike with such feelings; this method had served it well in the past so why not now? The colt raised his head and was a mere second away from seeing her, she was in front of it and there was no turning back at his point, it was bound to work she was depending on it. “Hi” shouted the filly sending a shocked Shadow into the air with a small cry. He landed on his back and stared at the laughing filly before him “so you can talk” she said walking over to him “or at least yell I really don’t remember you talking to back to me but I guess that was because you were a little upset so can you talk” she said offering him a hoof to get back up. Shadow knocked her hoof away and turned back to face her, the filly recoiled and her smile fell “you’re not mad are you” he briefly considered pretending to be mute and deaf but quickly decided against having the relentless red and blue filly try and communicate with him non verbally. “No” he said flatly bringing a hopeful smile to the filly’s face again, sensing a nonsensical rant he immediately raised his hoof and more sternly repeated himself deflating her smile again. “I thought you said you weren’t mad at me” Shadow shook his head and walked away from her. Just as he left the alley his ears pricked as he heard the sound of hoof steps and turned in time to see the filly walking far too close for comfort “don’t you remember me?” he shook his head still looking straight ahead for any signs of his mother feeling oddly safer being around the filly. “I’ll give you a hint my name starts with red” she said jovially “no” he replied trying to keep his deadpan tone despite her amusingly annoying voice asking him questions “almost keep guessing” she said walking faster to try and keep pace with him. Now becoming agitated Shadow considered his options; he could speak to the mare and eventually say something stupid, he was never very good at talking to other ponies his age or any age for that matter. Or he could keep looking around for his mother and if need be use the small filly as a meat shield in case something wanted to attack him, he smirked at the thought of throwing the filly at a bandit as he ran away to safety “is that a smile?” the filly exclaimed jumping in front of him “no” he responded curtly walking past her. “aww come on at least tell me why you’re so unhappy” she knew something was hurting the colt and the thought of not being able to help him made her feel “no” retorted shadow “okay then” she said thinking for a moment before continuing “are you looking for something” “No” “Did you lose something?” “No” “Are you lost?” She was midway through asking her next question before she realised that Shadow hadn’t responded, his nose twitched and his eat flicked briefly “no” he retorted. Tired of the colt’s monosyllabic responses she tried her luck once more “are you looking for some pony” she asked looking for more minute expressions. His cheek twitched slightly before he responded giving her the answer, all she needed was a few more questions and she would get him to talk. “Are you looking for a guard?” only his mouth moved when he responded “the innkeeper” she said somewhat slyly as his eyes flicked towards her briefly before he repeated himself curtly. Tired of her rapid fire questions Shadow was about to run off when she asked “are you looking for your mom” stopping him in his tracks wondering how in the name of the stars could she have known that “am I right” she asked with a very poorly concealed anticipation. He didn't speak but by not answering he had already proved that she was right “I know where your mom is” she replied happy to help another pony when he immediately returned her gaze “yes” he said still looking concerned but more interested to find his mother than worry about something as trivial as his reputation in a town he would surely be leaving in a day or two. “Yes what?” the filly said with mock confusion “I am looking for my mother can you tell me where she is”. The filly pondered for a moment before answering “I dunno I may need more information what does she look like” he shook his head, normally when ponies wanted to talk to him single worded answers usually kept them back “you saw my mother last night you know what she looks like” he said trying to keep civil “that’s right I was going to help with the stitching but my mom doesn’t let me near bleeding ponies she says it corrupts innocence”. Shadow snorted at the remembering how she thought the blue stallion was his farther and the filly caught it “do you remember me” she asked sounding hopeful “Red Thread while I appreciate your efforts to be kind I have not seen my mother since yesterday and I would very much like to know what happened to her and the ponies she tried to save yesterday”. She looked apprehensively into Shadow’s eyes “are you really that worried for her” he nodded and Red immediately returned to her usual happy demeanour “okay then follow me” he sighed in relief and trotted along after her. An hour of walking with later he discarded his plans to dispose of the filly by throwing her to a bandit, he knew some ponies were simply bad to the bone. But after listing to Red Thread’s incessant attempts to try to get him to reply with more than three syllables he quickly determined that there were some experiences you just didn’t wish on anypony. No matter how evil they may be “and that’s why my the Mr Durning doesn’t like being called by his first name” she concluded “wonderful” he deadpanned back “aw your being all shadowy again what’s wrong”. At the mention of being ‘shadowy’ his recently discovered frustrated twitch went off again sending the filly into another fit of giggles as she watched him hold his face with one hoof and try talking at the same time “it is now mid-day and we have been across the town three times do you actually know where my mother is or are simply leading me astray”. She recovered from her laughing long enough to answer “well sure I do I saw her walk back into the tavern this morning” she replied still grinning innocently. Hearing that he had spent all his morning with a filly three things immediately happened to Shadow; his legs became locked in place, his jaw dropped and for once in his young life he was speechless “Shadow?” Red asked poking him once. Seeing no reaction aside the miniscule twitch in his right eyelid she poked him again “you” he started still in disbelief “you knew all this time” She nodded eagerly, the carefree smile returning to her face “and this whole time I was walking around with you” he paused and swallowed while his mind still tried to understand how a pony could wrong him like this “why” he ultimately said. “Because” Red started “why did you drag me through all of this” he interrupted waving his hoof around “my mother almost died yesterday, I almost died yesterday and now I have a deadbeat probably dead pony hanging on my mind who I still need to apologise to for threatening to geld him on the very same day he was nearly beheaded by a raider”. Red tried to speak again only to be cut off as Shadow continued to vent his now apparent anger walking closer to all the while “I don’t want to know how you got your flank marking or why fireflies gather around the town square at night right now I just want to go home” He paused momentarily just realising how absurd having a home to go to sounded “so tell me why you dragged me away from my duties it’s the least you can do after parting me from them”. Red looked at the pony glaring into her eyes, after seeing Shadow arrive she knew the colt would need a friend but after hearing just how terrible his situation was she felt guilt getting the better of her. But despite her feelings she knew the colt still needed a somepony else to talk to, even if he was only staying a little while “because of a lot of bad things happened silly” she said softly “I know you want to see your mom again but she really thinks that you should take some time for yourself, it’ll be great” smiling sadly at the colt. Unconvinced Shadow cocked his head “how would you know she wanted me out here” he replied harshly “because your momma’s really smart, and everypony knows that if you have a problem you can’t solve you don’t just beat yourself up about it, and if you can’t do anything about it being sad will just make things worse” Shadow looked at her digesting surprisingly decent statement about life “besides your mom left you a note in your mane and it fell out while you were walking” she said grabbing the note in mention from her own hair presenting it. He immediately grabbed the cheap paper and softly began reading aloud “collecting money from the ponies due and having my sore leg bandaged by the local healer” he said the last word coming out more like a question “I will be back home at mid-day if not sooner, the equipment can wait another day to be cleaned go and spend the day walking around town and perhaps talk to some of the ponies, I’m sure that the little red filly” he stopped himself when Red Thread fake coughed to bring him back to reality. He stared at her blinking occasionally wondering what to say. A minute of silence passed before he finally broke the silence “so” he began “you can read” she exclaimed throwing her hooves in the air “yes” he said quietly actually afraid of the filly’s next action for the first time since he met her “how why oh my ancestors doyouthinkyoucanteachme” and as if to appear more rational once she finished her sentence she grabbed him and held his face almost point blank to hers “maybe” he whimpered both in shock from how quickly she shifted through emotions and how he had somehow disarmed him entirely “Bu- but that will take some time a-and I” he struggled finding an excuse to get away from the maniacal filly when held about an inch away from her face and now disturbingly large grin “yes” he finally said trying to get her to release him or at least stop smiling “really” she said in a disturbingly hopeful voice “s-sure just let me go” he said with his eyes darting around looking for some way out of the filly’s iron grip “do you promise”. “I swear on my ancestor’s graves” Shadow practically pleaded before the filly released him “great come on let’s get started” she said with her usual enthusiasm. Shadow took a moment to gather his senses to how the filly managed to overpower him before speaking “very well then” he started looking around the place “I need a patch of dirt and some sticks”. Red Thread nodded eagerly and began to lead him toward her family’s market stall, she might have used words to tell him but she was honestly too excited to care about the colt’s welfare for once. Reading was something unknown to her family and most of the village and if she could learn ponies would respect her and more importantly like her more than her other sisters, who were strong enough to work spinning clothing together and thus got more respect than be the simple thread carrier. She led him via tugging his mane towards the centre of town, a trodden dirt road where a number of stalls where gathered to sell their various wares. Shadow marvelled at the sight of such of the town when he saw the vast fields full of crops surrounding the village. But the village itself was a sight to behold; guardhouses and the thick palisade to where sure to keep away invaders and beasts, the market however he had found the most surprising. The vast majority of the ponies that travelled with him and Rising Dawn yesterday had set up their stalls and were selling what looked to be anything but the readily available vegetables. Red pulled him near a dual wheeled cart where her sisters and farther were selling their signature pieces of clothing, cloaks meant to keep their wearers dry during the highly profitable raining season. “Red Thread what are you doing here” one of her elder sisters said “I’m here with Shadow, he’s going to teach me how to read” she said holding Shadow close like a prised possession and beaming proudly “and pray tell what did you give him in return for such an honour” another one of her elder sisters replied sarcastically. Red Thread looked taken aback for a moment as Shadow glanced toward the her older siblings “she helped me find my mother” he replied reverting to his usual deadpan tone “looking for momma” another older sister said feigning interest drawing a small bout of laughter from the other two sisters “you got shafted kid” one said “look at this kid he’s as nervous as Grinding” commented another. Shadow looked back at Red who was smiling awkwardly at her sisters’ comments “ I never knew it cost anything honest”. He shook his head in disappointment and walked away “hey wait you promised” Red called out much to the amusement of her three sisters. Shadow continued shaking his head and walked away quickly enough to lose her in the crowd if she dared follow him. He walked around the corner of the nearest hut when a small blue coated colt walked up to him “excuse me” he said in a timid tone far too close to Shadow’s own for comfort “you are the one Red Thread was walking with right” the colt asked while looking around for any pony in sight. Feeling mischievous for once thinking how the colt would react if he knew they sounded remarkably similar Shadow spoke to him, hoping to avoid gathering another ‘friend’ today “I was” he said doing his best to imitate the colt before him “and you were going to help her read right” he asked looking shyly toward Shadow He refrained from answering rubbing the back of his head, if letters were so important around here the colt didn’t want his efforts to go unrewarded “I did” he said finally “really” the colt remarked, his tone changing completely “oh I mean really” he said quietly shifting back to his previous tone. ‘He only sounds like me when he’s sad, oh joy’ Shadow thought as he nodded “Stone” came a stern voice from behind him “oh no” the colt said turning away from the approaching pony “hiding from me behind buildings, you coward” the larger colt said walking next to Shadow “with a friend I see, finally tired of being alone are you” he said as Stone cowered before him “pathetic” he commented looking at Shadow for the first time “who’s the new colt” he asked nopony in particular “Shadow” Stone practically whispered “he was going to teach me to read”. The larger colt snorted before speaking “so the newcomer knows how read, what are you a unicorn?” He asked sarcastically “hey Turnip, Pot get over here”. Shadow took one glance over the shoulder of the colt and immediately knew what was going to happen. The colt obviously didn’t like him and was calling his friends for support in getting rid of him, as he saw two other ponies walk toward them he scowled as he saw his suspicions confirmed. The colt was about to turn back to him and with no ponies in sight to help him he did the first thing that came to mind, he ran. He was two paces away from danger when he barrelled into Stone knocking the pair of them over into a heap. “Nice catch Grinding” the larger colt said picking up Shadow with one hoof, feeling himself getting lifted by a single appendage Shadow fought the urge to strike back or struggle. His mother’s rules were almost always a matter life or death and when she told him to avoid causing trouble in town that meant no fights whatsoever “put me down please” the composed tone taking all of his effort. The Colt grinned and laughed cruelly at the smaller colt in his grip “or what” he sneered moving closer toward Shadow’s face. Unable to strike back Shadow twisted from the elder colt’s grip and rolled away from him, he was about to break into a run when he saw Grinding Stone run towards him with a small battle cry. The smaller colt smashed into him knocking him over “I got him Ore Pelt” he said still slightly dazed with the contact much to the amusement of the other two colts walking behind Ore Pelt “slippery hooves Ore?” the light purple one asked “and Grinding catches him in one jump, you must be getting slow” the other commented with a smug grin. “You’re one to talk Pot Belly” Ore said walking slowly over two the struggling colts, he could have beaten the two of them easily but experience taught him that Grinding Stone was an easy target but, knew if he called loudly enough or ran for it the guards sometimes interfered and saved him. The outsider on the other hoof was bound to be tough and the children of travellers rarely fought back if they were outnumbered and after seeing the small colt indigo colt tackle some pony how was larger and looks tougher than him maybe Grinding was finally growing a backbone “hey Ore you want to take first hit” Pot belly said walking beside his friend while Turnip continued to stare daggers at Shadow “I’ve got a better idea” he whispered walking slowly toward the tussling pair with a sinister smile “I’ll make you a deal Stone since you’re quicker than you look” he said drawing the colts attention while still holding Shadow down “you beat this colt in a fight we’ll leave you alone for a while”. Stone’s eyes lit up for a moment as he looked back toward the colt below him, Shadow had stopped struggling in the vain hope that they would grow bored and hopefully leave him be. As he saw Grinding’s expression change at the older colt’s words, he knew that look too well as that of hope and while he never regarded himself as having much tact he doubted there was anything he could do except either run or get ready for a beating. He tried to push the colt away only to have Stone swing a hoof at his barrel knocking the air out of his chest, the smaller colt struck again and again keeping Shadow pinned the ground while he used his fore legs to deliver blow after blow to his face and midsection. Seeing Shadow make no attempt to defend himself Ore joined in after a minute of continuous hits followed by his two friends, soon Shadow was being beaten by the four of them from every direction and rolled himself into a ball tucking his legs to his chest and around his head in an effort to protect himself from the flurry of kicks. After what seemed like an eternity the beating stopped and the gang of colts walked away with Grinding Stone following closely behind them “nice kicking there Stone” Pot said patting his back “thanks” he replied modestly catching a glance back at the colt who was still tucked in a ball shaking slightly as he walked off. He felt guilty about catching the pony who had offered to be the closest thing to a friend he had in this village, but then again he was relieved that it was finally not him being the one beaten up. Shadow waited until he could not hear their idle praise over his attack before finally releasing his limbs slumping to the ground and doing his best to crawl towards a wall to prop himself up. The short distance felt like the longest journey he had ever walked as he reached the wooden edge of a hut as he leaned against blinking every now and then to try and clear his blurred vision. A sniffle escaped his muzzle as he tried to hold back a tear from running down his face and keep the world from spinning. He eventually gave up and shut his eyes entirely trying to ignore his aching muscles and the taste of blood. Despite his exhausted state he eventually opened his eyes again and tried to walk back to the Inn where they would stay for the time being desperate to get some relief from the bruises that dotted his dark coat. He every step of the way made him grunt in pain as he limped back trying to focus more on the feeling building within him filling him with warmth and energy, he felt more angry than he could ever remember and the burning within his chest almost made the injuries around his body manageable. He smiled grimly as he reached the front door of the inn ignoring the stares and odd comments made by some of the patrons, if he could just refrain from limping his dark coat would hide the damage and he could go to bed and not have to explain today’s events to his mother who would no doubt worry about him. He would calmly walk into their room say he was tired and wanted to get some sleep for their writing practice tonight and ask about her day, he looked at his feet and the faces of the his aggressors that he had imagined himself delightfully stepping on the entire way home “probably should calm down first” he muttered as he walked up the stairs taking deep breaths. Rising lay down into the soft straw bed the inn provided for bedding and practically melted into the thin sheet separating her from the bedding. Today had naturally been too much for a pony of her stature to endure. The ponies she led demanded reduced cost for the griffon attack which led to painfully long arguments and an unhealthy amount of threats of bodily harm and constant reminders that she only promised to lead them there and left protecting themselves to their own accord. Then after walking around the whole town with an open leg wound she had to walk to the back around the whole forsaken town looking for a newly arrived apothecary after the blacksmith and said the wound was already healing over and ‘too damned dirty ta seal’ and sent her across town looking for the illusive pony. The old northerner was a nice change to routine especially since she spoke his language well and he hadn't met anyone yet who could understand a word he said. After a long and painful walk around most of the village she finally met the mysteriously covered up pony who had wrapped the wound up almost free of charge seeing how long she had walked around with such a bad injury for so long. Then she had to find the family of the blue stallion, the pony had come here to try and sell pottery and instead gotten killed following her when the griffon who had lunged at her struck her leg and practically severed his neck. She cringed at the thought and tried to remain composed at his burial when she was the one tasked filling his grave and decorating it with flowers picked from a nearby meadow. The stallion had no family left alive, no kin of his own and was the most dedicated to his craft and general company. He was the perfect farther for Shadow she could think of; he wasn’t selfishly trying to take the belongings of ponies who had to bury their own relatives and loved ones, he wasn’t cowardly enough to jump away from the griffon and let some pony else die, and he didn’t leave her even when he was on his last legs. And she had to include him in her prayers to her own ancestors to carry his soul from ground to his own resting place when she left to grieving group early to her room when the pain in her leg became unbearable. She lay down and tried to sleep, the sun was still going to be up for another four hours but she could never remember feeling his physically exhausted, let alone emotionally drained from seeing mares howl and throw themselves to ground grieving ponies who were captured by the griffin raiders and didn’t even have a body to bury. She closed her eyes and tried not to think about the poor ponies that would end up as slaves in the raider port. Eventually the sound of approaching hoof steps reached her ears, she opened her eyes expecting see the landlord expecting his payment, but instead saw her son before her. “Good afternoon” he started struggling to keep a straight face and eye contact “why are you limping” she replied sternly “I uh” he rubbed the back of his head accidently hitting one of the bruises and wincing “did some pony do this to you” she said trying to stand up only to fall to the ground immediately. Seeing her falling Shadow ran over to her “I’m fine” she said waving him away with her bandaged leg “the village apothecary bandaged me well” letting her son run his hoof around the bandage for good measure “it does it hurt” he asked tentatively examining the quality of the cloth used. She put her hoof to his cheek “Shadow did somepony do this to you” he lowered his head and nodded as Rising’s shock tuned to very visible anger “who” she said in a dangerously low voice “it’s over you don’t have to worry about it” Shadow started “who did this” she repeated gritting her teeth “I will heal in due time and hurting the ones responsible will only bring us harm” Shadow felt the familiar fire return to his chest and spread to his throat “who did this to you” she said one last time with a wild look in her eyes. “Does it matter” he replied scowling as he talked “we’re traders and travellers, the ponies here don’t trust us, they practically hate us” he said letting the anger flow into his words “anything we do anything we say they either won’t believe or run us out of town”. He stopped to look at his mother who as just as upset as he was before talking “you said it yourself, we can’t cause trouble where we stay so we can’t fight back if a couple of colts pick a fight, ergo while here we are helpless”. Rising would have normally told him that you could most certainly retaliate as long as it didn’t leave them in a cell for the evening, she would then tell him that he was right to not cause a fight and leave the matter to her where she would calm the offending ponies down and one way or another walk away with more than she came to town with. Now though she was tired, wounded and had narrowly avoided death along with her son only a day ago. Now instead of being remained how little power she had over their lives she just wanted to chase down whoever had hurt her son when she couldn’t protect him and add another notch to one of their tools during a duel . “Defending yourself does not mean getting us thrown out of town” she said venomously “Guards are paid to keep raiders and thieves away not break up fights among foals” she spat. Seeing how angry she was Shadow thanked her and ran out the door “I’ll be back in an hour I promise” he said as left. Rising realised what she had just suggested and futilely tried to chase after him “Shadow” she cried falling to the ground clutching her leg. She tentatively pulled at the bandage and looked at the marred flesh beneath, the wound was bleeding again and the exterior had turned a dark blue “oh no” she said dumbly before another spasm shot though her. Shadow ran down the stairs of the tavern ignoring the protests of guests he barged past and crawled under, the colt was far from caring about their welfare let alone his own. All that mattered to him was finding an outlet for the frustration he had built up during the day and the anticipation to finally fight back against ponies who had attacked him without recourse. He ran out the tavern door and began searching for the four colts full of trepidation about evening the score and then leaving the following day with his mother. A bitter smile graced his lips as he spotted Ore Pelt walking outside the city gates with the dark purple colt Turnip. He looked around the guard towers and counted four stallions armed with bows and spears all looking around the sky for invading gryphons and not paying heed to the pair of colts. Shadow walked as quietly as he could toward the pair watching for any surrounding ponies who might intervene, despite his young age he remembered the lessons Rising taught him when facing off against larger foe. Though he expected his first opponent to be something he would feel worse about attacking namely a wolf, the concept of getting revenge was new to the colt and strangely appealing. He saw Turnip wave goodbye to Ore and walk in opposite directions and quickly stalked behind the purple colt before he walked too close to the guards. A few paces away he tapped the colt’s shoulder “what the” the colt exclaimed before Shadow reared around and bucked his jaw with both his hind legs. Rather than clutch his jaw as Shadow expected him to the colt roared in anger and immediately tried to push him over. He jumped to the side and struck his leg out tripping his opponent over and using the opportunity to pin him to the ground as he prepared to break the colt’s jaw. Turnip feebly raised a foreleg to stop him only to have it swatted away as Shadow mercilessly slammed his hooves into the fallen colt’s face. Several hits later the Shadow stopped his beating, glancing around idly for any witnesses “you remember this moment if you ever dream about going after me again you hear” he whispered to the colt who only returned a terrified stare “am I clear” he repeated grabbing the colt’s throat as Turnip nodded faintly in reply. He released the colt and walked back toward the city gates looking for Ore Pelt, he stopped as he reached the walls and gave himself a moment to recuperate. He was still bent of seeing the bastard beaten but fight with the last colt had left him exhausted and drained all of his adrenaline letting the feeling of the bruising all over his body come back in spades. He huffed and tried to focus on the image of Turnip lying down as badly hurt as he was clenching his teeth to fight the pain emanating from all around his over purple and now black spotted face. He grinned savagely and instantly regretted taking a step forward as pain spiked all around his body, he grunted and thought of tackling Ore Pelt in this state. The colt was larger if he recalled and since he led the two colts and Grinding Stone against him he would presumably be tougher, he would have to be lucky to land a single hit before getting his flank kicked. He glanced at his own hooves and sighed at the lack of muscle there, he knew he wasn’t strong but if living without a roof over his head taught him one thing, he knew some old ingenuity would work just as well. Ore pelt was walking back to his house on the outskirts of the town. When he woke this morning he expected today to be the usual three hours morning work then a short respite talking with Turnip and Pot Bell about life, mares and how badly they were going to hurt Grinding Stone. He was usually worried when they ganged up on the small colt considering his father was the town’s only blacksmith and the town guard liked him a lot more than the pony who brought them their meals. When he heard about the nomadic pony showing up however it was just too good of an opportunity to waste, he didn’t yell out like Ore hoped he would even when they all started beating on him but there was still the matter of reputation gained when somepony beat up the supposed travelling tough guys. A scream caught his attention and he looked to see Pot Belly being held upside down by a fully grown and stallion “where is it” the he yelled shaking the colt who only stammered incoherently in response. Ore laughed at the sight and crouched down as he watched the group of ponies gather around the colt mentioning something about a stolen dagger. Ore continued to watch the interrogation unfold as more ponies came over to scream at him, just behind him Shadow emerged from the bushes he was hiding in crept up behind on the laughing colt. He dropped the stick he was carrying in his mouth beside Ore and kicked the pony as hard as he could between his hind legs. Ore screamed in pain and turned around at the stunned colt behind him with murder in his eyes, as the colt turned to run away Ore grabbed the nearest object he could find and began chasing after him. Shadow looked over his shoulder at the colt charging at him with a large lump of wood in his mouth and continued running toward the group of scavenging ponies. He didn’t hold much respect for ponies who made a living taking the possessions from ponies who died in battle or in this case from raiders attacks, he could share their sentiment when they took from actual battlefields and only the weapons from soldiers. He knew battle fields as rich ground for profit but when they took from ponies who were struck by raiders and wanted no part in conflict their fires and cooked meals never seemed as warm or welcome. When he was being chased by somepony who wanted to bludgeon him to death though his opinion of them drastically changed “there he is thief” a mare shouted pointing her gigantic husband toward Shadow. The pony dropped Pot Belly who ran off supressing tears and the entire group of twelve mares and four stallions ran toward pair of colts appending them both. Ore Pelt realising the accusation dropped the block of wood in his mouth, he was about to clear his name before a mare picked up the wood and bent it back. Realisation dawned on Ore as he saw the stick bend but not break, he had stolen a stick made of yew wood, one of the most expensive items around. Shadow walked away from the group as they dragged Ore back to his adobe. The colt had tried to explain the story to them, however after showing them the bruises hidden under his dark fur and told them his side of the story in their own language they had let him go without so much as an insult. As he walked toward the inn he saw heard a whimper come from behind the building and turned in time to see pale blue body disappear behind the wall “Grinding stone” he snarled as he rounded the corner himself. Though he was still sore he knew he had a list to complete and when he ran into his intended target at decent speed he found himself once again on his face somehow. Groaning in pain as he rolled over to see the colt holding a hoof against him and immediately grabbed it and prepared pull the colt off his feet and strike back. The hit never came though as Grinding Stone pulled him back up, seizing the moment he pushed the colt into the wall holding his neck with one hoof and pulling one back to hit him. Stone felt himself being pushed to the wall and closed his eyes bracing himself for Shadow to hit him in return. A few seconds later he nervously opened one eye wondering what was taking so long “why” Shadow asked plainly with his right foreleg still poised to strike. Stone opened his mouth but said nothing; he had asked himself the same question over and over after finding himself walking away from the bruised colt with Ore and some others instead of being the one left behind. He felt relieved that he was not being hurt, overjoyed at the mention of being at least accepted by some of the other children around the village and for once he felt pride. He could go home and tell his farther that he had made some friends today, he remembered smiling and felt giddy when he thought about how proud his dad would be. When he left the company of the colts though he felt his stomach lurch, he thought it was just his nerves acting up with the anticipation of being accepted around the town. But then his conscience started to nag at him. When he went to check on the colt he couldn’t find any trace of him except the Red Thread who was also looking for him to apologise on her sister’s behalf. He was pulled from his reminiscing when Shadow’s hoof struck the timber beside his face “why did you stop me” he repeated firmly “I’m sorry” Stone blurted shaking in Shadow’s vice grip “I just didn’t want to be hurt again please don’t hit me” he said cringing. Shadow looked over the colt once more before releasing him and dropping back onto four legs “you’re pathetic” he said venomously as he walked back inside. As he reached the stairs to the Tavern the sun was just starting to turn a brilliant orange signalling the coming of the late afternoon “I have returned” he started weary but happy he managed to have his revenge “victorious from comba-” his mind stopped again trying to register what his eyes saw before him. His mother was lying on the floor twitching slightly, her bandage was stained with blood and had distinctive splotches of green and blue on it, her eyes where flickering and her mouth was barely open grasping for breath. His disbelief lasted a single second and all her advice and teachings save for how to identify poisonous plants disappeared from his mind. He screamed. Two ponies came running into the room and froze at the sight of Shadow deftly trying to wake his mother up. Unsure what to do they went to the barkeep and told him of what they saw. Five minutes after the barkeep ran into the street screaming for help guards arrived on the scene and requested the help of the town healer. After twenty minutes of trying to find the healer Shadow had begun asking the villagers for gourd seeds. The blacksmith being the only pony who knew the plant ran outside gates alongside Shadow passing the newly constructed graveyard began looking around in the nearby woods for gourd seeds with the frantic colt. An hour after having found his mother poisoned in her own room Shadow returned to their apartment and with four seeds clutched in his mouth. The two guards had been under orders to not let anypony in lest they try to murder Rising in her weakened state. Refusing to restrain the colt one guard was dismissed from duty and left the scene as his partner pushed the crying colt away crushing two of the seeds he was carrying. The blacksmith seeing such an act roared in rage pushing the stallion over clearing the way for the colt to wash the Rising’s leg with water and rub the remaining seeds over the wound. After completing his work the colt collapsed into a hug with his mother and cried with her long past the point of sunset, seeing nothing to do the other ponies left the scene leaving Rising and Shadow alone.