//------------------------------// // A Nice Night... // Story: Life, liberty, and the Pursuit of Bits. // by Timemaster //------------------------------// Chapter 4: A Nice Night... Over the horizon lies the city or town Gold is running to, but he isn't looking at the town right now. He is looking at the sky. Clouds, heavy with rain, are approaching--inching ever closer to Gold's general area. He scoffs a bit, quite angry that his first night free would be covering the stars, but nonetheless... He was free, after all. He smiles, slightly skipping to the town now, willing to enjoy his night. He looks toward the city again. it is much clearer than before, so he is able to make out houses and tall stores. He may not remember his age, but he feels like a small foal given a piece of candy. Beyond that horizon possibly held more than freedom... He starts running very quickly. ...It could hold what he truly desires. He starts sprinting, the blue vest scratching his back. He stops, feeling tired and burnt a bit from the vest. He goes to look at it, but sees something odd. His fur was different, somehow. He nudged at his fur, seeing what was wrong, and felt its hard texture... "What?" Gold said, scared a bit. He felt a sharp pain in his back, so he goes to take off the vest to see what is wrong, but sees that the coat was red for some reason... Gold's eyes open up, his body trembling. He takes off the coat, seeing a small hole in his back... He screams and gets up to run. His eyes dart around, his vision becoming very hazy. Due to fear, he runs without seeing his surroundings and smacks straight into a tree. He feels woozy. The pain from his back seemed to fade a bit, so he looks where the hole is... Only to see it is not there. He stares at the spot, knowing he had seen it. He KNEW he had seen a hole going through him. He started breathing a bit slower. "Probably a delusion..." He says, walking back onto the road after fixing up his attire. He looks to where he left the coat and sees that... it... is still red. His eyes open largely. He begins to breath much quicker, wondering what this means. He looks towards the city. "Maybe," he begins, "there is a doctor or somepony there to help..." Just like the past few hours, he runs towards the city--getting much closer each minute. After an hour or so of running, Gold arrives at the gates of the town. The gate is new and shiny, Gold seeing somepony in the reflection of it. He turns around, wondering who was behind him, only to find no one. He shrugs and enters the town, still hoping his delusions will not harass him too much. He turns his head in front of him again, seeing the lightly lit street before him. As it was around midnight, everypony was probably asleep by now. He smiles, for he did not know how to explain the delusions he had been seeing to any one who asked. He looks around, turning his head left and right, hoping to see the doctor or hospital of this town. He sees many buildings on his left, most likely homes; while he sees smaller buildings on his right. He investigates the right hoof side. He sees an indoor market, which would be good if it wasn't closed; a tall, yet skinny, office building; many small stores of different kinds; and another street. Figuring that this was where the doctor's office is most likely to be, he walks towards the street. Pain. He felt a large jolt in his back, making him gag. He felt like something was trying to break through his body--every muscle in his very being quivering on the intersection of the street. he tries to scream, but his throat swelled. He couldn't breathe. He gagged harder, his spasms becoming worse. He looked up, only to see the moon through his delusional eyes, seeing a large crater on the moon... smiling. He collapses, breathing in hard. The pain halts, but the echo of it remained on his bones and mind. He felt very different, but in this light, he saw nothing different about him. He did feel lighter, though. Using the rest of his energy, he screams, "Doctor!" Falling to the ground, his head clonks the stone hard. Knocking him into deep slumber... He wakes up to the sound of movement. He opens his eyes, but they are covered by some fabric, which also covers his ears, muffling the surrounding noise. He tried to lift his hooves to his face, only to find that they were above his head. He attempted to speak, but only felt a large piece of wood blocking his jaw's movement. Frustrated and scared, he begins to listen around him, knowing squirming may make it worse. "Burn the c--Burn Him!" Is all he was able to hear before having the wind knocked out of him by a pony beside him. "So, you thought you could come to our city--and try to--" the pony beside him said in a deep voice, presumably male. Gold shakes his head in fear, but to no avail. the pony strikes him again. The pony begins to laugh. "Mares and Gent--colts, we shall now begin the punishment!" Shuffling of more hooves is heard around Gold. many ponies begin to strike Gold over and over, hearing his own bones crack and possibly shatter. the fabric on his face becomes loose, and falls off. A collective gasp from the crowd in front of Gold is heard. "That is not a changeling!" yelled a mare. The ponies kicking Gold stopped for a moment. "What do you mean? He has fangs, don't he?" said the pony beside Gold, which Gold notices, through his hazy vision, is a light blue, old, stallion. He looks to Gold and gasps as well. "Get him off of this thing!" The stallion yells. The other ponies quickly follow suit and begin to lower Gold. Tears of fear and pain running down his bruised cheeks. The log is removed and his hooves are untangled from the 'Hangponies Noose' stand. Gold lays onto the ground, hearing pleas for apologies as he faints once more. The dome is being shined by a dozen slave-pegasi as the gate opens... A dark-blue colored mare exits the open gate, her horn seeming cracked and torn. She is wearing a blue vest as she leaves, taking out a small vial from her left pocket. She stares at it, having no idea what it does, and puts it back. From her right pocket, she retrieves a small, gold, letter. She re-reads the letter once more, so she wouldn't miss one thing from her objectives. Dear Agent-B, You have been chosen to hunt down a runner. He has betrayed my trust one too many times and must be stopped. But, be warned, for he is ruthless. Because we never found a way to train you, please hunt down these Class C runners before you take on a class B. Return once you have gotten at least five of them. Contract One-Class C | Payment: Ten-thousand bits | Name: Lock Breaker | Skill Level: 6/20 | Last Seen: Canterlot Square, wearing a grey hat and dyed gray coat. She stops reading there, frowning a bit. She begins trotting, her horn glowing brightly. "I will get you for this, Gold..." And she disappears from sight.