Pheedy awoke from his warm inn bed. He squinted as the sun’s rays shone brightly on his eyes. He sat up and rubbed his eyes to get his bearings. Instead he was met with the stares of his friend sitting on a nearby chair, waiting, once more, for his friend to awaken. He sighed while Cookie gave him a groggy stare.
“You know, it’s really creepy when you do that,” yawned Pheedy, stretching his arms.
Cookie just slouched into the chair, folding his forearms. Pheedy sensed that Cookie no longer wanted to continue on the matter. Pheedy decided to stop talking and got out of the comfort of his bed. They both left the inn, once again, and walked to the center of Ponyville. Neither of them really had plans worth looking forward to, and it was still a bit early for any shops to open. They were stationed at a bench next to a fountain, the same bench they were the day before. Cookie was still ill at ease, keeping his head down, avoiding eye contact with any passerby. Pheedy watched this for a while, knowing he couldn't really do anything about it. He sighed. Pheedy never did like how Cookie secludes himself from the world. Pheedy sat, and something clicked in his head, that warm and welcoming feeling again. He knew what he was going to do today.
Pheedy stood up from his seat, catching Cookie’s attention pretty quickly.
“W-Where are you going?” Cookie asked hesitantly.
“On an adventure,” Pheedy replied sarcastically.
Cookie gave an irritated look, but decided not to question his friend; he was right most of the time anyways.
` With Pheedy in the lead, and Cookie following closely behind, the duo walked aimlessly around the town. Cookie was still on guard while Pheedy calmy pranced ahead. Suddenly Pheedy stopped, causing Cookie to bump into his rear and fall back. Cookie rubbed his snout and looked up. There he saw a quaint little workshop with a mailbox in front with the words “Axel Scratch” engraved in. There was scrap metal strewn around the front along with glass bottles, most of them empty, but some filled with strange liquids.
“I really don’t like the look of this place Pheeds,” Cookie managed to say.
“Really? I think it has some personality,” replied Pheedy.
“The place looks like an old scrap yard, and you know what they do at scrap yards,” Cookie said, attempting to change his partner's mind.
“Yes, but look at it this way: You can come in with me, or you can wait alone outside,” Pheedy replied with a smile.
And with that, Pheedy slowly trotted to the front door of the ominous building. Cookie sat there in silence. He’d never seen his friend like this before. He usually did things that would make him as comfortable as possible. He looked around, got up and started making his way to his friend, grumbling and cursing under his breath with every step.
They both reached the front door, Pheedy looking serene while Cookie was looking as high-strung as ever. Pheedy slowly opened the door, and the duo eased their way into a dreary looking room. The room was dark, only lit with the sun shining through the windows. The room was more of a hallway, long with objects hung on the walls. There was no other doors or exits, except near the end of the room, where there was light shining under, along with the sounds of tools at use. As their eyes adjusted to the dark, they made out odd contraptions and blueprints on the walls. One for some sort of speaker system, and another for a railroad of some sort.
As they reached the center of the room, they heard a loud creaking sound followed by a slam. They turned to see that the front door had been closed. Pheedy shrugged it off and continued to make his way through the workshop. Cookie stuck close to his collected friend as they moved throughout the room.
They reached the door at the end of the room, the definite sounds of hammers and saws hard at work. Pheedy gave Cookie a reassuring look as he opened the door. The two friends peeked through the opening they made. They saw a room that was even more cluttered and messier than outside, with piles of wood on one side, old oil barrels on the other. The only organized thing they saw was a desk on the far right corner of the small room. Papers neatly stacked, along with a wastebasket filled to the brim with more paper.
Pheedy opened the door so that the pair could enter the room. As he entered, he saw a figure at the end of the room, seeming like it’s smashing something. Pheedy took a step toward the figure, the floorboards creaking. The shadow stopped whatever it was doing and turned its head. Cookie did a doubletake as the figure started to make its way toward the duo. Cookie planted himself behind Pheedy as he stood firmly there, staring at the incoming shadow.
The shadow stood now inches away from Pheedy. They both stared into each others eyes. They both stood there in silence, until a nearby light clicked on, revealing the figure.
“Well hello there! Didn't know I had visitors, thought I fixed that doorbell for good,” the mysterious pony said.
Pheedy stood there in silence as he looked at the strange pony in front of him.
“Oh right, I haven't introduced myself yet. The names Axel Scratch, inventor and alchemist,” he said with a grin.
Pheedy smiled. “Pleasure to meet you Axel, I’m Pheedy and my friend here is Smart Cookie.” He slid out of the way so that Cookie was now in Axel’s line of sight.
Cookie looked up at Axel. Axel raised an eyebrow.
“Uh, is your friend always like this?” he asked.
“Don’t mind him, he's shy,” replied Pheedy.
Cookie was still staring at the anomaly in front of him. Axel was jet black pony with hints of white on his snout. He had a long, straight mane which was jet black with white streaks. He had a large bushy tail with the same color scheme as his mane. His right ear had a large chunk missing from it. He also had strange white tinted glasses. One of the stranger features was his razor sharp teeth, and his cutie mark, which were two crossed hammers.
Axel looked back at Cookie, but stared at him with a questionable look. He extended his hoof and it slowly made its way toward Cookies forehead. Cookie closed his eyes tightly and braced for impact, but was surprised when he felt a hoof rub the top of his broken horn.
“I thought I was the only one...” Axel said quietly.
“Beg your pardon?” Pheedy said.
“His horn! Look at it!” Axel said strongly.
Cookie blushed and looked down at the floor, but a hoof pulled his chin up back at Axel.
“I believed I was the only one!” Axel yelled happily. He maneuvered his mane to reveal a horn of his own, broken, snapped in two.
Cookies eyes sparkled. “Your horn, its like mine!” Cookies attitude shifted almost instantaneously from timid to open. They both started talking like they've known each other forever. Every sentence said with a smile.
Pheedy smirked. “Say Axel, want to go and get some lunch with us?”
Axel turned away from his new found friend. “Of course, it will be a good excuse to get out of this cramped closet of a house,” he said through his sharp teeth.
Pheedy nodded and started making his way toward the nearest restaurant, or in this case bakery, with Axel and Cookie chatting up a storm closely behind him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Axel, Pheedy, and Cookie sat in one of the booths in the back of the bakery, each with a milkshake topped with whipped cream and a cherry.
“So Axel,” Pheedy asked as he took a big gulp from his shake.
Axel looked up, his glasses shimmering in the light.
“What exactly do you do anyways?” Pheedy said with a questioning look.
Axel put down his shake and gave him another one of his infamous smiles that made Pheedy really uncomfortable.
“I’m an inventor my friend, and a really good one at that,” he said with a bit of moxie.
Pheedy raised an eyebrow, and Cookie sat there in awe as he spoke of his accomplishments.
“At the age of ten I helped invent Equestria’s railroad system, and later I invented my sister’s speaker systems,” he said giddily.
“Sister? You never mentioned anything about a sister,” Pheedy said.
“Then again, you were creeping through some strangers junkyard. Ponies don’t normally think about the owners relatives when your sneaking about,” responded Cookie sarcastically.
Pheedy just rolled his eyes, although, internally, he was surprised. Cookie never joked about, he was normally tense and alert. Now he was loose and relaxed.
“Well, I was adopted when I was a young colt,” he mumbled “Vinyl has always been such a great friend to me, like a sister. Well, she technically is.” Axel scratched the back of his head as the table grew awkwardly silent.
Pheedy broke the quiet of the table with a large burp. It seemed to lighten up the mood pretty well, Cookie holding back a giggle; Axel facehoofing; Pheedy smiling. All like good friends, despite having just met.
“Well, let’s not get all mopy,” Pheedy responded. “Waiter! How about more milkshakes, on me!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was sundown when the trio left the Sugarcube Corner. There were a few ponies still wandering about but most have gone inside to await the night to come.
“Well Axel,” Pheedy started. “I think it’s about time we take our leave.”
“Where are you going?” Axel replied.
“Were going back to the inn,” Cookie replied. “We really don't have an actual house,” he continued, scratching his head.
“My workshop isn’t that far, we can walk together,” Axel said.
Cookie smiled, so Pheedy couldn't back out now.
“Why not, what's the worse that can happen?” Pheedy said with a smirk.
They began to walk down the road they've done before. Cookie and Axel in the back again, still talking, Pheedy in front, admiring the scenery. Suddenly Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy approached from behind them, Dash boasting about a new trick that she pulled off earlier that day. Pheedy gave a generous wave as them as they passed. Cookie and Axel kind of just gave a little gesture at Fluttershy, avoiding Rainbow Dash all together.
Pheedy saw this. “It seems that Cookie gets along with people who share something in common with him,” he thought. He gave a smirk and a plan formulated in his head as he approached the inn.
Cookie bid Axel goodbye as Pheedy entered the inn. He was about to open the door but a chilling breeze froze him in his tracks. He looked around cautiously. He started to tremble, it felt similar to those of the nightmares, but...different. This strange feeling made him feel cold and alone, as if something were to go wrong at any minute. His mind was racing with possibilities of what's to come. Repressed memories bursting from deep within his mind.
“Cookie?”
Cookie’s eyes opened sharply.
“Cookie!?”
He looked up. Pheedy was in front of him with another one of his concerned looks.
“What happened? Are you alright?” Pheedy questioned.
Cookie just cringed as a pain surged through his head. He pushed through Pheedy without a word as he put a hoof on his forehead as an attempt to ease the pain. He quickly made his way into the inn.
Pheedy, now more worried, chased after him.
Cookie was sitting on his bed, rubbing his temples with his hoofs. Pheedy sat across from him, and Cookie glared at him.
“I’m going to ask again, what happened?” Pheedy said calmly.
“It’s nothing,” Cookie replied back. His answer void of emotion.
“I’m just trying to help, I can’t help if you don't tell me what's wrong,” Pheedy replied
“It’s. Nothing.” Cookie said, more sternly than before.
“Cookie pl-”
“Look, I don’t need your help, there’s nothing wrong with me, so get out of my face!” Cookie shouted back.
Pheedy flinched back with wide eyes. Cookie also gave a shocked look, realizing what he had said. It takes a lot of effort to get Cookie angry so something was off.
“I’m sorry,” Cookie said quietly “I just need some rest, that’s all.”
Pheedy simply nodded as Cookie wrapped himself tightly in his blanket. The pegasus looked out the window. It was dark, a full moon was out, and for some reason, so was Axel. He was in a dumpster, moving some trash around and occasionally throwing a piece of scrap into a saddlebag. Pheedy decided to ignore it and got under the covers of his bed, trying to think what went wrong. Was it something he said? Was it something he did? He again shrugged it off as he too fell asleep once more.