Amethyst Glory had to had to hurry. There may not be much time left.
Through the streets of the Empire she searched frantically for a guard, but to no avail. The only sight that met her purple eyes was the population cheerfully going about their lives.
A bunch of fools they were! Didn't they know that a minion of Sombra was on the loose!?
She would try to tell everypony about the danger herself, but she had gained a... reputation in this city. Nopony would listen to her. They'd all believe she was a foal crying wolf.
She shuddered in remembrance of the creature. The thing had waltzed right up to her doorstep and pierced her resolve with it's soul-rending gaze. Not to mention those hideous claws! She just about though it would rip her throat out before she slammed her door and hid inside her house. Amethyst felt lucky to be alive to tell the tale.
"Where is a single guard!? Useless brutes!" she blurted in frustration. She received a few looks from the crystal ponies around her, but most of them rolled their eyes when they discovered who caused the outburst.
She decided the marketplace was a good area to try. There had to be a guard there, making sure nopony was foolish enough to steal from the vendors.
The frantic mare picked up her pace, shaking the long strands of hair out of her eyes. Her mane was an unkempt mess at this point, but it didn't matter right now. There were much more catastrophic problems to worry about.
Her sprinting came to a stop when she spotted it in the corner of her eye. An armor clad, crystal guard walking with a spring in his step towards the castle. Relief washed over her as she called out for the stallion. "Guard! Oh my stars, Guard!"
The stallion in question turned only to give a look of horrifying realization. Amethyst Glory needed to report a 'problem' to the guard. Again. She was well known for constantly harassing the guards for petty problems. There wasn't one guard in their ranks who didn't know who she was, or dreaded having to tend to her next.
"Thank Celestia, I found you! Where are the rest of you, anyways!?" she huffed.
The defender sighed. "Miss Glory. Always a... pleasure to see you. What seems to be the problem this time around?"
"Oh, it's terrible! A horrible creature has invaded our home!"
"You mean like the 'horrible' fox that 'invaded our home' last time?" he scoffed.
"Much worse than that!" she spoke in a shrill voice. "I believe an agent of Sombra himself has wormed it's way here!"
The stallion's surprised gaze lasted about a second before it turned into an annoyed stare. "Miss Glory, I'm really not in the mood for your jokes right now."
"Wha— I am not joking!" Amethyst stomped a hoof. "I'm completely serious!"
"To be quite frank, miss Amethyst, you are serious about all of your reports to the crystal guard. More often than not, they turn out to be rather trivial."
"Trivial!? Why, you big oaf! I'm trying to help save us!"
"Alright, alright, I apologize, miss. I'll hear you out." he conceded.
"Hmph! This is the thanks I get." She took a moment to get her bearings before she told her tale. "Now, I was tending to my chores at my house in the west district, when I hear a knock on my front door. Being the polite mare that I am, I decided not to ignore whoever might have been rudely interrupting my daily routine."
The guard could see where this story was going, and he already didn't believe her.
"To my horror, a tall and menacing monster the likes of which I've never seen before was standing on my doorstep! It stood on two legs, and looked large enough to devour me whole! Just being near that thing gave me a bad vibe!"
The guard stood unfazed. "So then what happened?"
"Why, I locked my door, ran upstairs and hid in my bedroom! When I peeked out my window, I saw it lumbering off somewhere else. When I was sure it had disappeared, I ran faster than I ever have in my life to find you! You simply must do something, the very air around that thing felt wrong!"
He shook his head. "Are you sure you didn't just see a bovine, miss Glory?"
"This thing was unlike any minotaur I've ever seen, if it was one! The legs just weren't right, and it didn't have any horns." The distraught mare took a moment to ponder, trying to remember any other important details of the monster.
"Miss Glory, I'm sure whatever it was you saw, it's actually nothing to worry about." The unimpressed guard derailed her train of thought.
"Nothing to worry about!?"
"I mean no offense when I say this, but it's rare for you to report a problem that is actually.... well... a problem."
"What about that swarm of horrible insects!? If I didn't see them coming from a mile away, they would've destroyed our crops!" she quickly rebutted.
"You mean the swarm of tiny birds? That weren't harmful in any way?" he replied. "What kind of bug would even live in this climate?"
"Oh...right." Amethyst felt sheepish as she remembered the event in it's entirety. "But you must do something about this! I may not always be right about what I see, but I assure you I have only the best of intentions!"
He was about to reply when a new voice cut him off from afar. "Excuse me! Guard!" Amethyst turned to see a gruff, turquoise stallion she didn't recognize trotting up behind her.
The two ponies regarded the stranger for a moment before the guard spoke up. "How can I serve you, mister...?"
"Glass Pond, sir," he nodded in acknowledgement.
The guard's visage brightened upon hearing his name. "Ah yes, mister Pond. How was business at The Thorny Rose last night?"
"Same as every Crystal Fair night. Place was packed full, especially after Sombra's defeat. 'Twas a night to remember," he recalled fondly. "But that's a story for another time."
"Right. What did you need, mister Pond?" the guard inquired.
"Well, I was searching to find one of you when I couldn't help but overhear you two talking about Amethyst's issue."
"You heard all that?" she asked quizzically.
"As a bartender, you develop a good ear. Anyways, I wanted to tell you that I had a similar experience to Amethyst's. A creature I've never seen before is lurking around."
"You saw him too?" Amethyst nearly hollered.
"The thing knocked on my door and stared right at me. And let me tell you, it may have looked similar to one, but this was no Minotaur."
"Ha! What did I say?" Amethyst sneered at the guard.
"But I'm not so sure about the whole "agent of Sombra" thing."
The indignant mare adapted a confused look. "What? Why else would it be here? We're finally rid of Sombra and coincidentally this new creature shows up out of the blue? I don't think so!"
"I don't know what it could be here for, ma'am. All I know is that it didn't seem very friendly when I tried to communicate with it. Just yelled some gibberish at me and stormed off."
"And you're sure about this, mister Pond?" the guard asked.
"Sure as the moon rises at night," he said with confidence. "Besides, I didn't get the best feeling from being around it either. I mean, maybe this thing doesn't have anything to do with Sombra, but I don't think any good can come from having this new creature roaming around the way it is right now."
The guard considered them both for a moment before he gave a resigned sigh. "Well alright, I suppose it never hurts to be too cautious. We'll find this newcomer and assess the situation from there."
Glass Pond smiled. "Thank you, sir."
The guard nodded. "Now, if there's nothing left to say, then I should be on my way. New captain's corralling the guards together, and I don't want to be late for that. Farewell, Mister Pond." He pivoted back towards Amethyst. "And farewell to you too, miss Glory."
And without another word, he trotted off.
"Hey! You best do something about this soon, you hear!?" Amethyst hoped her words reached his ears as he disappeared from sight.
"Y'know," the bartender started. "I think you worry too much sometimes, ma'am."
The confused mare had almost forgotten about the stranger still present. "I'm sorry, have we met before?"
"Yeah, last year you accused me of murder." He stated blankly. "Or should I say one thousand one years ago?"
"I...." A blush quickly found it's way onto her face. "Can you really blame me for that!? I saw you dashing into your house with blood splattered all over you!"
"That was paint."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Damn, I hated snow. The stuff might've been fun for the grade school snow-days, but when your boss is an idiot who doesn't get that it's near impossible to drive in such a frozen-over hell, snow isn't exactly as fun as you remember it to be.
I could hardly see out of my car's windshield as I raced to my job as fast as I could. Though, I actually wasn't going very fast at all. If I dared to go faster than ten miles under the speed limit, the ice under my tires would most likely carry my car into disaster. I guess it's a good thing nobody else was following behind me.
Not eager to be late, I checked my watch. 8:13. Oh wait, 8:14 now. I had sixteen minutes to drive three more miles. Provided nothing went wrong, I could make definitely make it. Which, of course, meant that something would totally go wrong.
I didn't want to be out here right now. I didn't want to be risking my safety for a job I didn't even like that much, but I'd already been late before. If I showed up to work late again, I don't know if I'll be able to keep my job. But I needed to put food on my table, and I was tired of mooching off of my parents.
Why do I bother. Even if I did get fired, I bet I could find a better job anyways, I thought. Deep down, I knew that wasn't true. I'd try my hardest to apply for every job I could, and none of them would call me back because apparently god had it out for me. Hell, I was lucky to get this job at the coffee shop.
Before I knew it, I was reminiscing about my old job at the closed down bar. Being a bouncer at The Bottomless Tankard was probably the best job I've had. I didn't have to do much, just throw out anyone who got too rowdy. And, being the incredible hulk that I was, overpowering people was something that came naturally to me. Those were the days. I'd come in, sit in a nearby corner and chat it up with the bartender all night. Ah, I missed Jim. Funny guy.
In my daze of nostalgia, I did not notice the stop sign which was coming up very fast. Nor did I see the Toyota in front of me which had already come to a full stop.
Panicking, I slammed my foot on the brakes. It may have stopped the wheels from turning, but as predicted, the black ice on the road pushed me onward at higher speeds than I would have liked.
Now I know there was something I was supposed to do in this kind of situation, but instead I just froze up. I didn't swerve out of the way, or do anything. Instead I just kept my foot pressed against the brake pedal as hard as I could and said my prayers.
The good news is that my car did slow down quite a bit. Bad news is that it only came to a full stop when my bumper thudded against the Toyota in front of me. Figures. The one car I see in these deserted streets and I run right into it.
"Oh, shit..." Looked like I was gonna be late. At least I had an excuse this time.
The voice from the other car was, predictably, rather upset. "What the fucking hell! Who's the absolute shithead that ran into me!?"
Ho, boy. I understood he was mad, but I hoped for his sake he wasn't picking for a fist fight. The raging guy who stepped out of the driver's seat looked about as strong as a pile of sticks. To my surprise, he wasn't the only one who was in the car. From the passenger's door, I could see a redheaded guy stepping out as well. He looked a lot stronger (and more neutral) than the other one, but nothing I couldn't handle if he was planning on being this guy's goon.
Well, time to step out and assess the damage, I thought with disdain.
"Hey, jackass! What the hell's your problem, huh!?" the same guy screamed at me. Before I could get out of my car, he was at my window screaming bloody murder. At least now I could get a better look at him. Short, black hair, blue hoodie, and some bony looking fingers to boot.
I was not in the mood for this right now. I had only woken up about an hour ago and I already wanted to go back to sleep. Maybe I could defuse the situation before it got any worse.
I rolled down my window to confront the raving jerk outside, talking with as much care as I could. "Hey, glad to see you're alright." Really, I was. "Look, I'm really sorry about this. I could hardly see out my windshield, and I tried to brake but—"
"But apparently you're a moron who doesn't know how to drive!?" he rudely interrupted. "Christ, how did you even get your drivers license!?" It seemed this guy wanted to test my patience. I guess he couldn't see how big I was from outside?
"Look buddy, there's no reason to be getting mad. It isn't gonna solve anything right now." I rubbed my temples. "Let's just calm down, alright?"
"No reason!? You crashed into my car!" his hollering was attracting a bit of attention from the occasional passerby. "I'd say there's plenty reason to be upset, you idiot!"
Idiot? Oh, he's on the edge of a knife right now. I was beginning to boil with rage like he was. "I'm warning you. Calm down, or this will get ugly." I threatened from my driver's seat. Hopefully he'd have the common sense to back off.
He didn't. "What's the matter, Dumbo? Don't like having your obvious mistakes pointed out to you?"
That's it. You wanna go, motherfucker? Let's go. I hated being called stupid. I knew I wasn't very smart at times, but I despise being labeled one of those stereotypical big oafs. So naturally, I wanted to break this guy's fingers.
My car door forcefully flew open, nearly hitting the douche in the gut. Stepping out of my car, I now stood to my full height looking down on him. The angry stranger only now realized what a mistake he made. The look on his face was priceless. I bet he was wishing he hadn't prodded the bear so much now. Too bad for him.
Before I could knock out all of his teeth with one punch, his buddy from earlier stepped in between us. "Woah, woah wait, stop! I'm sorry about that. You'll have to excuse my friend here, he can be a bit of a handful sometimes," he spoke with a heavy accent. I was pretty sure it was, like, Scottish, or something. "Now why don't we all just take this down a notch, eh? Look." He directed out attention to our cars. More specifically, the point of contact. What I saw was a bit surprising: There wasn't a noticeable dent in either of our automobiles. "Hardly anything to write home about, am I right?"
I had to agree. "Yeah..." I conceded with a sigh.
"Now you," the redhead said to Asshole McDickbag. "need to apologize to him."
Asshole simply decided to scoff at the idea, but a firm glare from his companion quickly adjusted his attitude. "Alright, alright. I'm sorry I blew up at you like that. It's... been a rough morning."
What, did your mom die or something? Although I haven't been the best at dealing with loss in the past, either. "Yeah, I can relate," I grumbled. "So, what do we wanna about this?"
The two strangers took a few steps towards the collision. They were talking to each other just quietly enough that I couldn't make out what they were saying. I simply opted to stand in the snow quietly, even though I was freezing to absolute zero. Turns out a baseball cap and light coat were not enough to keep me warm in this weather.
After a minute or so they turned to face me again, the red headed one with a sly smirk on his face. Asshole didn't share the smile, but he seemed a lot less upset.
"Well it looks like it's your lucky day, buddy," McDickbag told me. "We've decided we shouldn't get our insurance companies involved in this... minor bump."
"That works for me," I quickly said. "Again, I'm really sor—"
"On one condition!" the accent guy stopped me. "Tonight, we all go to the bar on the other side of town, and you buy us a drink." He couldn't contain his grin from stretching ear to ear. No way the lanky jerk came up with that idea himself. He doesn't seem like the type to get along with people easily.
You know, I might've been stretched for cash, but what they were asking wasn't really unreasonable. Besides, I'm sure I'd want a drink too after today. I wasn't looking forward to seeing Asshole again, but his friend seemed fairly nice.
And hell, I was a bit lonely these days. I'd settle for any sort of human contact at this point. "Alright, that's more than reasonable. What time do you want to meet?"
Redhead was beaming at this point. "Nine o'clock. Don't be late."
"And just to make sure you don't skip out..." Asshole swiftly swiped the baseball hat off my head, exposing my black buzz cut. I let out a cry of protest before he cut in again. "We're just gonna hold on to this until we see each other again."
Asshole finally gave a small sneer of his own, but his friend actually returned it with a glare of his own. Yeah, I felt the same way.
"Look, if you just come to the bar tonight then you'll get this back no problem, right?" Asshole reasoned.
"I wasn't going to skip out," I defended.
"Then you have nothing to worry about."
Ooh, I wanted to wipe that smug look off his face! I liked that hat, too... "Fine. Look, I gotta go."
Redhead nodded. "Very well. We'll see you later, mister...?"
"Andrew," I told them, heading back to my car. "You two?"
"Brian," he answered. Well, I didn't have to rely on calling him Redhead anymore.
"Neil."
...Eh, I was gonna stick with calling him Asshole McDickbag.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
I know it may not seem like it, but that was actually a fond memory of mine. My life really turned around after that moment. Before I met Neil and Brian, I was in an antisocial rut. Every day that passed just... did. After I met those two bastards, I had something to look forward to again.
"Brian. Neil." Those words came out as a mere whisper.
I had collapsed against the side of some horse's gem house after wandering around like a brain-dead zombie for a couple of minutes. I didn't know what what to do. Part of me was still thinking this was all a dream and I would wake up any moment now. I had pinched myself several times to the point where I drew blood.
"Please. Wake up," I whimpered.
I feel so hopeless sitting here and remembering what I used to have. I felt like I had the wind knocked out of me and I couldn't get back up. I wanted to go home. To see my friends and family again. But it was all taken away from me. The only things I had left were the clothes on my body.
What could I do? I didn't know. So instead I sat there and wallowed in despair.