Night has fallen upon the fields and towns, the darkness that the night brought was subdued by the faint light of the moon and the stars present on the sky that weren’t blocked by the passing clouds. Few torches on the towns were shining lightly for the town guards, the word of an outlaw spreaded quickly to all towns in the surroundings. The night was silent for far too long and only a few hours were left until the sunrise.
By that time, the silence was broken, as a low groan could be heard and the figure of a colt emerged.
“Uh… What happened…?” – He rubbed his head and he noticed that there was something wrapped on his head. – “What’s this? A… bandage?”
As soon as he made acknowledgement of said bandage, a voice came out of nowhere. – “About time you woke up kid. I was getting worried.”
“Wha-?” – He made a sudden turn to see the source of that voice. To his surprise, there was a white coated earth pony stallion with a grayish mane and tail, who was sitting by a campfire. It took him a while to recognize the stallion’s face, and when he remembered, he shouted at him. – “You! You are the one who was fleeing from the guards back in the town, weren’t you?!”
The stallion sighed deeply and nodded to Swift. – “That’s right… but more importantly, how is your head?”
“M-my head…? I don’t feel any pain but, the bandage is kind of tight…”
“Is that so? I’m glad to hear that then… you had quite the hit when we fell down hill you know.”
“You’ve been taking care of me since then…?”
The stallion first nodded to confirm Swift’s question. – “I couldn’t leave you behind, could I?”
“Thank you…”
The stallion looked away from him, as he stared to the fire and an awkward silence fell upon both of them. Then Swift, calmed now, decided to ask him. – “Say, who are you and why are you escaping from the law?”
“The name’s Dusk Howl. And I’m escaping because I’m now known as a pirate.”
“And why you became one? Do you want to become rich with other ponies goods and riches?”
“I won’t deny that I stole some ships, without to mention some food, but that’s about it. I never made vandalism, nor stole any personal belongings.” – Dusk Howl stared to the moon now, and continued to say with a lower yet firm tone. – “What I am looking for is nothing more than the Golden Heart.”
Swift tilted his head to the side, confused by not hearing about such a thing before. – “The Golden what now?”
“Are you telling me that you’ve never heard of such magnificent treasure as the Golden Heart?”
A quick side-by-side movement with the head was enough answer coming from Swift.
“Boy oh boy… well, you see, the Golden Heart is nothing more than the most important treasure of all times in these lands! It is said that it’s full of good riches, as it is said that you can get any wish out of it.”
“There really is such a great treasure like that?!”
“Of course. The pony that gets his or her hooves upon such a treasure will most likely to be feared!”
Swift couldn’t believe that something like that could ever exist, a sudden sparkle came to his eyes, he thought: If I get my hooves on that treasure, maybe my family will be more recognized! But then, an important question crossed through Swift’s mind. – “So, Dusk Howl, why are you searching for such treasure?”
But Dusk Howl remained silent, he never expected that a colt would ask him his most important desires, he opened his mouth constantly to talk, to form at least one sound, but he always hesitated. The silence remain for several minutes until Swift Trick decided that it was time to break it. – “I’m sorry; I asked something rather personal, right?”
Dusk Howl looked at the colt with such impression that managed to make him say a few words. – “Don’t worry, it’s alright kiddo.”
By the end of that sentence, the moon was already fading in the far horizon, as the first rays of light began to appear from the east. Dusk Howl glanced to the sun’s direction giving a sharp sigh. – “Well kid, seems to be that it’s the beginning of a new day… what are you going to do now? Will you send me to jail by the next town?”
Now it was Swift who remained in silence, that was the plan from the beginning after all, but somehow he felt unsure. It took him several minutes for him to come up with an answer. – “I… I won’t send you to the law Dusk Howl.”
“A-Are you sure of that? His may be your only chance you know.”
“Yes, I’m sure of that. I owe you for taking care of me when I was hurt back there. I thank you for that.” – A gentle smile formed upon his lips once he finished this sentence, as he bowed down to the stallion with certain respect.
That was more than enough to make Dusk Howl chuckle nervously, as a faint blush of appreciation crossed just below his eyelids. – “You shouldn’t be thanking a pirate you know…” – He forced himself to calm down as he stared seriously to Swift Trick. – “OK, now that you let me free, what are you going to do? For my fault, you’re now lost here, and I can’t send you back so easily, I don’t want more bad luck in my life.”
“You make it sound as it happens often.”
“You’ll be surprised.”
“Well… I guess I could go with you to the next town and you can drop me off at an inn, I can send a letter to my parents there too.”
“Sounds good to me, alright, let’s go… sorry, what was your name?”
“Oh right! I’m Swift Trick.”
“Swift Trick, huh? Is it fine if I call you Dusk Fang?”
“Um, sure, I guess?”
“Alright then, let us go Dusk Fang. The next town is just two hours away.”
Dusk Howl began to walk forward as Swift, now being called Dusk Fang, followed behind him, but the words of the treasure, the Golden Heart, were still echoing on his head constantly.