“Hah fools; look at these ponies. Smiling, giggling and not a care in the world. Pathetic creatures if you ask me. Unlikely though anypony will ask me for anything. They will just go on with their lives blindfolded by the cloud they float upon. Their vision too blurred to see what is wrong in this dump of a town, let alone in this world.” ~Short Fuse, Journal, entry number 25.
~Chapter 1: Pilot~
Short Fuse woke up in the morning and as often the sun was already bright and high up in the heaven above. The last time he woke up in the morning he could honestly not remember. His home was a dump. A filthy dump least to say. All over the place there were remainders of food, stacks of magazines, comic books and news papers littered in every corner of his bedroom. As he got up he nearly tripped because he forgot he placed a stack of magazines there right before he went to bed. Muttering under his breath he headed to the living room which had the kitchen adjacent as well. which also concluded the entire tour of his house.
Life certainly had dealt the odd looking pony a strange hand. Life was good in his childhood; two caring parents who wanted only the best for their foal. He attended to a decent school but at that exact point things went south for him. Everything he hated was put together in a room. Other foals and their retched noise they created. A near dictatorial teacher, but worst of all was playtime. Playtime was torment. The other foals seemed so happy but he honestly failed to see how something as tag could be fun to do. Being touched by some other pony to touch them on your behalf again.
The teachers began to notice strange things by the time he was in higher grades of elementary school. He looked differently from other ponies. The bright red skin along with his black and green colored mane were strange as they were. But now his eyes started to deviate from what was deemed normal amongst other ponies. His pupils narrow as those of a dragon and he even grew fangs as if he was a carnivore. Aside from that the most notable of things were perhaps the tantrums he threw. Once more the kind hearted foals with whom he was in a class with tried to involve him in the group and what happened then was beyond what anypony could believe.
As if the biggest bomb ever was detonated Short Fuse's fuse finally burned out. The instance he got tagged his eyes narrowed and he turned on the pony who tagged him. Before the poor foal could get out, the red fanged pony grabbed him and pinned him on the playground. For this he needed only one hoof while the one who tagged him was considered to be the strongest pony in elementary. Somehow anger overcame physical inferiority and Short Fuse pummeled his pinned victim with his free hoof until he was forcefully separated from him by no less than three teachers. Kicking and screaming... more screeching he got dragged off inside to cool down, where he would welcome every teacher that passed with a cannonade of violent curses and more screeching. It sure didn't help for his temper that he was completely ignored by the ones he cursed at until finally, after hours he settled. This not because he was finally cooled down but simply because he was exhausted.
Needless to say his parents were informed of this incident but once Short Fuse arrived home his parents never mentioned the phone call. Until now the young colt had managed to keep his cool in school but as of late his anger only seemed to grow out of proportion. His parents were at a loss, both being kind and loving ponies who embraced everything ponyville stood for they couldn't grasp what was wrong with their beloved child. However atrocious his behavior they have never stopped loving him but they sure got desperate.
Back in the present day Short Fuse ate his breakfast; cereal with a load of questionable milk at best. He sniffed it, made a weird face as the smell was all but good and started eating it anyways cringing with each bite. His attitude made it very hard to keep a steady job so it was pretty much a beggars/choosers situation in which he found himself. He was glad he had enough to eat as it was. Tonight he would start yet a new job. Quite often, and this might seem strange, he was hired as a night's watchpony. Short Fuse was a lot of things, he might throw a fit at any given time for any reason, but a thief he was most certainly not. And with this job he didn't need to interact with anypony. And if he had to it didn't mattered he went berserk on his victim because then he would be trespassing.
The day went by agonizingly slow. The rancid milk acted up which caused him to be stuck to the toilet for the better part of the afternoon and early evening, almost causing him to be late on his first day of guarding. He looked once more at the paper and sighed a little. “I actually have to guard the cake shop? Well this will be a boring night,” he muttered. But bits were bits and he honestly didn't care what exactly he had to do, as long as he got payed.
So the sun was down and the first stars in the sky were already present in the evening's sky. “Full moon huh, thats when all the loonies come out,” he said in a resentful way to himself. What exactly caused it he didn't know, but what he did know was that when the full moon was upon, the strangest things tended to happen. However he didn't know how a night guarding the cake shop would become the least bit interesting or why they would need guarding in the first place he figured something might still happen because of the full moon.
It wasn't before long he arrived at the shop and knocked at the door. The familiar Mr. and Mrs. Cake opened the door. “Ah, you're the pony we hired to secure the shop,” Mr. Cake said not too unkindly. He then looked at his wife with a rather concerned look. Short fuse had a reputation in Ponyville of being able to throw massive temper tantrums whenever things didn't go his way and more oft than not he got thrown out of public areas when he was at it again.
“Yes, I am,” he replied in a flat voice and rolled his eyes a little as he saw the concerned faces. “So, I get payed 50 bits for the night as we agreed on, and I make sure whatever it is you need guarded now remains safe?' he asked to confirm the agreement previously made.
Mr. Cake nodded and confirmed the agreement. Then they took off and Short Fuse found himself alone again. “Man were those ponies acting up. Just because I occasionally... sometimes... well... often lose myself it doesn't mean I can't keep this blasted shop safe,” he thought and stared blankly in front of him, hardly paying any attention to the ponies passing by. For most of the passing ponies the workday was over but for the hotheaded colt it had just begun.
Getting bored really quickly he paced back and forth a little until he found himself looking at a window. Whenever he saw his own reflection he tried to figure out how he got his rather deviant looks. In school he never fit in when he was young. Resented everything that seemed to make others happy. He didn't know why, he didn't know what made him angry. His childhood was as normal as one could wish for, his parents loved him despite the harsh times he gave them. Somehow, somewhere something went horribly wrong... but what? It was so bad he even figured his dragonesque looks were a result from the amazing amount of fury within him. “I should have this checked out by that princess hogging the library... at least... if she is willing to let me in again,” he said out loud to no one in particular.
Thinking back to that time he went nuts at the library. He was just reading a book there on his day off when this mare comes with with no less than three foals. Those foals were amongst the worst behaved brats one could possibly imagine. They whined, screamed and produced other unworldly sounds which made the red colt doubt those were even ponies. Anyways, however they were infuriating he did keep his calm which was an achievement for him. But then when he asked one of the kids to keep it quiet a little as the foal was screaming towards his siblings at a ridiculous volume, the mother decided to give Short Fuse a piece of his mind. Nopony would tell him wrong if he just gave the mare a piece of his mind in return, but I think the fact that he clobbered her with the very book he was previously reading up to the point she actually needed to visit a doctor was slightly over the top as a reaction. So he was thrown out of the library and Twilight advised him it would be for the best if he didn't return anytime soon. By which she of course meant: Never.
He laughed a little and sighed eventually. 'Night, my blissful company. Ever so tranquil and silent. Nothing of the night there is to infuriate me, or disrupt me. Let your dark blanket cloak me, and let me enjoy your solitude as I am a subject to Princess Luna of the night.' he chanted softly. It had become his mantra as he spend the long, dark hours of the night guarding whatever. Ponyville was a rather safe town and more oft than not he simply fell asleep in sheer boredom because nothing would happen anyways. Tonight however something was wrong.
There was no indication something was wrong, it was a gut feeling. He couldn't put a hoof on whatever set him on edge but his senses heightened. His ears stood upright and his eyes were wide open. For one thing his looks were convenient. He often appeared intimidating enough for anything to happen. At least that was the case with ponies. Creatures of the night or what abominations got the horrible idea to crawl out of the everfree forest often differed in opinion and rather saw him as a late night snack than intimidating.
Hours crept by and the dusky evening changed into a pitch black night, which was reason enough for Short Fuse to recite his chant a couple of more times. It was lonely in this line of work and boring. Boredom, anger and rejection was what he had to deal with. But still the red colt had the ominous gut feeling something was about to happen. He trusted his gut for it was more oft than not right. He hoped against better judgment he was wrong though. He honestly didn't feel like being bothered with whatever would disturb the night's peace.
His hope was in vain as he had expected thanks to his gut feeling but little could prepare him for what he was about to witness. He stood face to face with a pony twice his size. And he was muscular beyond what Short Fuse deemed possible. The only strange thing about the huge stallion in front of him was a disfigured muzzle. An epiphany struck the red pony. He was sure he had seen the pale green furred pony before, and he had. “Well, I'm sure got get a good clubbing right now,” he thought as the huge stallion approached him in a threatening fashion.
“Remember me... Short fuse?” The green pony sneered as he got close to the red fanged pony. “You look even more a wreck than the last time I had the displeasure of seeing your misshapen face.” at the last remark Short fuse could do naught but laugh slightly which infuriated the green pony greatly.
Within a second the red fanged pony could taste the blood in his mouth. Intimidation was of little use against this behemoth of a pony. Usually his deviant looks would scare off anypony which made him ideal as a night's watch. The green pony smirked. And finally said. “Every night you're on duty, I will find you and give you another hit like that one, until the day I think revenge has been served proportional,” he said and with those words he took off.
Short Fuse was left completely shocked. He didn't dare drop his attention for even a second until the cakes got back with the rising of the sun to open their shop. At this point his muzzle was blue and swollen. At least the shop was still safe and he got his 50 bits for the night. He could finally get some fresh milk and throw away the rancid junk that had him stuck to the toilet for several hours yesterday in the afternoon. When the cakes asked what happened he got pummeled he blamed some random thug looking for a quick bit, although he knew this encounter was all but random.
Tired he went back to the dump he called home, laid down in his bed under his ragged sheets but sleep wasn't for him. The foresight of the huge green pony 'visiting' him each night he'd spend in the open to guard whatever place he was hired to. To make sure his face wouldn't end up as his face, he needed to think of something to make amends. “Making amends? Since when did I become the kind of pony to make amends for anything. I still think I was right to give that colt the smacking of a lifetime. He shouldn't have touched me.”
The fanged colt contemplated for several moments more before coming to the painful conclusion, however he was still right, he should try to figure something out to get even with the green colt in a way that didn't involve him being beaten for umpteen times. With that thought and the sun slowly creeping above the horizon he fell asleep.
In the evening with the orange hue of dusk cast over Ponyville Short Fuse woke up from a dreamless but but entirely peaceful sleep. His muzzle felt swollen and looked exactly as it felt. With a grunt he got out of bed and decided to skip on his 'breakfast' since he failed to get some new stuff today. Instead he got the coin he collected from the job yesterday and headed towards the town's inn.
The instance he entered the inn the barkeep looked at him worried. Little surprise since Short fuse often had no fuse left whilst attending this inn and more than once had he caused a massive bar fight. Still, he somehow was still welcome there. It was a small mystery why he was still welcome there since many tables were vacant. The innkeeper most likely wanted all the business he could get; even if that meant having a bar fight every once in a while fueled by the never ending pool of rage that filled Short fuse.
On Short Fuse's turn it was to little surprise why this inn had so little business. Even a pony traveling or just passing trough this town would rather make his own food over the stuff he got served here. He was uncertain some of the things served were actually food, but with plenty of ale it was reasonably edible. This evening seemed to go rather well for Short Fuse. His belly was full and the ale tasted rather good. As his plate got empty, the inn did quite the opposite. Soon enough the inn became a busy and cozy place where ponies socialized.
All was well, at least nopony bothered him and he could enjoy the cold ale the inn was serving happily on his own little island. Occasionally he muttered something under his breath as the swollen muzzle from the smack he caught yesterday acted up again. To his dismay he found somepony sat down at his table.
“green fur, huge stallion... I'm in trouble,” he thought as he attempted to clear some distance between him and the green colt which proved impossibly because he was already as close to the wall as he could be. Short fuse looked worriedly at the muscular stallion which on his turn returned a flat stare of his own.
“Don't make a fool of yourself Fuse,” he said and rolled his eyes. “I haven't come here to give you another smacking.” he said which made the red pony feel slightly more comfortable yet he was still visibly frightened since he didn't have the slightest clue of what to expect from the Muscular pony.
“You have actually remembered my name?” he asked in some surprise. Blunt as he was with his statement he didn't sound too unkind, most likely because he was too afraid of the behemoth adjacent to him to actually get mad. “Of course he remembers your name you stupid little foal. Do you think you would forget the name of the pony who clobbered you that badly?” he thought quickly as he did his very bed to remember the name of the green pony as well. However valiant his effort he was at a loss for a name.
“I can see you're now desperately trying to remember my name, small wonder you forgot my name, but don't worry about that. My name is Basher Green. Oddly suiting for a bouncer like me, don't you think.” he says and chuckles a little. His happiness was soon gone as he continues: “You know, everything went downhill from the day you went medieval on me. I was on my way to become an athlete. I was in the top tiers in all junior leagues but something changed that day. It was as if my confidence was gone just like that.” he sighed a little and drank some of his ale.
“So because you got a little smacking your confidence was gone and everything went down the drain? That is kinda pathetic,” Short Fuse stated harshly which in turn infuriated Basher visibly.
“Short Fuse, you dare calling me pathetic whilst you aren't even welcome in half the shops and public places here in town because you cannot control your temper? I guess it takes one to know one huh,” the green earth pony replied and sighed in a bit of a melancholic way.
“Hah... you just admitted you're pathetic...” he chanted and smiled widely but his pleasure was short lasted. “Hey, wait a second... you called me pathetic as well you crooked nuzzled foal.” now there were two ponies stating madly at each other only separated by the dirty oaken table between them.
Moments passed and to the two ill tempered ponies nothing seemed to exist except the other one. Their eyes shot lightning at each other until Basher green decided it was enough and took a sip from his drink. Short fuse reacted with a smirk grin and shook his head: “I knew you'd be too scared to actually fight me,” he muttered softly but just not softly enough.
This immediately re-ignited the lingering flame of anger in Basher which put his glass back on the table with such violence it broke spilling all its contents over the table. The table was already dirty and sodden with fat and now it was sodden to boot. “I am not the scared one you miserable angry weak excuse for a sub-pony,” Basher green sneered towards the red pony at the other end of the round table.
For a moment Short fuse was baffled by the insult given by the muscular green pony. “Oh please don't tell me I am a sub-pony (...)”
“Weak excuse for a sub-pony I said,” interrupted Basher.
“I don't care what you called me you half witted fool, if you didn't ruin your last braincell pumping yourself up like that you might have comprehended that I am right and this place is a complete waste of space. Everypony in this town is batshit crazy including... no... especially you Basher. They resent me for seeing through the facades bestowed upon us, blindsided from everything that is wrong in this rotten place living in blissful ignorance... hah, it's always the stupidest that are happy,” Short fuse ranted and got more infuriated over the course of his rant rather than it would relief some of the pressure as in normal ponies. He ended up standing breathing deeply, his eyes nearly crossed from the infuriating rage wreaking havoc within him.
“Blindsided... stupid... ignorance is bliss... hmmhmm,” Basher recited half absent minded losing track of what Short fuse was spewing somewhere along the half due to the blistering speed with which he had commenced his rant. “So... if I got this right, everyone is stupid and you are perfect?” he asked with a load of sarcasm that might just then and there have set the standard for all sarcastic remarks to follow.
“Don't say it like that, but yes, everyone seems to be too stupid to see what is really wrong with this place, everypony is blind I tell you... BLIND,” short fuse spat, wheezed, screeched and grunted.
“Then why are you the only pony who looks like an atrocity and behaves like one too... Hah... you haven't changed since school, you have become worse than ever. You are the scourge upon this world, how can somepony like you ever be allowed into this world? What miserable mistake of evolution are you (…) no, let me rephrase that, what are you actually? I mean, have you ever seen yourself in the mirror?”
As soon as Basher said the last part he realized things were about to get really ugly... well... uglier actually because what had to pass for a conversation was all but pretty. Short Fuse stood perfectly still. Veins at the temple of his head throbbed on the verge of bursting it would seem, his eyes closed to little slits and what little of his eyes that could be seen spat naught but fire, bile, lightning and hatred. With a screech that wasn't in any way suitable for anything living to create Short Fuse jumped over the table to attack the double in size green pony.
Basher saw Short Fuse leaping for him and in a reflex he reared trying to catch the initial blows from the red fury clobbering mercilessly upon him. They was of little use as the relentless fury of strikes kept coming from what seemed to be a horrible, anger fueled sub-pony who had completely foregone everything civil. However Basher was significantly stronger in any normal case than Short fuse he found himself evenly matched here, for every hit he landed, he felt like he got three in return. Short fuse had actually changed into a monster.
It wasn't before long since the racked had attracted some more attention, their yelling and screaming had already attracted enough attention but when they started fighting and actually causing a fair amount of damage. The innkeeper was used to bar fights because it wasn't really the most exquisite of establishments but this was beyond anything he had ever seen. Two ponies shouldn't be able to wreck four tabled in a mere ten seconds but these two somehow managed it, he decided to try and break up the fight and dive right in.
Little did the innkeeper know this wasn't quite the ordinary fight. One was a rage fueled monster and the other one was a pony dedicated to body building so the innkeeper had to bail from the fight as he took too many blows that weren't even aimed at him while the other two continued not even noticing the efforts of the barkeep.
The two fought relentlessly until they both got exhausted and the barkeep had less trouble to break up the fight. Both battered and bruised were evicted from the bar and thrown on the dark streets of Ponyville. They looked at each other abashed and simultaneously sighed deeply.
“This got us no where,” Basher Green stated annoyed and wiped his mouth to remove the trickle of blood emerging from his lip. The innkeeper had told them never to show their faces at that bar again, which made it for Short fuse the last inn to be permanently banned from.
“Oh come on, Now thanks to you you can't even go to this inn anymore, all because of one little fight. If that fool didn't toss us out I would have kicked your flank right between your ears so you could shit from the back of your head,” Short fuse said but it wasn't even near the raw primal fury he showed before.
“Oh cut it out Fuse, I don't care who won or not... as how I see it we both lost this fight,” he stated and sighed deeply. Basher green tried to shift in a more comfortable position which caused him to utter a disgruntled grunt due to the bruisings all over his body. “I know you are melancholic and you can't see the good in anything to save your life, besides yourself... but... in all these years I wonder, did it ever occur to you that perhaps you are invoking all the misery that befalls upon you on yourself?”
“The problem with me? So I just have to adjust to be happy in this cesspool of a town with these ignorant ponies that fail to see all that is wrong?” the red pony asked exasperated and his breathing god more rugged and deep again showing slightly more anger again.
“Before you blow up again Fuse, tell me what exactly you think is wrong with this place... and these ponies,” Basher Green asked. Short Fuse was visibly taken aback by this question and stared blankly for a couple of moments.
After a couple of seconds Short fuse replied: “Well... you know... everything! Ponies are just too blind to see it, I can't explain it... stop asking questions... shut up.” he sounded extremely defensive and evasive here.
“Yea, I see Fuse... you are just annoyed because everything isn't going as you would like it to go, you can't stand to see ponies happy here while you don't like it. You treat everyone like they are less than you, they really won't treat you any better if you keep doing that,” the muscular pony explained to Short fuse.
“And I don't give the slightest about what your opinion is Basher, I know how it is and if you want to be one of those mindless sheep out there, be my guest. But I won't adjust to all the wrongdoing that is done,” Fuse stubbornly stated.
Basher facehooved and sighed deeply slowly getting a nudge from his own temper and patience coming to an end. “So, you don't know what is wrong only that something is wrong, you don't know why you hate other ponies just that you hate them and you don't know what we are all blind to just that we all seemingly are blind to something,” the muscular pony explained as much to himself as to Short Fuse.
“Oh for the love of Celestia, for the first time you talk sense... I knew you would understand how I feel, so how do we change this horrid town so it is a little less atrocious?” Short Fuse asked eagerly.
The green pony once again shook his head. “Fuse, listen to yourself. You are fighting a battle that doesn't exist. And something that doesn't exist can't be won. When you don't know what is wrong, how do you know there is something wrong? You are deluded!” he said tentatively, not wanting to end up in yet another fight.
“Me? Deluded? I think with that one and single word you have described the entire population of his portal to a ring deeper than the hell itself.” he spat refusing to give in the slightest to Basher and his allegations, although it did make him think a little which showed visibly on his face as some of the anger got replaced by doubt instead.
“Did I say something wrong fuse?” he asked in a bit of a taunting manner which was immediately answered by a growl emerging from Fuse. “Hah, I guess finally something came through in that think skull of yours,” he continued and actually grinned a little there.
“Look who is talking about thick skulls, anypony else's head would have been pudding by the punishment I gave yours, somehow your skull seemed to take it all,” he sneered in a hugely failed effort to insult Basher.
Basher tapped his right hoof at his head where he didn't happen to have a bruise or a lump from the clobbering and chuckled a little. “I have never argued Otherwise,” he said and quickly changed serious again. “So, what do we do now?”
“We? What on god's green earth makes you think I want to see you half a second longer than necessary? I mean, you must be a special kind of stupid to think that, or have a severe concussion” Fuse responded in a hostile way towards the muscular pony and spat on the ground in front of him to show is contempt.
“Yes Fuse... We,” he said reluctantly and sighed deeply. “You won't make it on your own, and to be honest neither will I,” Basher said and now Short fuse instantly seemed calm and completely surprised. “Don't look at me like that Fuse, more soon than late you'll be banned from everything here in town, and I am just a dead beat who lost his destined path somewhere down the road.” he admitted and sounded sincere.
Short Fuse shook his head to check if he had just actually heard what he had heard. Instead of more bile rising he felt remarkably calm given the circumstances. “You need me? If you didn't convince me that you had completely lost it, you have now buddy,” he said and doubt colored his face. “one moment you insult me and now you need me, make up your mind,”
“I insult you because that's the only thing you seem to understand, if I talk normally you do naught but insult me as well,” Basher dryly stated and rolled his eyes. “And let's be fair, you need somepony to get a grip on your anger, and I need a purpose,” he said and tiled his head a little to see what Fuse would say to his offering.
“I don't need somepony to keep my anger in check, I am perfectly fine,” the red pony muttered. His body language however spoke an entire different truth. Fuse knew Basher was right but it would be a cold day in hell if he would admit being wrong. Reluctantly after some more evasions Fuse hung his head. “Ugh, at least you are not completely stupid like all these other ponies I guess,”
Basher knew that was as much as he could possibly get from Fuse at the time being. “So, this leaves us with the following question, what are we going to do now?”
“I haven't got the slightest. Before I can pick up any remotely normal life here I need to fix a lot of things, you know you made a good point of me being banned in way too many places, but how do I fix that... and my looks, you are right, I am an abomination, and that's exactly who I've become,” he stated. His anger was gone by now. For the first time since long, perhaps for the first time ever Short Fuse did some reflecting on himself and he didn't quite like the picture forming. “how in the world did we ever end up like this?”
“Two ponies, their lives intertwined at a young age when their paths cross once again at another date, time and place. Both troubled, both under the wind. Rejected by society as we are. For our own respectable reasons we live in the shadows of the happy Ponyville. Amongst the color there is bile that broils, beneath the surface it is fire that burns. For each smile there is a tear that has been shed, for each giggle there is a scream of pain. What else holds the future in store for me?” ~Short Fuse, Journal, entry number 27.