//------------------------------// // I'm So Bucked // Story: The Child In Me // by Zamairiac //------------------------------// I'm So Bucked My heart was racing so fast that it was beating in my ears. I could feel the steady pulse gain in momentum, faster and faster as Mom's scream made the entire train shudder. Mom? I can't even think of saying anything else… Indeed it was true. Her name wouldn't even leave my lips, for every time I tried, naught escaped but a constant mantra of 'Mom'. I can't worry about that now, I have to hide! Throwing my bit bag under the seat, I jumped onto the table and, flapping my wings for whatever meagre help I could, I began to scale up the wall and onto the ventilation grate. Opening said grate was more than a little difficult, but with adrenaline flowing through my tiny body, I was more than desperate enough to pry it open and crawl inside…waiting. The sound of hoofsteps flowed into the compartment, faintly at first but steadily gaining in momentum. It was only as they neared my particular part of the train that I realized just how forceful each step was. And by step, I mean stomp! Strawwww, she's getting close. Stomp! Stomp! Stomp! What I am going to do if she finds me…wait, how did she even find me in the first place? Stomp! Stomp! Stomp! Think Oliver, Think! Okay she's the princess of the night. Her sister must be the princess of the day, given the sun emblems on her flank. Stomp! Stomp! Stomp! And what does the night have to do with finding me; it's around midday for Faust's sake! Stomp! Stomp! STOMP! What do you do at night? Stargaze, hang out with friends, make love, go to sleep, do…Go to sleep, oh straw! I WENT TO SLEEP! STOMP! STOMP! STOMP! She's the princess of the night; she rules everything in it, including dreams! That must be how she found out where I was, there's no other reasonable explanation. SMASH! The door to my compartment was swiftly blasted apart as Mom entered, steam literally blowing out of her nostrils as she looked the room up and down. "Arcturus!" she called loudly. "Where art thee, we know thou art in here!" Strawwwww! Upon hearing nothing but silence, Mom promptly began to more or less wreck everything as she looked around the room. She looked behind each curtain, and tore my table and chair off the ground, despite them being thoroughly welded into it. Then again this was the mare that stopped a train with only her hooves. I grimaced as Mom picked up my bit bag and sniffed it, only to nod once and put the large contents in her starry mane, where it promptly vanished into nothing. Faust damn it all! Now I have no cash. "We do not know why thou ran away, min son," Mom said suddenly, flying up and opening the suitcase compartment one after the other as she did so. "Perhaps thou art scared of our bond, tis more than okay if this is true, we understand. But none the less…" She suddenly stopped all of what she was doing and turned around, her narrowed and…slitted eyes staring right in my direction as she sniffed the air. "Thou art still coming home with us." She can smell me? What is she, a bloodhound? I turned my head around as quietly as I could so as to see behind me, hoping for some sort of escape. But to my dismay, although there was a clear route in the opposite direction, I also knew that the moment I moved, Mom would easily be able to hear me. Mom, ugh. She's not my…oh nevermind. Think Oliver, there has to be something we can do, there's always an alternative solution. Maybe…hmm, if I'm quick, and if I can find some way to get under the train…yes, yes! This can work! The sudden feeling of dread washed over me, forcing me out of my thoughts and back into reality. I blinked rapidly as I did so, nodding once to myself and then looking up through the grate and… Straight into a pair of slitted eyes. I didn't move, I didn't even breathe. The only sound I could hear was that of Luna's drawn out sniffs. I watched her nostrils flare as she began to peer into the grate, the sound of my heartbeat quickening as she did so. I know it's dark but can't she see me? She is the NIGHT princess after all… Then without any warning…she landed back on her hooves and walked back through what was left of the door, not a mumble or snarl escaping her…Just cold silence. It frightened me. Shaking my head furiously so as to rid it of said fear; I crept towards the grate and carefully pushed it open, before cautiously sliding down the wall and onto the now quite shaky table. Though as I looked around, I was extremely thankful to find myself completely alone. Well, almost thankful in any case. There was something…else within me that disagreed with my joy, something that cried out for- None of that Oliver. Just ignore it and get on with the plan. We can work out the money issue later on. Nodding once again, I hopped off the table and slowly began to traverse throughout the train. As I did so, I noticed that any of the previous passengers were long gone. Though given that were had been stopped by a mass group of lush hillside, the logical answer was that they had run off of the train and as far away from Mom as they could. Not that I blamed them, I saw the look on her face when she was forcing the train to stop. As I continued to walk through the train, my luck finally came through in the reveal of what appeared to be a trap door, most likely leading, as I predicted earlier, underneath the train itself. I yawned lightly as I made my way over to it, grasping it with my tiny hooves as I prepared to pull… Only to suddenly find my eyes drooping of their own accord, a sudden wave of exhaustion having forced itself over my body. Why am I…so…tired…Because I'm a…child…maybe? For a split second, but a moment I allowed my eyes to close. I felt consciousness itself rapidly begin to leave me as I swayed, my will to fight it deteriorating with every second. Stomp! Stomp! Stomp! Stomp! A very quick flurry of hoofsteps suddenly reached my ears, the sound of them getting louder and louder as they got nearer and nearer. But what did it matter, I knew who it was and I welcomed her…I was so tired…and I had…no…idea…why… "Mom…my…" I uttered quietly, the word leaving my lips of its own will. … WAKE UP! Adrenaline filled my tiny body in an instant, causing my eyes to snap open. My otherwise lax hooves gripped the trapdoor and pulled as hard as they could, my breath becoming strained as I…pulled it from its hinges. … Well, Mom did stop a train with only her hooves. The plan to hide under the train was null and void now. Having it torn apart would only give away my position…or…OR maybe suggest that I had in fact not hid under the train but instead had ran away. Without wasting any more time, I threw the door away and quickly dived beneath a seat, waiting in fear for the dark blue hooves to grace my vision. STOMP! And grace it they did, as they suddenly appeared right in front of me, one of them lifting slightly before stomping on the ground in utter despair. "NO, FAUST CURSE THEE LUNA!" she screamed…to herself? "Thou were too slow, and now thy son is even further away from thee!" …Was it wrong that I felt really bad for making her so upset? No…no it is not. This mare is nuts, just keep quiet and get going once she's gone. Thankfully I didn't have to wait long, for Mom all but stormed out of the train…crying and whimpering as she did so. Ignore her, let's go. And so I did, climbing out from under the chair before swiftly jumping onto the tracks. It only took me a few more minutes of careful sneaking before I judged it safe enough to wander in plain sight. Though as I did so… Oh…buck! There was nothing but countryside. Not a city, or town, or village in site. Nothing but lush hills, large trees and the never ending stench of…something foul. Even the passengers were nowhere to be found. And as the sudden spittle of rain began to make itself known, a very daunting realization hit me. Me and my suddenly quite noticeable childlike instincts. I was alone.