“Red hot Fire Roses,” screamed the 3 fillies as they jumped up and down, as fast as they could, while their friends turned the rope as quickly as possible. “1..2..3…” The fillies kept counting till one of the girls couldn’t keep up and knocked herself and her friends in one fuzzy and giggly heap.
Detangling themselves from each other the fillies dusted each other off and got back to their game. Living in the village of Shady Acres might not be the most exciting place to live, but there were always foals ready to jump rope or play any other game one could think up.
“OK, we did 13 Fire Roses. Who thinks they can do better,” asked one dark pink colored filly. She was one of the oldest students on the playground, and one of the only ones to have her cutie mark, three flowers. Deciding it meant she was good with foals, she often watched the younger foals, while their teacher was busy. She would be leaving soon for Manehatten to go to a preparatory school. Her parents had given her a going away present. A trip to the town’s beauty parlor, where she got her first permanent. To the group of waiting foals, she seemed like a full grown mare. Because of this, most of the foals looked up to her. Especially one of the youngest and smallest foals. A little cream colored filly that acted like the older filly’s shadow.
Just as a group of colts were about to take over the rope, the villages only ambulance barreled down main street toward a number of farms on the outskirts of the village and one other area, Black Molasses Swamp, named for how dark it was and the number of quicksand traps there were, not to mention, the scores of monsters that lived there.
Each colt and filly silently, prayed to Celestia, “Not my farm, not my farm.” With one exception, one filly prayed, “Not the swamp, not the swamp.”
As it passed each farm a colt or filly breathed a sigh of relief and gave a small chuckle, while those still waiting grew more and more tense. Until, it suddenly turned down the road leading to the swamp.
Almost as one, the group turned toward a filly, for she and she alone had been praying for it not to go to the swamp. With her mane and fur mussed up, having been one of the fillies jumping rope, she gave a choking gasp and galloped in the direction of the ambulance. The eldest filly tried to stop her, but realizing she couldn’t or shouldn’t stop her, instead turned towards the watching foals and ushered them to return their games.
The little filly, gasping and stumbling the last few steps paused as she noticed one of the EMP’s (Emergency Medical Pony) hug her mother. Watching her mother sobbing into the unicorns shoulder started the filly to begin walking toward her home, the only home she could remember in the five short years of her life. A tiny cabin set next to the outskirts of Black Molasses Swamp.
Instead of walking to her mother, she trotted toward the ambulance, where she caught the words, “Chimera,” and “nothing we could do”.
She reached the ambulance without anyone noticing her there. Opening the back of the ambulance, the sound of it alerted two of the EMP’s and turning towards her one shouted, “Don’t”, the warning came too late however. She had seen her father. Only it wasn’t her father, it was half of him. Only his back legs and cutie mark were left. Closing her eyes, she breathed deeply and gave a shrill shriek. It was so loud, she couldn’t think. It was so loud her body was shaking. She had to open her eyes. She had to find her mommy.
She opened her eyes and shuddering, saw the face of her mother. The shaking had been her mother trying to wake her up.
“Nightmare honey?” She asked nuzzling her cheek. She blinked and shook her head trying to forget her nightmare and looked around.
They were on a train hundreds of miles from Shady Acres and a year since her father’s death.
“Sorry to wake you, but I thought you’d want to see our new home. The conductor just said we passed a place called “Ponyville”, but if you look to your left, you can see Canterlot. Isn’t it beautiful?”
It was beautiful. The entire city was built on the edge of a cliff, with a shimmering waterfall flowing below it, and right in the middle, Princess Celestia’s castle. Above it the stars twinkled and high above those the moon hung, with the mare in the moon’s face on it. She shivered. She already had had one nightmare, she didn’t need another.
“I guess it’s pretty. But mommy, I wish we didn’t have to leave.” She wiggled closer to her mother, who wrapped her hooves around her.
“Oh honey, we’ve been over this before. We couldn’t stay with my brother forever. He’s the village’s confectionary and there simply wasn’t enough work for two family sweetmakers. Your father’s brother owns several sweet shops in Canterlot. Besides we need a fresh start. We need to start smiling again. Don’t you want to laugh and play? I want to smile again. Don’t you want to smile again? Show me you know how to smile. Alright give me a smile.” She looked up at her mother and gave her a tiny smile. She and her mother touched noses“Well it’s a start.”
They gazed out the window for a few moments in silence. Then she asked a question she’d been wondering about, “Mamma, will uncle Payday like me?”
Her mother paused, as if unsure how to answer. “Well, he’ll learn to like you. After all he hasn’t met you yet.”
Satisfied with her answer, she continued watching the scene outside her windows.
“But I have something nice you can think about. Now that were living in Canterlot I bet you’ll be able to meet your favorite pony.”
“Who?”
“I’ll give you a hint. She has wings, a horn, and a crown.”
“Princess Celestia?!” She looked at her rag doll her mother made in the image of the princess. Giving her doll, “Cele” a squeeze, she turned once more towards the window.
“Maybe, living in Canterlot won’t be so bad after all.”
She didn’t notice her mother’s frown at that comment as the train sped towards their new home.