Music is a funny thing. For as long as life has existed
Fraid Script paused his typing. Was that really what he wanted to write? No, he couldn't come up with a way to conclude that thought, and so he backspaced out of it and started again.
Many philosophers have stated the power of the pen in reference to the sword. I like to think that it's not the pen in itself, but the spoken word that holds true power. An odd fact is that sound can carry a much more threatening...
'Threatening'? Maybe that wasn't the right word.
An odd fact is that sound can carry a much more tangible presence to it, making words an incredible weapon, even with the sword considered. This is proven further by the almost political potential of music, and how
Again, the sentence was left unconcluded, but this time not because of a spur of writer's block. It was at this point when Fraid Script's sister, Creed stepped into the room. At first glance, one couldn't tell that they were even related. While Fraid's coat was a bright cyan and his eyes were not far off, all with a black mane, his sister was a completely different story. Creed's fur was jet black, and her mane was a bright pink. Her eyes were no less out of place in the family tree, being a magenta that matched one of her darker highlights. The only similarity they really shared was that they were both pegasi.
Seeing his younger sister trot in reminded him of the situation they were in, not to mention the noise that he'd successfully blocked out until now. The two of them were currently on a train to Maneton, a town not too Manehattan. Though the two were similar in both name and locale, it was said that Maneton was much smaller, not to mention having a lower crime rate.
The reason they were heading there however, was not for some road trip or pleasure cruise. Their parents had been arguing nonstop over that past few months, and it had reached a climax the night before. Fraid knew they were going to split up after that, and didn’t give them the chance to argue for custody. Rather, he spared himself and his sister the fate of being caught in that little firefight and hopped a train out of town. Naturally, Maneton was his first choice, as he knew someone else who’d moved there a while back. Hopefully, his old friend wouldn’t have forgotten him over the years.
“What are you cooped up in here?” Creed asked, spotting him with his laptop. “They’ve got pancakes in the breakfast cart!” Fraid couldn’t help but smile at that. Even in a situation such as this, where he was resorting to writing essays to keep his mind off of things, she was just her cheerful old self, more concerned with his lack of pancake consumption than anything else. Her impenetrable cheer was one of the reasons he was so willing to protect her- There was no way he’d let failing parents ruin something that innocent.
Wait, pancakes? Breakfast? Fraid set his device to the side and slipped off of his bed, trotting over to the window, pulling the blinds to peek outside. Sure enough, Celestia’s sun was well above the horizon. Before he could question how he’d missed an entire night while fiddling with his computer, his adamant stomach cut him off, demanding some sort of substance.
“Alright, I’ll be out in a sec,” he conceded, returning to his computer. “Just let me save this.” One click and the ‘save as’ window was open. He brought his hooves to the keyboard before realizing…
What am I gonna name this?
A solid ten seconds of absolutely nothing later and Fraid decided that it wasn’t important enough. He mashed a few keys down, titling the document a tasteful ‘yguvjnmh’ before closing the device and setting it aside. “Pancakes it is!” he declared. Even if it was just to another train car, he did need to get out.
SEVERAL HOURS LATER
“…Well, here we are.”
Fraid took another look at the address he’d scribbled down. Though his friend hadn’t actually posted on Muzzlebook in the longest time, he’d been kind enough to update his bio as he moved through at least four different residences in three years. The most recent update stated that this was his home, and he never knew his friend as a liar, so this was what he’d sought out, luggage and sister in tow.
The building before him was… Well, humble was one word that came to mind. It was a two-part townhouse crammed in between two large apartment buildings. One residence was stacked on top of the other, and the Muzzlebook page said the bottom belonged to his friend. Letting Creed rest by the sidewalk, Fraid stepped up to the door, raising a hoof to knock on the oak that sealed the entrance.
It took a moment to get a response, and another for it to become significant. It was slow, sluggish, the pony on the other side obviously not having expected a visitor. Eventually, the door was unlatched and pulled open, though only the slightest bit. Through the small opening, he could see a glimpse of a white muzzle, and a single gray eye.
All was silent for a few moments, that is until that eye went wide with unmistakable surprise and the pony on the other side swung the door open, all apprehension forgotten.
“Fraid!?”
“Charlie?”
“The one and only.”
“You look like-“
“Crap. I know.” For the first time that Fraid could remember, Charlie looked distressed, something he was not used to seeing. When the two had met years before, the white Pegasus had been that invincible ‘cool colt’ that nopony could touch if he didn’t want them to. He’d been the big deal back then, and everypony saw him as the gangster of the school, and he reveled in the popularity. Now, he seemed disheveled. Broken. Much less confident.
But that was something for later, apparently, and Charlie quickly ushered the two refugees inside. “Now before you complain about the mess or break out some ‘old times’ speech, you get to tell me a few things,” he started, not giving Fraid the chance to speak. “First, why are you here? Second, how did you get here, and third, why is she here? You know she hates me!”
“First, she doesn’t hate you. I made that up so you’d stop bragging about how you were going to hit on her.” Fraid rolled his eyes, a bit disappointed that Charlie still believed that one. “As for how and why I’m here… Well, you called it. Parents got angry at each other again, and this time it didn’t go away. I didn’t want Creed to get caught up in a custody battle, so I brought us here.” He made sure to drop his voice as he went over that last part, not wanting his sister to know how much this was about her.
Charlie paused, obviously considering the situation he was placed in. “You’re our only option,” Fraid insisted, not wanted his friend to even think about rejecting them here. Just a glance around the room was enough to see that he was accustomed to a solo lifestyle, so adjusting might not be something he wanted to do. “We don’t have any other connections, and even if we did, I wouldn’t trust them as much as I do you. Besides, you kept saying you wished we could come with you, so… Here we are.”
The white Pegasus shook his head. “Look, man, I wanna help you out here, and if I had the choice, there’s no way I’d leave you hangin’, but I’m not really... stable. Financially.” The two hung their heads, facing the reality of the situation. Coming out here was a terrible idea, Fraid realized. How could he have assumed such a reckless pony would be prepared for this kind of thing? The way things were, it looked like the last of their money would have to go toward getting a train back to manehattan… Then they’d have to explain this to their parents, who’d surely divorce anyway, then they’d likely be split up among them, and-
“Wait.”
The two turned their heads at the sound of Creed’s voice. The Pegasus was searching through one of the pockets of her luggage bag, searching for something. Eventually, she pulled out a shining coin, tossing it toward the others. Fraid caught it between his hooves, inspecting the object closer up. “Is that silver?” Charlie asked, trying to get a look. “No… It’s platinum.” Fraid surprised himself with the conclusion, but that was what the markings on the bit indicated. “Creed, where’d you get this?”
“You think Mom married Father for his personality? He literally slept on thousands of the things!” she clarified. “Mom’s been taking from the safe under the bed for I-don’t-know-how-long. Well, one of them. The ‘inheritance’ one. I took the liberty of taking the rest of it before she could cheat us all out.” Fraid couldn’t help but hate both of his parents with this new revelation up in the air His father was apparently blessed bit-wise, his mother was a liar and a thief, and his sister, the naïve pony who he’d come to think of as significantly less intelligent, was more educated about the situation than he was…
…And he couldn’t be happier to have her with him.
He practically slammed the bit into Charlie’s hooves before trotting over and pulling his sister into a hug. He’d definitely owe her a milkshake after this. Not that he’d be paying for it, of course. “Now that we’ve got the ‘bits’ thing taken care of,” he continued once he’d broken his little moment, “Maybe you’ll change your mind..?” Fraid raised a brow at his friend, who was still looking over the bit in disbelief. Eventually, the Pegasus raised his head, a giddy smile on his face.
“I think your sister just saved both of us, dude!”