1:30
Lyrical was still frozen and on the floor, giving up on ever deciding to move. He started wondering how Shadow Breeze was doing. Still a little bit pissed about not being able to move, he was thinking of multiple ways on how to exact revenge on his grey feathered friend. Lyrical was worried that Rarity would never come back, so he did what any stallion would do when locked up in a girly boutique not able to move their legs and can only move their eyes and mouth.
Sleep.
"You know what? Buck it. The amount of waiting is too damn high! I'm just gunna sleep here on this floor." Lyrical said. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He could feel the relaxation quickly taking over his body as he exhaled. All the worrying about telling Rarity about his Bro Mark washed away, along with his fear of being 'naked'. All was quiet throughout the boutique, not a single mouse made an amount of noise. It was relaxing to Lyrical. Nothing could mess up this total amount of peace and quiet.
*CRASH!!*
*SLAM!!*
*CLIP-CLOP-CLIP-CLOP!!!*
Lyrical opened his eyes. The universe could be a harsh mistress at times. Rarity, along with five other mares and his ice black maned friend stood there. Rainbow Dash grinned, Twilight raised a brow, Applejack furrowed her brows, Pinkie Pie hopped in place, obviously not sure what was going on but who cares? She's Pinkie Pie! Fluttershy hid behind her mane and Rarity had a devious smile on her face. Lyrical moved his pupils to Shadow Breeze, whose wings were being strapped down by rope. He had a sad and defeated look in his eye. Lyrical knew what was going on but he had one special matter to attend to.
".....You bring the REST OF YOUR FRIENDS!? HAVE YOU NO MERCY RARITY!? I'M NAKED FOR LUNA'S SAKE!!" He shouted. All the faces raised a brow, except for Rarity and Shadow Breeze. Their only response was a face to the hoof, making a slapping sound. Shadow Breeze ran his hoof down his face sighing. He walked up to his frozen friend and shook his head.
"Again, we're PONIES. We're ALWAYS NAKED." He said slowly. Lyrical took a few seconds for it to sink in and furrowed his brows. "Shadow do me a favor."
"What up?" Shadow said. Lyrical looked down with his eyes at his lower body.
"I want you to take my left foreleg, bend it at a 90 degree angle, and place my hoof on my face." Lyrical said very sternly. Shadow sighed. Rarity told him and Applejack what had happened with him. Doing what he was told, he placed Lyrical's hoof on his face, making a slapping sound.
"You good?" Shadow said. Lyrical grunted. "Yea. Good."
Rarity released Lyrical with an unfreeze magic spell, then turning around to her friends. "I called you all here because I would like to discuss Lyrical's cutie mark. He seems to be upset about it." She turned back around, only to see both stallions bolting out the door. Rarity sighed. "Dash? Applejack? Do you mind bringing back Shadow and Lyrical?"
The mares nodded with a grin. They bolted out the door, already bringing back the two bro's. "I do not want to use the spell again, Lyrical." Rarity continued. Applejack and Rainbow Dash blocked the door. Pinkie sat on Rarity's dramatic couch, eating some popcorn. Lyrical sighed in defeat. He and Shadow stood in front of all the six other mares, clearing their throats.
"We don't want to explain how we got our marks." Lyrical started.
"We just think it's a little too dark to tell you girls. This town is too innocent for the kind of lives we’ve had." Shadow continued.
Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash were not even phased by this. Twilight stood straight, ready to learn more about them. Pinkie still wore Lyrical's blue hoodie, though she was a little bit more interested in his hoodie than what was going on. Even Fluttershy popped out of her mane a little. Shadow and Lyrical gave each other a nervous glance.
"Before we start, do any of you know where Detrot is located?" Lyrical said. All the mares shook their heads. "It's only a day away from here surprisingly." Shadow continued. Pinkie raised her hoof. "Um… yea Pinkie?"
"Lyrical do you want this hoodie back? I really like it!" She said gleefully. Lyrical got a little red but smiled at the pink mare. "Nah, it's cool Pinkie, you can keep it."
The other mares raised a brow and, of course, Dash grinned. "Why did you give her your hoodie Lyric? Is there something special behind it?" The other mares caught on this little act as well, but only Fluttershy was confused. Red faced, Lyrical ignored Rainbow's comment, proceeding with where he started.
"Detrot. Let me just give you a little history about it." He began.
"Twenty years ago, it was a beautiful city. The ponies were nice, the air was fresh, and business? Well, it was booming. You see, Detrot was known for making trains. They were fast, they were strong, and best of all, they were Detrot made." Twilight's eyes widened in wonder. She wished she brought her quills and scrolls. Lyrical stared up into the ceiling smiling. Shadow did the same.
"...But this was twenty years ago." The mares looked at Lyrical's sudden change of expression. The warm smile was now washed away by an angry scowl and sad frown. Shadow, just as Lyrical, did the same.
"Over time, the city changed. Fast. Eventually, ponies started building other trains in other companies. Detrot was the only city where you could buy trains, train tracks, and other objects needed for a working train. Soon, ponies, diamond dogs and even griffons stopped coming. Ten years later you know what happened?" Lyrical asked. All the other mares shook their heads yet again. Shadow looked down at the ground. Lyrical closed his eyes, trying not to stare at the ponies with anger in his eyes.
"Crime." They both said in unison. The mares gasped, as expected from them. Lyrical opened his eyes slowly.
"And do you know what happens when crime starts?" Lyrical said.
"Fights?" Fluttershy squeaked.
"Poverty?" Rarity said.
"Hunger?" Pinkie said. Her hair was slightly deflated. Lyrical and Shadow noticed this, but said nothing.
"Betrayal?" Rainbow Dash said, clenching her teeth.
"Lies." Applejack said. She was as angry as Lyrical and Shadow were, though she remained calm.
Both stallions looked towards Twilight. "Yes Twilight. Even loneliness." She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. Shadow and Lyrical took one last look at the innocent ponies. Shadow could feel tears swelling up in his eyes. Lyrical cleared his throat. He was also not handling this situation very well.
"Killing." Lyrical muttered. Twilight's ears perked up and her eyes widened in shock. Fluttershy was already on the verge of crying, so Applejack and Rainbow tried to calm her down. Pinkie Pie's mane was completely flat. She sat on her haunches, her blue hoodie turned into a dark blue due to her tears. She whimpered, clearly not happy with the thought of anypony not eating. Rarity cleared her throat.
"Lyrical, Shadow, we understand now that this is a little too dark to continue and we would like to-"
"No." Lyrical and Shadow said. The male unicorn looked up at the mares, his eyes were red. "We need to get this off of our chests, Rarity. Shadow, you wanna go first?" The male pegasus nodded his head. "Yea, it’s not good to keep emotions bottled up… right?" Shadow's voice cracked. He looked at Lyrical, eyes red with years of pain and anger at their city. He took a deep breath.
"It all started when I was about 13 at the time...."
Southwest Detrot.
Night time.
My dad and I were walking to our house in the night time. Luna's moon and stars guided our way back home. Our house was only two blocks away, so it wasn't that far. We just left the batting cage, I hoped that then and there i would have found my bro mark.
Shadow looked down on the ground, his head hung in shame. He had small tears escaping his closed eyes as he walked home next to his father. Shadow tried earning his cutie mark at hoofball, but just like the C.M.C., he did not succeed. His father, Grey Snow was a grey pegasus, with an ice blue mane and brown eyes, just like Shadow Breeze. Grey looked down at his sniffling son. "You know Breeze, I got my cutie mark when I was just 15" he said.
Shadow looked up at his dad. "You’re just saying that to make me feel better" Shadow muttered. Grey smiled and rustled his son's mane with his hoof. He stopped in the middle of walking, Shadow did the same.
"I'm being honest with you Shadow, when the time comes, you'll know when you got your cutie mark. You see this?" Grey pointed at his cutie mark. It was a snow colored dove, with the background of a blue heart. "I got this when I had to stallion up and protect your mother. She was being bullied in flight school for not being able to fly very fast, thanks to her right wing. She had to take it slow at times so the bones wouldn't break. This made her an easy target for them jerks."
My dad told me how he defended my mom. Three bullies came up to her and started calling her names. He grew tired of it and so he socked the biggest one in the face. Drawing a little blood out of the big jerk, who got mad and charged at my dad, who was smart too. He fell through the cloud and brought down the attacker by his hooves. The were fighting with their hooves, free falling. They weren't that far from the ground, so my dad flipped him over to his back and brought him down onto the brown, hard dirt. My dad stood on all four of his hooves, scowling at the pegasus that tried to hurt my mom. He flew back to my mom, and she gave him a kiss on the cheek, flushing his face red. That's how he got his cutie mark, by defending the ones he loved and cared for.
Grey Snow finished telling his son how he got his mark. Shadow's eyes went wide, astonished by his father's bravery. "Did you really do all of that dad?" Grey smirked. "Sure did. But my point is, Shadow, that it takes time for things like this to happen. Who knows? Maybe you can get your cutie mark at this moment."
My dad had no idea how right he was.
As they walk by an abandoned house, Grey heard somepony's voice.
"Help me." It came from the darkness of the abandoned house. Shadow tilted his head. "Dad, are we gunna leave him like that?" He said.
"No." Grey said, very seriously. He flew straight into the house.
I stayed in front of the house for what seemed like hours. Finally, I decided to go check up on my dad and the moaning pony.
Shadow walked into the abandoned house. Everything was dark. He couldn't see a thing. Shadow was a little scared, but kept his ground.
"Dad? Where are y-"
*CRASH!*
Shadow looked to his left and found a stallion wearing a black hoodie and a smiley face mask on him. Ironically, his cutie mark was a smiley face. He was wrestling with his father, both of them throwing punch after punch. Grey had enough time to push him out of the way.
"SHADOW!? GET OUT NO-"
*SHING!*
Grey stopped at mid sentence. The Smiley Pony pulled out a rusty knife and slashed the air with force. Grey Snow was dodging every move Smiley Pony did. He missed his third slashing, allowing Grey to buck him in the face. The attacking pony stumbled backwards into Shadow. The colt fell to the wooden floor with a loud thud. He tried getting up, but to his horror, the Smiley Pony was already up first. This time however, he was facing Shadow's direction instead of Grey's.
I couldn't see his eyes. All I saw were black dots, a yellow plastic mask with a fake friendly smile covered in dried blood. He looked down at me, I could've sworn I saw the corners of his mask grow wider. He pulled out his rusty knife and then-
Shadow waited for his life to end so quickly, but when he opened his eyes, his voice started to cringe and stutter.
"D-Dad?" Grey stood in front of his fallen son. He turned around, and in his eyes only said two words.
"I'm sorry." He said. Smiley Pony pulled out the blade and stabbed him once more.
Again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
Satisfied, Smiley Pony grabbed Grey's lifeless body, pulled out 27 bits, and threw his body in a corner.
What I had witnessed scarred me for the rest of my life. My own father died saving my life. That sick smiley masked pony stabbed him repeatedly. I ran towards my father’s lifeless body. His chest and sides were covered in blood, and the floor he was laying on already was drenched in the color red. I cried, sad and angry at that sick bastard that killed my dad.
Shadow cried in front of all the other mares. Lyrical placed a hoof over his friend's shoulder, crying as well. They both looked around the room. Rarity's eyes were filled with shock and disgust. Pinkie's eyes were red from crying, her hair still straight. Applejack looked like she was going to be sick, while Rainbow Dash wiped some tears out of her eyes. Behind her mane, Fluttershy was crying. Twilight decided to speak.
"Why...Why would anypony do this?" She asked. Shadow looked up at her.
"For money."
Lyrical noticed how uncomfortable Shadow was, so he decided it was best for him to finish it.
"Shadow, go sit down next to Pinkie, I'll tell the rest from here." With a nod, the male pegasus rushed his way towards the pink mare, embracing her in a big hug. They both sobbed. Lyrical took a deep breath and continued.