"Don’t look, don't look, don’t look, don't look…"
Adam looked back. The guard was mere inches from him.
"Don’t look, don't look, don’t look, don't look!”
Adam doubled his efforts, somehow managing to outrun the trained pegasus.
Adam hoped that the punch would at least daze the guard for a few minutes. Unfortunately, that was not the case, as it merely stunned him. The human turned colt plowed through the unknown streets filled with other ponies. The fact that he was not in his normal body but probably not in his world spurred the colt further.
"Out of my way!"
He yelled as he just barely dodged another patrol of guards. His panic reached a critical mass as more adrenaline got pumped into his blood stream. His heart beat like crazy and he felt as if time slowed down, making him all too aware of his new surrounding. Everywhere he looked he saw ponies. Ponies selling stuff at various stands, ponies conversing with other ponies in restaurants, even ponies constructing a building.
Everywhere, it was just ponies.
"After him!" he heard someone call from behind him.
And against his better judgment, Adam looked back again...
...To see an entire squad of guards after him.
"Oh shit… Run like a motherfucker!"
And the game of cat and mouse had begun anew.
Adam slowly felt his aching muscles and knew that he couldn't rely on the adrenaline forever. He needed a plan. He needed a miracle. He needed…
A plank.
In front of him, Adam saw a stray plank lying on the street near a construction site. He didn't even stop to pick the plank up, but rather craned his neck down and grabbed it with his mouth, continuing to run. He was then about to execute his second phase of his flimsy plan as he ducked into a nearby alley.
He took a gulp of air and felt his throat go dry from the constant rush of dust down his throat, but he couldn't get distracted now. Adam waited patiently until he could hear the guards. And with a flick of his neck…
He slammed the plank straight to their heads.
Adam dared not open his eyes. Or mouth. Or his entire body for that matter. He was firmly rooted into place.
It wasn't until he heard numerous groans that he opened one eye.
There, near the entrance to the alley, were half a dozen guards lying motionless. Adam slowly exited the alley and examined his work. There was a distinct red mark right between the guards' eyes, the only part unprotected by their helmets.
"Ooh… that looks nasty…" Adam commented, feeling only slightly bad for causing harm to those guards.
Unfortunately, Adam could detect more guards coming from the distance and groaned inwardly for the upcoming marathon.
"Take some painkillers for this headache mates," he quickly said before bolting to a random direction.
During his mad dash, Adam felt something warm filling his mouth. He parted his lips slightly and a steady stream of blood soiled the paved walkway beneath him.
"Fucking great. Stupid plank, cutting me in the mouth," Adam ranted as he painfully spat splinters of wood, cursing all the way...
'Make it stop...' Celestia silently begged. Barely two hours had passed since the start of the day court and already Celestia felt bored out of her mind. The nobles just kept complaining. They won’t. Stop. Complaining.
Celestia felt a strong urge to facehoof each time a noble opened his mouth. Their petty reasons were not Celestia's concerns in the least. Each selfish claim made Luna's insistence on bringing back death penalties seem more and more tempting.
On the inside, Celestia was screaming for this torment to end. On the outside though, she remained stoic and regal. The perfect princess…
Celestia was snapped out of her thoughts when she spotted a maid slowly making her way towards one of the guards and whisper something in his ear. In a few seconds, the guard shifted his expression from confused, to bemused, to mild amusement, and finally, seriousness.
He nodded sharply and followed the maid through a side entrance.
Celestia turned her attention back to the noble. He kept talking with closed eyes and nose high up in the air, his obvious wig shone with care and his face was akin to a pig, considering the hefty amount of fat he was supporting. He was completely oblivious to the fact that the princess wasn't even paying attention to him. It was another thing that annoyed Celestia. Nobles never seemed to notice what's happening right under their noses, unless it affects their bank accounts, of course.
"-and that's my honest opinion, wouldn't you agree, princess?"
Uh oh… the noble's word went completely over Celestia's head, and now she was trapped. On one hoof, she could agree, and potentially give the 'go ahead' signal to something immoral and unjust. And on the other hoof, she could disagree and avoid the potential disaster, at the cost of her credibility.
"W-Well," she began "In my opinion-"
"Princess!" came a guard running from his post. He bowed when he reached the throne. "I'm sorry for interrupting but there is a… peculiar case that requires your presence."
"And what, pray tell, is so important that you just had to interrupt a very important meeting?" asked the noble, annoyed that his precious time with the princess is apparently cut short.
"I'm sorry sir but this information is for the princess' ears only," the guard replied.
With an internal grin, Celestia stood from her throne and approached the guard. Without saying a word, the guard bowed before he promptly stood up and marched towards the exit with the princess in tow.
Celestia turned her neck and addressed the noble with a fake smile. "I'm sorry for this mild inconvenience. Please feel free to petition your offer so that I may have a better look at it."
Before he could reply, Celestia and the guard were already gone.
"So, what this is all about? I rarely leave the day court for emergencies," said the princess, somewhat relieved for this break in monotony. It wasn't until the two were half way towards the interrogation chamber that the guard finally spoke.
"Well princess, you see… We… We found a colt…"
Celestia, being the logical princess that she is, discovered that her eye brow can reach a lot higher than what she thought possible.
"A colt?" Her tone was dead of any emotion. "You pulled me from a day court to tell me that you found… a colt?"
The guard started to sweat. He could feel Celestia's gaze on the back of his head. Again, he was silent until they could see the interrogation chamber's doors that he opened his mouth.
"I know it sounds weird princess, but that colt just caused us a lot of trouble. He knocked out six guards and caused a lot of mayhem across the city. We managed to catch him, but he refuses to cooperate."
Celestia pondered on the guard's words for a moment. It is unusual for a colt to be found in the city of Canterlot all alone. But knocking out cold six of Equestria's finest and causing 'Mayhem'? It sounded more and more surreal by the second. Though the thing that confused the princess is why the guards thought it was a good idea to involve her? Surely they can handle only one colt, right?
At that moment, the door to the interrogation chamber flung open and out came a sickly looking guard.
"Come back here you twat! I will cut your tail off and shove in up your ass, and then I will gouge out your eyes and shove them down your throat!" came a childish scream from within the chamber before the green looking guard could shut the door.
"See what I mean princess?" said the guard who led Celestia, though her eyes were locked on the other guard. He looked like he was about to vomit.
"I've never, in all my life of service, heard so many foul words spoken. Oh… I feel sick." The other guard clutched his mid-section and pushed his back against the wall.
"This is indeed quite the unusual case," Celestia finally said. She then turned her attention from the sick guard to the interrogation door. She took a deep breath and proceeded to enter the interrogation chamber, closely followed by the still functioning guard.
As she entered the brightly lit room, Celestia saw the cause of this so called 'Mayhem'. It was indeed a colt. A rather young colt at that, barely eight or nine by the looks of it.
The colt, on his part, either didn't noticed Celestia, or he was simply ignoring her. Either way, his attention was solely focused on the chains bound to his hooves. He continuously smacked them against the table for no avail, even as the chains dug into his hooves and burned his skin.
"Ahem…"
The colt raised his head from the chains and focused his attention on Celestia. His face was a mix of bloody murder and never-ending fear. He quickly looked back down and tried even harder to set himself free, even going as far as to draw some blood from all the scraping.
"Please stop that, you're going to hurt yourself if you keep doing that," Celestia pleaded. It was hard to see such a young colt so frightened. She didn't know the whole story, but even so, chaining a colt that young was wrong. She tried to step forward in order to calm the frightened colt, only for him to shout at her.
"Stay back! Don’t come any closer or I swear I’ll rip you limb from limb!"
The guard to Celestia's side stepped forward and glared at the colt.
"Watch your mouth runt. You will not speak to the princess like that, you hear!"
"Screw you motherfucker!" The colt shouted, lifting his hoof at him "I don’t have hands, but if I did, I would give you the finger!" he croaked, his voice became raspy and pained. It that moment, Celestia saw the small trail of dried blood from the corners of his mouth.
"I'll handle this," Celestia said to the guard, "just leave us alone."
The guard was about to protest but quickly thought better of it, seeing as how Celestia was looking at him, daring him to oppose her. He bowed deeply and left the room, not before sending one last seething look at the colt.
Once the door was closed, Celestia let a small sigh escape her mouth. She could hear the colt resuming his attempts to free himself and cringed each time the chains dug deeper into his flesh.
"Please stop," Celestia pleaded again, though this time, it was more for her sanity than for the colt. The colt stopped his thrashing and looked into Celestia's eyes. She could see the fear welling inside the colt, he was petrified, and it caused Celestia's heart to ache . She never wanted any of her subjects to be afraid of her, and that's why she vowed to be the best princess. Even if it means having day courts.
"You're hurt," Celestia observed, trying to assess just how wounded the colt really was. His mane was ruffled and his coat was unkempt. There had been signs of injuries inside of the mouth cavity, and of course his hooves were bruised as well.
"Well aren't you the smart one," chided the colt. "And here I thought my hooves were dense, but your head is clearly the thickest."
Ignoring the insult, Celestia approached the colt again -much to his dismay- and sat down near him.
"I can help you get better, I promise I won't do anything bad to you, but you've got to trust me."
"And why should I, you don't exactly keep a hospitable company!"
Celestia cringed "I don't know the full story yet, but I'm sorry in advance if any of my guards hurt you. As for myself, you're right, you have no reason to trust me, but if you will, I will gladly help you."
“No, j-just stay away from me you- you freak! I am perfectly capable on my own.”
“A city such as Canterlot is the last place for a young colt such as you. Let me help you, let me keep you safe. You are hurt and afraid, and as princess of the land it is my duty to help those who can’t help themselves.”
“Are you deaf! I told you I don’t need fucking help. Just let. Me. Go!” The colt thrashed in his bindings once more. Blood started to cover the chains as the colt tried to break himself free.
Celestia couldn't take it anymore as she physically stopped the colt from moving, using her own hooves to gently, but firmly keep him in place.
“Stop!” She commanded “Listen to me young one, you’re not thinking straight. We've found you wondering in the city with no parents or responsible adult by your side. You punched seven soldiers on duty; a serious crime for which you could be tried, were you any older. The best thing for you to do is stay for a while in the castle while I sort things out. If somepony is out there looking for you they will probably inform the guard, which they in turn come to me.
“I saw many things in my rule young one, horrible things. But seeing somepony as young as you hurting himself so readily, it’s just too much for me. Will you calm down and let me help you now? I implore of you, I can’t bear to see such a young soul suffering.”
The colt didn't say anything for a long time. Instead, he chose to look deep into Celestia's eyes, trying to detect any signs of malice or ill intent. Finding nothing, the colt lowered his head.
"I'm tired…" he croaked "Please… help me…"
Celestia saw a few tears fall from his eyes and felt something flutter in her heart. She quickly closed her eyes and channeled a small amount of magic into her horn.
"Now, this may hurt a little…"
Celestia came closer to the young colt and gently touched his horn with hers. The colt surprisingly stayed still with the occasional sniff. The bruises along his body healed and the chains that ensnared him came off as well.
In the midst of all this, Celestia wrapped her wings protectively around the colt in an attempt to sooth him. Once the spell was over, she still held the colt in her feathery hold, occasionally stroking his back with a hoof.
"What's your name, young one?"
"Adam… *sniff* my name is Adam…"