If Angels once walked these lands, then certainly, wherever they went, they still watch over these ponies. Only when they need a new Angel to help, do they take a pony from this world. Only when the pony has passed some life-long test to prove themselves worthy, do they take a pony from this world.
Angels in this world might not have been beautiful creatures with golden halos and wide-spanning pearly feathered wings. They might have been completely average creatures. They might even have been humans, curiously finding their way across time and space only to end up in this world. They might have even been ponies themselves.
Angels, I know, can be anyone, big or small, extraordinary or average. They can be anyone, so long as they succeed in making another happy, so long as they succeed in making others smile.
Speck is my Angel, and I am hers.
"Excuse me. Are you going to sit around moping all day, or join the party?" I look up to find a curious little bat-pony staring up at me. I take a moment to look around.
In the small clearing where Speck's parents now lay together, a dozen or so bat-ponies frolic and dance. It's a small gathering, but the ponies set a table up with drinks and snacks. There are a few games they play, but they have fun. These ponies have literally put the 'fun' in funeral.
I pick Speck out of the crowd. She's smiling and dancing. She looks happy, but I think it's just because of what's going on. She was upset yesterday when we laid her mother to rest. She cried all day, nearly non-stop. She hardly ate anything, and hardly slept. It's been so hard getting her up in the mornings, and getting her to do anything.
Today, she's doing better, but I have a feeling that, once this party is over, she'll go back to being miserable.
"I think I'll wait. Where I'm from, we don't usually do this kind of thing for those who have passed."
"Neither do most ponies." The mare turns from me and returns to the festivities. I would be more than happy to join in, under other circumstances. However, with a fresh plot of dirt and a brand new grave-marker sitting in front of me, I feel uncomfortable with the notion. It is better left to Speck to handle her cultural things.
I shift my gaze to the grave-markers. Angel Tear now rests beside her late husband. A winged teardrop is etched into the stone, her name etched under that, with a small epitaph underneath.
"A loving wife, a caring mother, and a vigilant guardian. An Angel, if they ever walked these lands."
I promised her I would protect Speck, and I will; even if it costs me my life.
The earth beneath me starts to quake, and I feel my heart sink out of fear. I look up in an attempt to find Speck, to figure out where to run to grab her and get out of dodge. Instead of finding any actual danger, I just find a herd of bat-ponies running toward me. Before I can react, they are upon me. Speck, and all of these ponies that knew her mother, hold onto me. They all hug me, most likely to get me to cheer up.
"Anon." A smiling, positively cheerful Speck climbs on top of the pony-pile and presses her nose to mine. "Quit moping and come play."
"Will you get off of me?"
"No!" Every single bat-ponies shouts, nearly deafening me.
"Well, I don't suppose I'll be able to run around and play if I can't move." All dozen or so pairs of eyes lock onto me, nearly at the same time. They quickly scramble off of me, save for Speck. When I look at her, all I can think of is the fortune teller, and what she said. I hug Speck as tight as I can as she struggles to escape.
I let her go, and she bounces back a few feet from me. I catch her eyes, and for a brief moment, I can see all of the pain in her heart. But she smiles.
Speck is a strong mare. Much stronger than I will ever be.
She tilts her head as I rise to my feet. The bat-ponies just watch on as I chase Speck. After a while, they join in, and we play a massive game of tag throughout the forest.
It lasts until the late afternoon, when nearly everyone becomes worn out. We clean the clearing up, and a couple of the bat-ponies take everything back to the village. The rest either stick around, or wander out to other graves.
Speck and I just sit, together, under the large oak tree that looms over her parents' graves. She bundles herself up in my jacket.
I have always thought bat-ponies were strange. This little funeral party has definitely confirmed that.
Two little moths flutter and dance with each other atop the grave-markers. I watch them bump into each other and tap their antennae together. I like to believe there's something on the other side, waiting for us. Speck's parents, wherever they are, are happily reunited.
With a smile, I scratch under Speck's chin. She coos and stretches against me, rolling over onto her back. Her hoof touches my nose as she reaches up to me.
"Boop!"
She smiles and tries to tap my nose again. I scowl playfully and pull the hood of my jacket over her head. She flails and struggles and squeaks, but calms down and snuggles against me.
"Anon." I look down to find her staring at the moths. She reaches out to them, and they climb onto her hoof.
"If you're going to say something that's going to break my heart, please don't."
She looks up at me as the moths flutter away. Her lips turn down into a frown, and her nubby little fangs poke from under her lip.
"Okay." She looks away for a moment. Her silence is brief. "You won't leave me, right?"
If she had worded that any differently, I might have cried. Instead, I hug her and rub her back.
"No. I don't think I will."
Speck kisses me on the nose as she stands up. Somehow, in the midst of wrapping her in my jacket, she had managed to get her arms into the sleeves.
"I think... I'm ready to go. Back to the town."
"Alright." I stand up and pet her mane. She tries to duck away, so I pick her up and cradle her in my arms. If ponies were not made of marshmallows, I would not be able to hold her like this.
"Can we get some snacks when we get there? I really want something... fresh and cold."
"Sure. We'll grab something to eat, then get to sorting your parents' house out." Speck nods and snuggles against me as I carry her back to the town.
***
Speck decides on a small cafe nestled in an alley not far from the east edge of the town. It is small, but feels spacious due to the placing of its two tables and bar. Just like most places in Equestria, we sit on the floor beside one of the tables. Unlike most places in Equestria, there are no pillows to sit on.
And so, with my butt closely acquainted with the hard, unpleasant floor of this quaint establishment, Speck and I prepare for a pleasant little snack-date. We look over the menus on the table, but I don't find anything that sounds good. The only choices are either blood-baked pastries or fruit rolls. Granted, there are different varieties, but the menu boils down to those two.
"What're you gonna get, Anon?" I look up from the menu.
"I can tell you what I'm not going to get." Speck glances back down at her menu. I turn mine over in my hands and notice a list of drinks. All kinds of fruit smoothies are listed.
"How do banana and mango spring rolls sound? Maybe a pineapple smoothie on the side."
"That sounds really good. Nothing else is appealing." Her eyes glisten as she grins at me. I stare at her. What did I say? I take a second to think, and it comes to me. I give her a pleading look as a mare wearing an apron trots up to our table. I feel time slow down as Speck opens her mouth.
"Oh, Anon. Does that mean you're winging your food choice?"
The waitress doesn't miss a beat.
"Should I hang around and take your orders, or peel out and give you more time to decide?"
The bartender at the bar shouts across the room.
"Can I interest you in somefang to drink while you wait?"
All three bat-ponies snicker, their kee's fill the room. I just sit in silence and contemplate my life as a single tear rolls down my cheek. I've been a good person, for the most part. I've made my mistakes, but I've owned up to them. I don't think I've done anything to deserve this punishment. I cringe; I'm starting to think in puns.
"What's wrong, Anon? These puns flying too fast for you?" Speck snickers.
"We can slow down if you're having trouble keekeeng up."
I take a deep breath and close my eyes. The room falls silent. I pick up the menu and hold it with an iron grip.
"I think we'll both have the banana and mango spring rolls, with pineapple smoothies." The waitress nods and trots off.
I sit silently, waiting for our food. Every time Speck tries to speak, I swat her with the menu.
Not hard. Just a light tap to bring my point across.
"Anon -" I tap her on the forehead. "- are -" On the nose. "- you -" On the hoof. "- mad at me?" I stop myself from swatting her, as she looks up at me, her bottom lip quivering.
"No, Speck. I'm not." I set the menu down and reach across the table to caress her cheek. She leans into my touch and nuzzles into my palm. "I could never be mad at you."
She holds the back of my hand with a hoof and kisses it lightly. My heart skips a beat as she looks up at me. Her warm breath spreads over my palm, and I feel her smile against my skin.
This mare that sits across from me, holding and warming my hand, holds and warms my heart. She is impeccably strong-hearted, kind, and wonderful. If I keep her in a cage, she'll never get hurt, though I fear she will be without the freedom to fly. I don't want to lose her.
"You have a worried look in your eye, Anon." She rests her chin in my hand. "Tell me what's wrong."
"Nothing's wrong."
"Please don't lie to me. Something's bothered you since we got together. Is it me?"
"No."
"Is it something I did?"
"No, Speck."
"What is it, then?" She's stopped smiling, and just looks concerned. If I try to tell her anything other than the truth, she'll see right through me.
"It's something the fortune-teller said."
"Please, Anon. You can't tell me you really believe anything she said."
"I'm trying hard not to. I really am." She sits up a little straighter and swallows.
The waitress trots up to our table with a tray in her mouth. She sets it down between me and Speck, and I take our plates and glasses off of it.
"Enjoy your meals!" The chipper waitress trots off with a smile on her face.
Speck looks down at her plate, a stone-solid solemn expression beating out her usual smile. I know that look. It's the same one she gave me before I ran away from her at the Summer Sun Celebration. Unfortunately, I know what comes next.
"Are you going to leave me? You're all I have left, Anon. I know you know what it feels to be so alone." Her voice is pained and faint.
"Speck. I would never, ever think of leaving you. I'll be with you until the day I die." I try to keep the last word from leaving my mouth, but fail. Pursing my lips and closing my eyes, I suck a bit of air through my teeth.
"Okay." Speck's expression quickly changes back to her bright and shining grin. With food on the table, she would have cheered up anyway.
She stands up and places her front hooves on the table, flanking her plate. Her tongue swipes over her lips as she shoves her face into the plate. I just watch, not even disgusted or abhorred. She tears into her spring rolls with reckless abandon as I pick my first roll up.
As soon as I pick my smoothie up, she stops. A roll hangs from her mouth, and her eyes dart from my mouth and smoothie to my plate. She tilts her head, curious. Half of a roll hangs from her mouth.
"Wha're 'oo doin'?"
"I'm eating." The roll drops from her mouth as she glares and points at me with a hoof.
"But you're drinking!"
"I needed a drink?" She leans closer to me.
"Do you not want your rolls anymore?" Oh. I see how it is. She only wants me for my food. Not for my love and affection. Nay, just my food.
"Yes."
"Yes you do want them, or yes I can have them?" I shake my head. She pouts and slinks back to the floor.
"You still have like four more rolls on your plate, Speck."
"So?! Maybe I'll still be hungry after I eat them! Ever think of that?"
"Finish what you have, and if I have anything left over, I'll give it to you." I smirk; as soon as I finish speaking, she has already gone back to ravaging her plate. She finishes licking it clean before I can even put my drink down. Dedication in a mare is absolutely admirable.
"I'm still hungry."
I sigh and lay my head on the table as I slide my plate over to Speck. With a screech of joy and great exuberance, she tears the rolls apart. The table shakes as violently from her hunger-induced rampage. Though I'm not even that hungry, nor do I care for spring rolls of any kind, I still would have liked to enjoy a nice, quiet meal without Speck being... Speck. She is silly, and I love her, but sometimes she could stand to calm down.
I reach for my smoothie, but only grasp at air. Looking up, I find that it has disappeared. Speck hiccups and covers her mouth with a hoop. She blushes and stares at me. I only stare at the two empty glasses sitting in front of her.
"Thanks, Speck. I really appreciate that."
"Excuse me," she mutters out quickly and quietly, her cheeks burning in an inferno of embarrassment. I just roll my eyes and stare at her.
"So what's next?"
"Screech fights!"
"I thought we were going back to your parents' house."
"Later. I want to see the screech fights!"
"The what?" I have never heard of this. It wasn't in anything I read about bat-ponies, and Speck has never mentioned it. I don't think it's even been advertised in the town.
"The screech fights. It's where mares and stallions go to fight over who dates who. It keeps a lot of relationship drama to a minimum."
"I don't get it. Wouldn't that cause more drama between whoever was fighting?"
"Probably. I've never been part of it. It's just really fun to watch."
"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to spend a little more time out and about."
Speck jumps up with glee and runs out of the cafe. I stand and walk over to the bartender, pay him, and run after my special bat-pony.
As I rush outside, the cool evening air strikes my skin. Speck still has my jacket, where ever she is. And where ever she is, she is not in my sight.
"Speck?" I look up into the air before remembering that she wouldn't be able to fly with the jacket covering her wings. Or, I wouldn't think she could, if I didn't find myself wearing a brand new bat-pony backpack.
"I'm right here, Anon."
"Where'd you come from?"
"I jumped off the roof."
"That's dangerous. You couldn't have just waited on a bench like a normal pony?"
"Anon, I don't think you understand. 'Danger' is my middle name."
"No it's not." I don't actually know her full name, and considering pony nomenclature, 'Speck' is likely to be it. Most ponies tend to introduce themselves with their full name, and only adopt a shorter version later on. Princess Twilight Sparkle, for instance, prefers to be called Twilight more often than not.
"You're right," she says as she rests her head on my shoulder. "But at least I know my name!"
"That's kind of mean, Speck." A chill runs down my spine as we walk towards the center of the town.
"Cold?"
"A little bit."
"Do you want your jacket back?"
"I would like my jacket back." She gives me the jacket and climbs onto my front as I put it on. "So, which way to these screech fights?"
"North of town. You'll know the place when you see it."
***
She was right. The building, better described as a coliseum, makes absolutely no effort to hide itself or blend in to its environment. It is large, it is menacing, it is terrifying. The exterior looks like it was carved from a massive tree, possibly from a mythological tree of life, and is used in such a perverse and violent fashion.
I feel sick to my stomach as we approach. The sun has dipped behind the mountains, covering the entirety of Hollow Shades and its surrounding forests in darkness. Paper lanterns are the only light on our path, and the only things illuminating the haunting structure of the coliseum.
"I'm getting a bad vibe from this."
We stand at the front, an ocean of bat-ponies trotting past us and into the coliseum through an enormous open entrance.
"It'll be fun."
Screams, shouts, and cheers start to sound from inside as a voice booms from within.
"It seems like a really big event."
"It is. I should warn you, though! Anypony can challenge anypony else's mates!"
"So a stallion could challenge me for you?" She nods.
"And a mare could challenge me for you."
"Well, I doubt that's going to happen. I doubt any mares around here would be interested in me." Unless that one shows up. I reassuringly ruffle Specks mane and hug her. "I won't let any stallion beat me, either."
Once we enter and find our seats - which, by the divine grace of Celestia or by pure chance we found open spots in the front row - I start to watch the fights just as intently as Speck.
We shout and scream and yell at the competitors. We hold each other back from jumping over the guard-rail to get into the pit ourselves and scream at the bat-ponies. It's cute. We have a good time.
"This is weak!" I shout and throw my hands up as yet another stallion crumbles to his opponent. I should have gone deaf by now, what with all of the screeching and yelling, but most of the noise doesn't actually register.
Speck giggles and leans against me. I wrap an arm around her and stroke her shoulder.
"Having fun, Anon?"
"It sure looks like he is!" The mare that has been stalking me for the past few days trots in front of us in a dramatic manner. Behind her follows an anxious looking stallion with a dirty-white coat, silver hair, and green eyes.
Speck groans and hides her face in her hooves. I have a feeling something terrible is going to happen. Whether it's something this mare does, or Speck decking her in the face, I will not like the results.
"What do you want?"
"Funny you should ask! I was just enjoying the show, when I thought I'd come over and say hello! And while I'm over here, I think it would be a good idea to challenge little miss blank-flank for her handsome mate." I notice that both of these ponies, and nearly all of the bat-ponies around us, do in fact have cutie-marks. I always found it odd that Speck didn't have one, but always thought it was normal for bat-ponies. I suppose I was wrong.
"Yeah! I'm gonna challenge you for your mate, too!" The stallion pipes up.
"I'm going to be sick." Speck hides her face in my side. I try so hard not to laugh.
I fail. Laughing harder than I have in quite a while, tears start to run down my cheeks as I try to catch my breath.
"Um, excuse me! This is serious!" I laugh even harder as the mare shouts at me.
"Uh-huh. There's... there's no way you'll win," I say as I finally calm down a little bit.
"What?! Anon, no! I don't want to do this!"
"Come on, we can handle them. Besides, you wanted to come here."
"I guess..." She whimpers and looks away. I pick her up and carry her over to a set of stairs that leads down into the pit. The mare and stallion follow.
As I walk down those steps, I start to think about the mare and stallion. I haven't seen the stallion around, but judging by the look on his face, he knows the mare and Speck personally. The mare, obviously, has it out for Speck. Whatever's going on, I don't like it.
"It seems we have new challengers in the arena! It looks like a stallion, two mares, and a... thing, all ready to fight for their partners!" An announcer yells through the cheering coliseum.
I put Speck down. She puffs her chest out to try to look tougher, but I know how terrified she is. I could feel her heart racing while carrying her.
"Let's have the males fight over their select female first! Would the beautiful mare take a seat on the Lover's Throne?" Speck starts to trot over to the other side of the pit, where a large wooden throne sits. I notice something duck into the shadows behind it. The other mare trots back toward the stairs, and sits against the wall.
I crack my neck and knuckles, ready to absolutely destroy this pathetic excuse for a pony.
"Y-you ready for this!?" He tries to sound confident. "I'm gonna win Speck from you, and-" I tune him out as my suspicions are confirmed. He does know Speck. None of this is good. I notice his mouth is now wide open, but no sound is coming out. Right, still tuning him out.
I tune him back in and immediately clap my hands over my ears. The sound is horrifying, and nothing I can do will make it stop. I fall to my knees and cringe, trying as hard as I can to tune him back out. Any longer, and my ear-drums may burst.
He stops seconds later, panting and huffing out of exhaustion.
"Your turn." Bad idea, buddy. Should have finished me while you had that chance.
"First things first." I stand up and address the crowd. I hold my arms out and walk in a small circle, facing every single pony in the stands. "You all came here for a smack down, right?!" They fall silent as I speak. I look down at my opponent, still addressing the crowd. "You came here to see some winners win their mares and stallions! None of these weak screeches and wimpy matches! You came to see raw, uncut, soul-crushing destruction!" The audience goes wild. Any more hype, and they might start rioting.
I pick my opponent up.
"I'm gonna give it to you!" I glare at him. "Do you smell..." A terrified look comes over his face. He pleads with me, but I will give him no mercy. No stallion will challenge me for my special bat-pony and live to tell the tale. "What the Rock..." He starts to cry. I smirk as I hold him out in front of me. "Is cookin'?"
Throwing him to the ground, I jump onto him. My hands cup over his ear and my lips press to the space between my thumbs. I screech as loud as I can into his ear. He screams from the pain of going deaf, and quickly stops struggling. I let him go and stand up.
"You can't stop the Rock!" I shout, holding my arms out and towering over the incapacitated bat-pony. A couple of nurses rush down into the pit and put him on a stretcher before running off. The crowd is going absolutely bananas.
I don't play when it comes to Speck. I will do everything in my power to keep her, and to keep her safe.
Speck looks up at me from her throne as I approach. I wink at her and smile.
"That was amazing, Anon!"
"Thanks. Now it's your turn. Give her what for, alright?" She nods and trots to the center of the pit, where the mare meets her. Something catches my eye as I sit on the throne: a small table beside me, with a small piece of paper folded up on top of it.
"Get ready, Anonymous. The battle begins," it reads, in a flourished writing. Illusa is here, and she's lurking around.
"Come on, Speck. Give it your all." I feel myself starting to get a bit worried. I am afraid Speck will lose, but I've heard her screech before. She is definitely louder than that stallion.
~~~
"Ready to lose, Speck?" Speck's challenger circled around her. The light-gray mare with flaming red hair grinned eagerly, her fiery orange eyes locked to Speck.
"Over my dead body, Lilith."
Speck, often just the cutest, nicest, sweetest, happiest little bat-pony, found herself in one of the most terrifying situations that could only be lived in her worst nightmares. Her legs shook, her throat became dry, and her head spun.
Lilith, the gray-coated, midnight-purple-maned, red-eyed bat-pony, calmly trotted from the wall she sat in front of. A smug smirk played across her lips.
"Come on, Speck! Destroy her!" Her friend shouted across the pit. His voice, his words, made her feel resilient. He gave her the courage to fight.
"I won't lose," she muttered to herself. She always hated this custom. She loved watching the fights, but always dreaded the day she might end up in that pit, fighting for someone she loved with all her heart. That day was the day she feared for so very, very long.
"You first. I insist." The arrogant mare bowed to Speck with a grin.
Speck frowned and snarled. She drew in a deep breath, as much air as her little pony lungs could hold. There was power in her screech, enough power to deafen anything in her immediate vicinity. She balanced herself, rooting her hooves into the ground beneath her, her tone and volume raising until even her own ears rang. The ponies sitting in the stands closest held their ears shut until her screech finished. Even her friend had to cover his ears.
The mare in front of her, did not. She did not falter, she did not move. She neither cringed nor blinked nor turned her head.
Speck looked toward her friend, a look of fear on her face, a look of pain. He covered his mouth with his hand and closed his eyes.
Lilith took a step forward, scoffing.
"Well, it looks like you've just lost your stallion! I hope it hurts you deep inside to know that your screech absolutely sucks." She flashed her sharp fangs at Speck, who just squinted and rooted herself deeper against the ground, preparing for her opponent's screech.
The mare lined her face up with Speck's, took in a deep breath, and started to screech. Speck scrunched her face up as her ears rang.
"Come on, Speck! Get physical!" Speck hissed as she pushed herself forward, headbutting the mare in the face. As the mare stagger backwards, a hoof connected with her jaw. The screeching stopped abruptly as the mare fell to the ground.
As her head hit the ground, two earplugs popped out of her ears. Speck followed up by tackling Lilith. Her hooves connected to the mare's face as she punched and screamed. She grabbed the mare's head and started pounding it into the earth.
Mad is not a word that describes how she felt at that moment. If a pony's soul could blacken with rage, her soul would be a black hole at that point.
"I will not lose to some conniving, disgusting, low-life, hideous harlot like you." She leaned into Lilith's ear, and delivered a final blow that would make her friend absolutely proud.
"Get wrecked, son." She screeched with the intensity of a dragon's roar into her ear.
Victorious, with her opponent in shambles, she trotted to her friend.
~~~
I may have just witnessed a murder. Hundreds of bat-ponies watched on, as my special bat-pony may have murdered some mare. I wait, as she slowly approaches me, for several guards to swoop in and cuff her, to take her away from me and imprison her for murder. But they don't. The crowd starts screeching and cheering as she walks.
This was the fight that Speck was supposed to lose, according to this note. Illusa said there was nothing I could do to change the outcome. But Speck? She did. She managed to win and keep me. My head hurts from all of this fortune-telling garbage, and all of the screeching.
"Well, dear Anonymous. It seems you had nothing to worry about after all." I jump and scream like a little girl.
Illusa sits beside me, watching as Speck makes her way toward us. I catch sight of Illusa's cutiemark: a crystal ball with an eye in the center.
"I don't appreciate that fortune. You are absolutely awful at what you do." She laughs aloud.
"Did you think she was going to die? The events played out just as they should have, but she was supposed to lose this fight."
"You said she was going to perish in a great battle."
"Oh, my! I do apologize, Anonymous. It was not my intent to worry you so."
"You need to work on your wording, then." I slump in my chair and groan as my headache worsens.
"Well, I suppose I shall. How about the other fortunes? Have they all come and gone?"
"For the most part. Whatever I supposedly fear hasn't come up. Our happiness, joy, and love... I guess those are still up for grabs, even though we're pretty happy and in love."
"Mhm. Well, your fear will soon be brought up to be quelled! As for the rest... well, no story ever truly ends."
I look up at Speck and smile.
"I guess not." I turn to look back at Illusa, but find that she's disappeared. "Stupid magic horses and their bad fortunes. Can't wait to go home."
I rise from the throne and run over to Speck. She jumps into my arms and hugs me as tight as she can. The entire coliseum is going ballistic.
"Good job, love. But, how'd you know she was wearing earplugs?" She looks up at me, a solemn expression on her face.
"I didn't. I wasn't going to lose you, Anon." She hides her face in my neck. I just stroke her mane and hug her.
"Good. I wouldn't have it any other way."
"Well, folks, it seems we've just experienced one of the most unique screech-fights yet! Never, in all my days of announcing, have I ever seen a pony headbutt her opponent!"
As I carry her out of the pit, I stop at the mare's body. Her chest rises and falls, very weakly.
"I just saw you pound her head into the ground. How is she still breathing?" Speck starts to laugh. It's nice to hear, considering all the stress we've been under recently.
"Ponies are made of marshmallow, Anon." She looks up at me and rears back, headbutting my shoulder. She has hit me before, but I never noticed that if I was hurt, it was from the impact of hitting something else, and not actually her body. It is akin to trying to destroy a rock with a feather.
"Weird." I glance down at the mare and notice the coiled snake on her flank as two more nurses rush into the pit with a stretcher. I carry Speck up the stairs and out of the coliseum as more competitors swarm in.
We are stopped by a lone bat-pony stallion standing in the entrance hall.
"Anon, put me down." I follow her order as she trots up to the stallion. He has cotton and bandages on his ear. "What do you want, Mortar? Anon's not going to give you a rematch."
"I-I don't want a r-rematch." He cowers when he looks up at me.
"Then, what?" Speck's voice is harsh. I don't know if she's trying to act tough, or if she really doesn't like this guy. I hope it's the former, since she doesn't have a hateful bone anywhere in her fluffy pony body.
Mortar extracts a small brown package from his saddlebag and gives it to Speck.
"When you left, your mother had the idea to start mailing these to you. I don't know how she found out where you were, since you didn't tell anyone, but she managed. That's the last one."
Speck turns it over in her hooves. A small mark in the corner tells her that it was definitely one of her dad's. She smiles as tears well in her eyes, hugging it close to her chest.
"Thank you."
The stallion smiled and blushed a little bit.
"I figured, if you ever came back, you'd love me for doing that."
"I do appreciate it, Mortar. But I can't love you. I have Anon."
Mortar just turns away.
"It's fine. Keep her safe for me, will you?" I stare at the stallion as he walks off into the night.
"What? What was that all about?"
"When we were young, he always admired my dad. He always wanted to learn how to make bricks like him, and always thought that if he could get with me, then my dad would teach him."
"So he's stalked you for years, trying to learn how to make bricks?"
"Yes."
I have no words. I just pick Speck up and carry her back into town; back to her home.
~~~
Speck and her friend made their way to her house, ready to settle in for the night after such a long and distressing day. She felt overwhelmed with nostalgia and familiarity when she stepped inside.
It was nice to be home; a feeling made even more exemplary with her friend's presence.
Her legs shook out of exhaustion, and she nearly collapsed at the threshold of the house. Her friend picked her up in his arms and carried her upstairs. She directed him to her old bedroom, where they laid together in her old bed.
"Mom always told me there would always be a place for me here. I wish I would've visited her more often."
"Why didn't you?"
"I was waiting until I felt like the time was right."
"Well, we made it just in time, didn't we?"
Speck smiled and hugged her friend as tight as she could. Her friend shifted and moved her on top of him. His hands brushed over her wings as their noses pressed together. Their lips locked together as his fingers rubbed into her back.
"So, we're officially mates, huh?"
She tried to stifle her giggle.
"We've been mates since the Summer Sun Celebration."
"Kind of weird that you can challenge someone for their mate, then."
"I've always hated that custom. It's supposed to help our offspring become as strong as possible." She sighed and buried her face into her friend's neck. "But me? I'm not strong. It took me two whole days just to be able to do anything after mom died. And I almost lost that screeching match."
He laughed and kissed her cheek.
"Speck. You're the second strongest bat-pony I know."
Speck looked up at him, tilting her head in question.
"Who's the first?"
He stroked her cheek as they looked into each others' eyes.
"Your mom. She fought for so long, just to meet your mate."
"No. To meet an Angel," she said as she pecked him on the lips.