1
A Day in The Life
MANEHATTEN- THE PRESENT
It was the kind of day that was easily appreciated. As she joyously trotted out of the school building, she looked around at the clouds parting to reveal the bright, warm sun. The fresh air made her feel giddy, a feeling that was rare in the sprawling metropolis of Manehatten. What a glorious sight to behold as soon as she escaped the horrid prison that was Manehatten High School!
Aurora felt more excited day-by-day, as the end of her schooling career was finally coming to an end. Yes, the day was looking up as she turned her back to the concrete prison of the educational system. She was practically skipping down the sidewalk, wondering what she’d do when she got home-
“Hey, Aurora! Hold on!”
Aurora sighed, rolling her pink eyes. She began to trot a bit faster, in order to get away. It was just another pony trying to jump on the bandwagon. This had happened before… too many times before. She had to let them know she wasn’t interested in conversation. To Aurora’s surprise, the pony behind her began to chase after her.
“Aurora! Wait!”
Like Tartarus I will… Aurora thought, hurrying away faster. She turned around a corner of the school, ending up on the edge of the quad. During the day, it served as a place for ponies to eat lunch and hang out, but after school it was the place only certain ponies hung out. As usual, there was a large group of ponies (mostly the athletic and popular ones) hanging out by a table, but today there was a bit of shouting. Aurora couldn’t give a flying feather about what they did, but today seemed strange. Usually they’d be around the tables, but today they were crowding around something while shouting “Fight! Fight! Fight!”. Aurora moved a bit closer to see what it was.
Her breath caught in her throat as she recognized a thrashing bright blue and purple form on the ground, her best friend Shiny Seas. Above her was a yellow-coated mare known as Golden Eagle, the captain of Manehatten’s football team. Eagle was the pride of the school… while on the field. The rest of the time, Aurora only saw her as a bully, who abused classmates and got away with everything she did. As Shiny lie on the ground, Eagle kicked her with her hoof.
“I told you to leave us alone, you nerd!” Golden shouted down at her, while preparing another kick.
“I’m-I’m sorry!” Shiny cried, burying her face in her hooves to hide her tears as she lie on the ground, bruised, “I needed it back…!”
“You shouldn’t have dropped it!” Golden laughed, holding up a sleek black notebook with a lock on the side. As Golden waved it around, it was obvious that the lock was open. Aurora recognized it as Shiny’s prized possession, a notebook that her father had given her before he had left their family. Shiny tried to keep it a secret from most ponies… Aurora remembered the hesitation and trust that Shiny had displayed when she showed it to Aurora.
“I’ve filled this with lots of ideas for computers and inventions,” Shiny had said, eyes gleaming down at the pages, “Someday… I’m going to build them all!”
Aurora, while initially shocked at the sight of Golden keeping Shiny’s book away from her, now realized she had to come to the defense of her best friend.
“Hey! Goldie!” Aurora called out in a mocking tone. The crowd’s excited shouts of “Fight!” came to a silence, and they looked over at the newcomer.
Golden Eagle looked over, squinting in the bright sunlight, “What do you want, Aurora? Can’t you see I’m busy here?”
Aurora glared at Golden, and saw Shiny look up at her. Seeing the relief behind the tears on her friend’s face gave her all the confidence she needed. Aurora stood up a little higher, and spoke clearly and loudly.
“Drop the notebook and help her up,” Aurora demanded.
Golden Eagle stared at her for a second, and then threw her head back in a loud laugh. Everypony else was silent, looking between them with a sense of wonder. The crowd parted, giving Aurora a clear view of Golden and Shiny.
“You’re funny, Aurora! ‘Drop the notebook’,” Golden mocked, “Well, here’s some news for you. You don’t tell me what to do, I tell everypony else what to do. And now I’m telling you to get out of here and mind your own business before I kick your flank to Fillydelphia!”
Aurora didn’t blink, only stared at Golden Eagle’s wide smirk for a few seconds. Finally, Aurora smiled, causing Golden’s smirk to flicker.
“Alright,” She said, extending her wings, “You asked for it.”
With that, Aurora threw herself at Golden. Golden was caught off-guard, and gasped as Aurora slammed her hooves into Golden’s stomach. She was surprised by how hard Golden’s stomach was, how strong she seemed, but Aurora didn’t care. The two ponies fell to the ground, where Golden flailed and kicked, catching one of Aurora’s back legs.
Aurora cried out in pain, and got to her hooves. Her leg was hurt, but not much. She could still stand on it. Golden shouted, and then lunged at Aurora. Aurora dived to the side, out of the way. Her bright red eyes surveyed her opponent, and sized her up.
For an earth pony, she’s pretty tough… Aurora thought to herself, watching Golden turn and face her with eyes of fire, Everypony has some weakness… think back to the last football game…
Golden attacked, swinging her hooves and kicking. Aurora had to focus on dodging the blows while thinking back to the last game that Golden had been in. There must have been something that happened… Golden had scored most of the touchdowns… slipped away from every tackle… had it been a perfect game…?
“What are you, chicken?!” Golden laughed, “Stop dodging, you coward!”
Aurora ignored her, and tried to think. Finally, Golden’s hoof connected with Aurora’s jaw. The world blurred for a second, and Aurora blinked a few times.
“There we go!” Golden triumphantly taunted to the cheers of her teammates. Aurora was about to fly up and kick her foe in the eye, but then a memory finally clicked in her head.
Golden was tackled once… they got her leg in the last quarter and she had to sit out for the rest of the game…
Golden grinned as she prepared another punch. This time, Aurora ducked and went to the ground as she swung. Golden was caught off-balance, and nearly tripped. Aurora lashed out with her leg, and caught Golden’s directly where the mare had been tackled. Golden immediately fell down, clutching her leg like a filly who had fallen down and skinned it.
“Ouch!” She cried out. Aurora flapped her wings and jumped into the air. The bottoms of her hooves were level with Golden Eagle’s eyes for an instant, and then Aurora kicked Golden, knocking her unconscious before her lifeless body had fallen to the ground. For a horrible moment, Aurora thought she had gone too far and actually killed somepony, but then she saw Golden’s chest rise up with air.
Aurora sighed deeply, and tried to catch her breath as she looked down at her opponent. The gang of Golden’s friends and teammates now stared in awe at the mare who had knocked Golden Eagle, the Golden Eagle, out like a broken lightbulb.
“This sure doesn’t look like Fillydelphia, Goldie,” Aurora whispered.
Shiny looked up to see Aurora’s hoof, and gratefully took it. Aurora pulled her up off the ground, and Shiny brushed herself off. She looked to Aurora, and saw her eyes full of concern.
“Are you okay?” Aurora asked, looking her up and down for any bruises, “Your snout is bleeding.”
“I’m fine,” Shiny answered, wiping her snout with her hoof. She looked down to see that Aurora was right; A thick trail of blood clung
to her hoof, “Glad you came along though…”
“Of course,” Aurora said with a cough, bending down and picking up Shiny’s notebook from the ground by Golden’s hoof. Aurora handed it to Shiny, who took it with relief. Aurora wrapped her hoof around Shiny, “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
* * *
“I’m getting sick of ponies, Shiny,” Aurora complained as they began walking down a long Manehatten sidewalk on a busy street full of chariots, “Just today, before I went to the quad, somepony followed me-”
“And he was going to ask you about Mare-Do-Well?” Shiny finished, playfully punching Aurora’s front leg, “That’s still going on? It’s been a week! Just think, some pony dressed up as Mare-Do-Well shows up in some dead-end town called ‘Ponyville’, and it’s suddenly the next big thing since Sapphire Shores’ Aqua album.”
“Yeah… I would love to talk about the vigilante- I mean… Mare-Do-Well,” Aurora confessed, “It’s just that… I’ve been studying her since I was just a little filly. Before somepony decided to dress as her in Ponyville. The mayor of Ponyville called her ‘Mare-Do-Well’, and she didn’t even have a name when she was in Manehatten. She was just ‘The Vigilante’. I’m sick of these posers who think she’s cool just because she was in Ponyville.”
“It’s because they know you’re the expert on Mare-Do-Well. Nopony else has studied her as much as you have. Did you ever figure out her secret identity?”
“Of course not,” Aurora laughed, “It isn’t like those “Power Ponies” comic books. This is real life. The vigilan- I mean, Mare-Do-Well, didn’t slip up or let anypony know who she was. She was just a shadow.”
As they talked, the two friends began trotting down the sidewalk at a lazy pace. Leaving the large school behind them, Aurora and Shiny travelled through the streets of Manehatten.
“Well, I heard that Ponyville organized a special celebration for Mare-Do-Well, and then some angry pegasus attacked her and she hasn’t been seen since then,” Shiny said.
“Yeah, everypony is acting like I know what happened. Maybe the pegasus killed her. The Vigil- ugh, Mare-Do-Well,” Aurora corrected herself, “...did some dangerous things when she was in Manehatten. In fact, nopony knows what happened to her. She just disappeared one day. Sounds like the same thing happened in Ponyville.”
“Well, I did some research of my own after Mare-Do-Well vanished from Ponyville,” Shiny announced, puffing out her chest with pride, “In Ponyville, there were reports of her stopping a runaway bus… um… saving construction workers… I think there was something involving a dam…”
“Yeah, that stuff was nothing compared to what she did in Manehatten. Here she was stopping gang leaders, bank robberies, and alleyway muggings. She was important here, and they started a branch of Royal Guards in Manehatten because of her.”
“Back then they did, Aurora. The Manehatten Royal Guard Branch isn’t the same as it was back then. They don’t have Mare-Do-Well as a symbol to step up their game. Did you hear about the gang war over in the factory district? Nopony tried to stop that… unicorn magic destroyed a lot of property.”
“Really? Nopony at all?”
“Nopony,” Shiny confirmed, “I think the guards here are just frightened foals instead of brave stallions. Either that, or the gangs are paying them to stay out of their business.”
Aurora sighed as the two of them turned the corner down a dirty and nearly empty street, “This is why the vigilante was so important. She stood up for the ponies here, and Mare-Do-Well inspired ponies to help other ponies who couldn’t help themselves.”
“That’s deep, Aurora. Now I have something to think about later on tonight,” Shiny said, turning down another street as Aurora continued walking, “I’ll see you tomorrow, right?”
“Yeah… are you sure you’re okay?”
“Uh-huh. I’m fine… but I probably won’t be without you, Aurora,” Shiny said, stepping closer to her and wrapping her hooves around Aurora in a hug, “You’re my best friend, you know that?”
“Of course I do,” Aurora said, bidding her best friend farewell as they separated. Her eyes lingered on Shiny’s cutie mark as she walked away, a design of a few ocean waves on Shiny’s flank, and wondered how she managed to get that instead of glasses or something. Shiny was, after all, the smartest pony that Aurora knew.
Aurora snapped out of her thoughts, and continued trotting down the sidewalk. A chariot passed her, travelling down the street at a speedy pace. Aurora had always thought that walking along the street was too noisy, so she always turned down a secluded road where not many ponies ever travelled. It took a little longer to get home, but it was well worth it to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. After a while, Manehatten was just sickening to her.
Sure there were dirty homes to the sides of the street, but Aurora didn’t mind. It was a rather true part of life that most ponies pretended didn’t exist… and the residents seemed nice enough. Aurora reached the end of the street, humming to keep herself company in the silence that graced this part of Manehatten, and turned down another street.
Aurora nearly choked when she saw another pony, fallen in the middle of the street. Quickly, Aurora raced over to the mare while screaming “Are you okay?!” at the top of her lungs. The mare moaned. Aurora’s heart leapt when she saw the mare’s limbs, how broken and bent out of shape they seemed.
“Oh my Celestia,” Aurora gasped, “Where you hit by a chariot?!”
“No…” The mare whispered, “I fell… my cane…”
The mare pointed her hoof, and Aurora followed the direction to see a cane. Aurora picked up the cane with her mouth, and carried it over to the mare. As the mare’s hoof reached for the cane, Aurora took a closer look. The mare had a pink coat, with a mane of purple and greenish-blue, the same greenish-blue color as Aurora’s mane. She was definitely an older pony, but Aurora noticed a unicorn horn. There had to have been something wrong with her powers, otherwise she could have gotten her cane herself. The injuries on her limbs, coupled with a few scars on her body, seemed to have been part of the mare for some time.
“What happened to you?” Aurora blurted, before feeling insensitive for asking. She blushed, and hastily murmured a “I mean…” to begin an apology.
“I fell down,” the mare grunted, struggling to get to her hooves and leaning on the cane for support.
“I meant… your legs. What happened to you?”
The mare glanced up at Aurora, finally in a standing position, “It happened a long time ago. I don’t want to talk about it.”
With that, the mare tried to trot away, only to violently fall forward. Aurora caught her with her hoof, and wrapped her other hoof around her.
“Here, I’ll help you inside,” Aurora offered.
They awkwardly made their way to the sidewalk, and the mare led Aurora toward a small, broken-looking house. Aurora, supporting the mare with one hoof, opened the door and helped her get inside. Aurora noticed that the house was dark and cramped, as though designed for somepony living in seclusion. The mare plopped down into a big overstuffed chair, letting her cane fall to the floor. Almost as soon as she was seated, the mare had fallen asleep.
Aurora stared in wonder at the mare, picked up her cane and gently placed it to the side of the armchair, stared a few moments longer, and then quietly left.
* * *
Aurora stared up at the large apartment building that currently housed her and her father. It wasn’t nearly high enough to be compared to the Empire Stallion Building or a few other select skyscrapers, but the apartment building was still fairly tall. After all, this building housed a lot of families on twenty floors. As Aurora entered the building, heading in the direction of the elevator to get to the 17th floor, she remembered that she and her father used to live in another apartment building, but they had left when she was a little filly.
Aurora was puzzled as to why the memory was resurfacing now, but shrugged it off as she climbed into the elevator.
Itsthelastplaceyousawyourmother
Aurora tried to forget about the old apartment building, but her thoughts flashed through her mind. The apartment building had been too small, that was
whereisyourmotheraurora
why they had moved across the city to this new one. She never thought about it until today, and she had no idea why the memory was resurfacing now. There was a ding, and then the elevator doors slid open to reveal the 17th floor. Aurora stepped out, and trotted down the hall toward her apartment.
“I’m home!” She called out as she opened the door. Her father, a stallion named Rightful Vice, was suddenly there at the door. Aurora had often noted how much she resembled her father (in all but mane colors, his was white). His cutie mark, a heart with a crack through it, always impressed her.
“Where have you been?!” He asked, trying to appear angry to hide his relief, “I was worried sick, Aurora!”
“I’m only a few minutes late, Dad!” Aurora complained, “I stopped to help an old mare who fell down in the street.”
Rightful paused before his face widened in a big smile, “That’s my girl,” he praised, ruffling Aurora’s mane with his hoof, “Is the mare okay?”
“She’s fine… a bit weird in the head though,” Aurora shrugged, “Listen, Dad, I’ve been thinking… what happened to Mom?”
The smile fell off Rightful’s face, “Aurora, honey, I’ve told you… did anything happen today?”
“No,” Aurora answered, “I just wondered, that’s all.”
Rightful stared at her for a minute, and then sighed, “Your mother left us… she couldn’t agree with how we were living, so she… left.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it,” Rightful answered, making a half-hearted attempt at a grin, “Now come on. How d’you feel about macaroni and cheese for dinner tonight?”
Aurora smiled at her father, “That sounds great, Dad,” Aurora replied, stepping into the kitchen to make the meal.