(It's the not so distant future, probably eight years from the stories told of the adventures of the Linkin Ponies.)
Introduction
You would think the world would have gotten better by now. But it hasn't. Hybrids still roam and the sky is full of pollution. The latter may have partly to do with the Pegasi not trying to move the clouds. Though who would want to breath in what the clouds have soaked up? And there wouldn't be enough of Pegasi to fix that problem anyway; there are some who are Hybrids or will be turned into Hybrids. Yet the Hybrids are the reason pollution is still in the sky; their citadels pump out fumes.
The world started going downhill before I was born. There were changes that many ponies didn't notice, changes that were not drastic enough to notice. But then when the changes became extreme, they seemed to happen all at once, and there was nothing to stop them. It was the Catalyst. Ponies tried to save the world but it was no use. The majority of ponies ignored or went along with the changes thinking that technology would save them again. Hybrids, ponies with implanted metal parts and mechanical limbs, were meant to save ponykind. Hell that did, it just screwed everypony.
It's not like there is anything I can do. I'm a thirteen-year-old Unicorn colt who still can not use magic. Unicorns younger than me master in basic magic while I still struggle to levitate a pencil. And my talent is drawing? What good that would do in this world.
My father is one of those ponies who try to help the world. He's been pretty successful, along with his friends. But even if one group of ponies influence some, it's not enough to change the world. There are some places where things are so bad. Where I live is the safe place, but it's really the only safe place in the land. The places out there are where the Hybrids originated. Those places are where before the Catalyst things were going downhill. But nopony now wants to try to go out there, they would die.
Chapter I: Morning
I woke up to a normal day. I came out of my apartment in the camp. It was the biggest camp, probably the most known and important camp in the west land. It was just north of Los Pegasus, a city, strangely, that was not a Hybrid Citadel. This camp was built up over time. They brought parts of other building to place here, to make it a larger neighborhood to support more ponies. It's strange what they did; they did not want to change locations. I guess that's because there is a energy crystal mill here. But how long would that last?
What day was it today? Was it a day that I’d be testing on thing? My mom was my teacher, because she said education was important. She wanted to make sure I knew basic things to get me through life. She said that math and stuff like that wasn’t something I’d be using anytime soon(except basic math was good to know). So instead, she taught me language, so I could ‘speak in a correct way’ and ‘be impressive when I needed to find a job’. My mom was good with teaching language, for she was a writer, and she was really good with words.
My mother would probably be somewhere around the camp. My father was out now, he went to Los Pegasus. He always goes, as if it’s going to make a difference. There are other cities and camps that he and others could go to discuss things. I think of these things much, but nevertheless, I’m a colt and my opinion doesn’t matter
I stepped into the dirt road and looked left. At that same moment an orange figure zoomed between two buildings. I knew that figure. It was of my best friend, who I had known for as long as I could remember. We had grown up together, and he was like a brother to me. He was sixteen, a colt that was a young stallion, but I preferred to think of him as a colt by how he acted.
I went to the space where he had just been. I looked to the left. I watched the Earth-pony give frantic movements as he looked back and forth between others. He raised one hoof which was covered by an EPD. ‘EPD’ stands for ‘Energy Power Device’. It’s where we can have an energy crystal anytime we need it. Most ponies call it ‘hoof cover’ but I think that sounds stupid because there are more kinds of EPDs(Like wings).
My friend’s brown eyes shot towards me. He gave me a beam as he approached.
“Hey!”
“Good morning,” I replied.
“You woke up late again.”
“I did?” I said while blinking my eyes.
“Yeah, it’s after 10:00.”
I dropped my head. “Dang.”
My friend rubbed his hoof on his black mohawk mane. “At least your dad’s not here to lecture you.”
My father was always one who wanted to conserve time. I respect him and understand what he is getting at, but my adultescent mind sometimes throws me off.
I retorted back to my orange friend. “Yeah. But I need to stop sleeping in. I keep having strange dreams.”
The Earth-pony cocked his head. “Strange? How?”
“Well-”
Suddenly we heard a voice in the distance. It came from the sky. It was a very distinguishable voice, one that anyone could recognize. It was powerful but lite, high but masculine. It was the voice of the pony that I’d call ‘Uncle’ even when he wasn’t slightly related to me.
The yellow Pegasus came down to the camp clearing. Surprisingly, he landed without trouble. He closed his wings, one of them being mechanical. He was a stallion who appeared much older than he was. Ponies came to greet him.
My friend and I moved toward him, my friend going at a quicker pace. He then broke into a small canter. His face gave off a large beam, his eyes glowing.
“Dad! You’re back!”
“Hey, JumpingJolt,” The Pegasus said with a slight crack in his voice, trying to adjust his volume. He put his tattooed foreleg around my friend and rubbed the back of his head. The yellow stallion gave a smile that brought out lines on his face, but his expression was one of a happy colt.
“I’m back, but the other guys are back at the city. I just came to report stuff.” He stated.
“You’re not going back, are you?” JumpingJolt asked.
“Hell no! Once I get back they’ll be ready to go.”
A mare came up to the stallion. She shook her head to get ruby hair out of her view. “HyperBlitz, what do you have to report?”
“No ‘hello?’, ThunderCharm?” HyperBlitz teased.
The purple mare gave an irritated expression. She puffed a low response. “Hello, HyperBlitz.”
He laughed. “Well,” he went on from what ThunderCharm had first asked “There have been some reports of rogues,”
“Uhg, rogues?” Another pony said from the crowd.
“There’s always gonna be rogues. But some of them came into the city and raided some shops. I’ve never heard of them doing that.”
“Aren’t they usually independent, and isolated?” ThunderCharm mused.
“Most of the time.” HyperBlitz shrugged his shoulders and his wings shrugged with them. “But I’m guessing they weren’t getting what they wanted because one shot a pony.”
“With a gun?!” JumpingJolt barked.
“Yes, with a gun. Rogue ponies like guns.”
I thought about the stories I was told, stories about rogues. They were the ponies that weren’t part of the Resistance. They lived alone in their camps, raided old neighborhoods. They used energy crystals, but not on Hybrids. They thought of using energy as a weapon was wasteful, so they used guns. My parents and their friends have ran into rogues, but I never have.
“Oh yeah,” HyperBlitz let out. His left wing opened up his saddlebag and he grabbed something out with his mouth. His hoof took it and showed it to JumpingJolt. “I got something for you.”
“Ooo.” My friend’s red hoof scooped up the flat plastic square. “Oh cool, a CD.” Scanning the case, his brown eyes grew large.
HyperBlitz glanced at me. “And GentleSketch, your dad said he’d bring something back for you.”
“Okay.” I wasn’t one to say much. There wasn’t much to say anyway. My father would probably bring back some sort of art supply, like he always does.
Maybe art is all I’ll ever be good at.