//------------------------------//
// The Mourning 
// Story: As Cutie as a Button 
// by Scrucee 
//------------------------------//

Celestia's golden sun rose and broke confidently through the misty dawn sky. The sleepy ponies across Equestria, from Dodge Junction rooted in the south to Vanhoover located in the north, awoke from their nightly slumber and slowly slunk out of their bedrooms towards the assured breakfast, which they expected to eat every morning. The Unicorn Range was one such region in Equestria which fell into line using this routine. The Unicorns, the Range's namesake, were thus the predominant type of pony inhabiting this area, as the mountains nearby provided them with gemstones which only they had the skills to dig out. They would go to sleep, wake up, eat and work at the most precise times of the day in order to be the most efficient ponies they could be and employ their unique special talents to the fullest. Such an exact routine was the norm here and everypony was expected to follow it as much as ponymanely possible.


A different kind of pony snored into his pillow with the most irregular, un-rhythmic and chaotic inhaling and exhaling. It was not only his manor of sleeping which was unusual for his location, but also his heritage. He was an Earth pony, an oddity, as the Unicorn Range did not have much of an Earth population. The reason for this absence was that the Unicorns had their food provided for them from near-constant importations from other villages in return for the gems and jewels they discovered in the mountains. They were not farmers as no crops could grow high up in the mountain caves, nor was there much Earth pony magic there to even attempt to propagate them in the first place. The Earth pony groaned as he struggled to lift himself out of his bed and onto his four hooves. This was his routine, something which was a normal, everyday occurrence for him.


"Is that the time?" he asked himself, almost as if awaiting an answer from a disapproving parent or a teacher, unhappy with the homework they were given in. He was late for work again. The exhausted, blue-maned stallion made his way to his bathroom, where he splashed his face with water to better wake himself before tentatively plodding in the direction of his wardrobe to put on his best tie for the long day ahead of him. He would work as much as anypony around him, but his occupation as a builder and maintenance worker tired him to his bones. The stallion left his house without partaking in breakfast and anxiously headed for work.