Shining Waterdrop
The sky was really pretty today. It usually wasn’t this bright or cheery. Maybe it was a gift from Celestia herself to me for today. But we all knew the Alicorns were dead. Starlight had taken their place.
I pulled myself from my sleep, giving my mind that was still trying to rest, a bit of a jolt. I typically didn’t have the drive or reason to wake up early like this, but today was special. Today was my Cute-Aversary, or the day I got my Cutie Mark for those who are not familiar with Equine culture. But it was more important to today’s Equine culture that I got my Cutie Mark removed, versus having gotten it in the first place.
I got up out of my bed, stretching my wings and just trying to get ready for the day in a small way. I looked at my feathers, they needed to be preened, but hey on a day like today who would care about those stupid little things that nopony likes to do anyways? I begrudgingly took my eyes off of the beautiful sky that was right outside of my window, I had things to do today. I looked around my room, and was content as ever with the things that made it up and took up all of the extra space I had in it. I was honestly surprised that any extra space existed within the walls of my room.
Posters of my favorite rock bands were hung up on the walls, along with some posters that advertised my deep hate of all things pop music and as K calls it “youth music”. My classmates were constantly playing it, I wondered if it really was the great evil in this world. I was pretty sure it was. My only shelter from it was the rock station that was broadcast to Equal City 17. It was the only way to listen to music legally, though that didn’t stop me from recording it and listening to it whenever I wanted. In addition to those, I also had a few vintage posters that my dad had given me, mostly just about a flight group called the “Wonderbolts”. I had no idea who or what they were but they made sorta cool looking posters with the Pegasi looking like they could most likely beat me (or anypony) in any kind of race that I would even dare to challenge them to. I looked up to my ceiling to where the posters got really awesome.
When my family had moved here the past owner had clearly loved nature and photography. They had never actually said so but it was pretty evident when you looked at my ceiling, on my ceiling the previous owner of my house had put pictures of nature, towns, birds and other living things. Over the years I had torn most of them down after I had gotten tired of looking at them and replaced them with stuff like tests I had gotten perfect scores on, pictures of guitars I wanted, guns that looked cool, but the thing I was most proud of was up there in a space where it would stand out the most it possibly could. The time I had gotten a Bloodthirsty on Call of Pony. My greatest accomplishment, yet not my favorite poster. Not by a long shot. Above all my favorite poster in the room was a map of what Equestria looked like before Starlight took over and before the Equal cities existed.
Equestria was a great big place and it wasn’t even the whole world! It blew my mind every time I look at the map. That was why it was my favorite. Sometimes I felt bad that I wasn’t allowed to show it to the rest of the world, they would have loved it! I knew that if my parents saw the map they would freak out. It was illegal to own any maps, books or paper products from before the Equal City’s time and Starlight Glimmer’s rule over Equestria. It was punishable by death to have these paper products, but I had never paid the rules any attention in the past, why start now? Everyday before I left for my “job” I would cover it up with a large picture of my favorite cup of coffee, MoonBucks Coffee Shop. It tasted best when you got black coffee and put six sugars in it, no decaf though. Ever. I had to get through the day somehow.
“Waterdrop! Hey sweetie I have your breakfast ready!” A voice called from the kitchen, my mom Teardrop. Her voice was pretty loud, but to be fair she was just one room away. Every home in Equal City 17 had the same layout, so that nopony felt like anypony was above them or getting better treatment because of what they did or who they are.
The layout was simple and it was impossible to get lost in. You came in through the door and walking right into the living room. From there to your immediate left was a hallway. Down the hallway on the left side you walked through the door you went into the kitchen, to the right was the bathroom. The wall right in front of the door was a large sheet of one-way glass, giving the residents inside the ability to see down into the street at the ponies taking walks or running work or playing in the street with them being able to look in. But we were quite high up, I didn’t think that our home needed it so much. But never the less, it was nice to have there.
“One second Mom!” I called out and reached into my dresser. It was painted with lyrics from my favorites songs and I loved it that way. I reached into it with my hoof and dug around for a while. Soon I pulled out what looked like a sticker sheet with twelve different “stickers” on it. But it wasn’t.
I peeled one of the fake Cutie Marks on it and put it on my flank, right over my real one. I was enveloped in a bright light that, as it evaporated into nothingness, left me standing there with my mane and tail colors subdued and dulled. My bright pink streaks that ran through my black mane and tail were now pale pink at best, and both my mane and tail feel just plain flat without any kind of splitting or curling or volume either. But as it fell flat I brushed through it a few times and ruffled it with my hooves, trying to make it look like I had slept with this mane and tail style. After a few minutes of this, I was finished and I happily walked out of the room, safe yet again from having to bow to Starlight Glimmer and have her control me, I hated when ponies did that to me.
I looked at my black market Cutie Marks, I was almost out of them. I had to buy them in the same place that illegal things like drugs and old books came into Equal City 17. It was shady and in the seedy underbelly, but most ponies were willing to risk it.
“Coming, Mom!” I called and moved to walk out of my room, but before I was completely out of the threshold I grabbed my jacket with my saddle bags sewn into them. They were where my spray paint resided. After walking out of my room I walked into the kitchen where the table was piled high with different things. I looked at it and kind if wished I could clear it all off myself.
“Hello Sweetie, I made all of your favorites! Today is a special day! The day you had your Cutie Mark removed! Oh your father and I were so proud on that day!” My mom gave me a hug with her left foreleg pulling me close. I laughed and nuzzled her neck. Not even my parents knew my secret. If they did… She started talking again ignoring the look on my face, “Oh we are still so proud! You surprise us everyday with something new!”
“Hey mom lay off! My mane is already super messy you're only making it worse!” I said with a laugh, not caring about my mane in the slightest. In this form it was messed up and didn’t need to be fussed with, it was what it was. I couldn’t change the laws of what mares had to look like. I didn’t have that power. I felt small when I thought about the ponies who did. I pulled away from my mother and walked towards the kitchen table, piled high with food and my favorite types of coffee. I would not fall asleep on the job today.
“Good morning Shining!” Dad said, unable to stop himself, he tackled me like what he did when I was foal. It was why I loved my parents so much, they were not the normal parents who just raised their foal, they cared about me and I felt their love for me and for each other. But I also felt my lungs needed air from the tackle so…
“Hey stop it! I am going to need to use a brush on my mane today if you two keep messing it up,” I spoke, pretending to care yet again. I sat down at the table, just happy to be here with Mom and Dad. I grabbed a cup of coffee and a powdered doughnut and slipped out of the door away from them and to my “job”.
I hated leaving them alone, what if somepony who was a government official came in and saw my posters and fake Cutie Marks? I was dead for sure and so were they! But I pushed down those thoughts and pushed open the front door.
I walked outside into the prison that was Equal City 17. Okay so technically I had never left and therefore could not have entered but… I liked to view where I slept and lived as my own little paradise safe from the crazy rules and restricting laws of Equal City 17.
I trotted down the streets, loving the fresh air. It was a bit cool though. I shivered and put on my jacket, careful to get my wings right where they needed to be. I had made my jacket all on my own a few years back, ever since then I rarely ever took it off. When I did it was because I was going to sleep or my parents made me take it off so they could wash it. Needless to say, I didn’t like taking it off. I reached my destination, happy to spend my day here and not anywhere else. I had the day off from “work” anyways.
“I see nothing has changed here.” I whispered to my wall that was my thing to paint on. Every great rebel had their own wall where they would spray paint something new every year, to commemorate another year of staying with their Cutie Mark without being caught. Ever since I had gotten my Cutie Mark as a ten year old little filly, this wall had mine to paint on. K had given to me as a gift, it had once belonged to a great pony who had started the rebel movement decades ago. My abnormally large ears perked up.
Behind me I heard some noise and saw that it was a group of ponies who were openly showing their Cutie Marks were washing off one of the walls. Realization hit me hard and I nearly cried. If the wall was cleaned it meant that the pony had been caught with having a Cutie Mark and had been thrown out of the city and into the Antarctic State.
I had known the pony, whenever I had come here I had seen him, he was a unicorn and painting his wall was what he did. I had talked with him and I had found out that he was 25 and wasn’t married or dating anypony. He didn’t want a relationship, he claimed, but I knew he was secretly lonely. I was suddenly angry, that stallion had been a good guy and now all he had done was going to be washed away? But it was what he had wanted. The pony who operated the gate was always on our side, the ponies who believed in individuality and freedom. Whenever a pony left the gates for a crime he would ask their final wish, what they wanted to happen to their wall, and he would always get an answer.
At the news that he was gone for good, my idea of what I was going to do on my wall today was drastically changed. I was going to paint a large picture of what Canterlot Castle once looked like. I was going to do it with the shades of black and red and white, and it was going to be beautiful. But also peaceful. But I, like ponies, painted from the heart. Peace was not something that was in my heart right now. Only anger. I heard the ponies almost silently washing off the wall, washing away the existence of a fellow brother in arms against the threat that was Starlight Glimmer.
I pulled my scarf from my saddle bags. My saddle bags were sewn into the jacket, more of a reason to love the thing. I pulled the scarf over my muzzle and made sure it stopped right below my eyes. Spray paint wasn’t good to breathe in and I needed to hide who I was, lest somepony see me, and turn me in. I grabbed the black paint and shook it, just like the label told me to do and I had been taught by K a decade ago today, when I was supposed to have my Cutie Mark removed.
“Hey! What are you doing?” One of the ponies who was cleaning off the wall said, addressing me. But I was already working, not time to stop and chat.
I made a large B followed by a U, C and K. I made sure to only capitalize the B most of the ponies here wanted paintings and graffiti that at least, in the lowest for forms, was spelled right and was in proper sentence form. It was the least I could do.
“Did you hear what I said before? Tell me what you are doing.” The pony said again, this time walking over to me. The pony sounded like a stallion versus a mare, but I was sort of high on spray paint fumes, my scarf didn’t keep all of it our of my nose and mouth and bloodstream, so… bah, what do I know?
Moving on now; I started on the equals sign of the painting.
I made two really thick rectangles underneath the word Buck and filled them in, the paint from the word Buck was now dripping down and meeting the equals sign, the black paint mixing.
“Okay tell me what you are doing and who you are! I have asked you nicely enough times now for you to get the fact that this,” He waved his forehooves widely in the air, leaving him standing on just his back hooves. It made me feel small. “Is not just some kind of fun time! We are mourning a loss here! And what are you,” He stuck out his left forehoof, pointing it straight at my chest, done with putting his hooves into the air and waving them like a distress call, “even doing here? Don’t you know it is bad manners to interrupt a funeral?”
I looked up into his eyes, meeting his orange ones with my own greenish yellow ones, not liking him already. He had a bad attitude, whether or not his friend was gone for good didn’t justify it at all. I didn’t really know what to say, I mean what do I say? But hey you only live once…
“Hey let me finish this okay?” I said turning back around, facing my work yet again. I started making the E that belonged to the word equality that would be at the bottom of my painting. But my paint can was knocked out of my hoof, this stallion would not just back off without a fight it seemed. I turned around and saw that I was not the only one who had noticed his presence so far away from the group of his comrades.
“Day! Day, what are you doing? She can be here! There are no rules against it!” A Pegasus mare with a long grey mane that was falling down her shoulders, curling slightly at the ends, ran out from the group of ponies, she was speaking frantically. She threw herself between me and the stallion, blocking both of us to do anything to hurt each other. She was facing him and was talking a little louder than would be expected from a normal conversation between two friends. “Day, we all miss Sun. Yes I know he was your brother but you can’t hurt a filly just because you have no pony to talk to about it! Please tell us what is wrong before you go and hurt somepony! And don’t forget she is on our side!” The mare finished talking, her wings were now flared out and she looked like she was about to fly away in a great burst of speed to escape Day. But she stood still, strong and held fast.
“I’m sorry for your loss.” I said, not really thinking that anything else was at my level of talking right now. Too many things were clashing as one right now. Anger, pity, sadness, the emotions were never ending it seemed.
“Yeah Jewel you’re right.” Day said, admitting defeat. “I just… I was… I mean he was my brother. I miss him. If only… I just… I wish I could go out there and find him.” He said tears running down his cheeks. His outburst seemed a little bit more justified now, he was still mourning a loss of somepony close to him. He was deflated and torn down.
Jewel didn’t miss a beat. “No! Day you know it is suicide to go out in the Antarctic State! Nopony who has ever gone out there has ever come back!” Jewel was overreacting and her Cutie Mark was a couch… I guessed it was a fainting couch. It seemed like something that would suit her, she could be a bit of a drama queen. And I hadn’t even known her for five minutes!
“You know maybe they just find a life there that they like and stay.” I said, talking way out of turn. Jewel looked like she was about to commit a murder day however, looked like someone had told him the key to immortality.
“You really think so?” Day asked, just wanting any kind of hope to cling onto, his eyes lit up and ears perked.
“Yeah I really think so. I mean I bet there are towns and things out there.” I said, picking up the spray paint and putting it back into my saddle-jacket. I looked at him in his eyes, not wanting to say this any other way, “But I also know that lots of ponies die out there every day. It is like your friend said; suicide.”
“Oh.” He was crestfallen and turned away from me. I got out the black paint from my saddle bags, not sure why I had put it away, I was expecting a debate from him. Sewing my saddle bags into my jacket was the smartest idea I had ever thought of. I smiled on the inside, chasing back the sadness from this conversation.
“Day! You want to put up the poster?” An Earth Pony mare from the group of mourners said, calling out to her friend. “It is almost time. Apple’s magic got the wall clean really fast! Turns out there was a spell for it.”
The Earth Pony finished, pondering the existence of the spell she was speaking of. It didn’t seem too odd to me, if it was something that ponies did, there was a spell for it. The number one rule of magic. Or maybe it was the second rule…
“Posters?” I asked, this was new. I had never heard of posters being used in funerals for… I guess we didn’t really have a name. It made meetings and stuff much harder. Thankfully, Goomer, the pony who had told me about it had said that I could join him and come to meetings. Then they faked my death, so as far as government knows, I am dead. Goomer was my music instructor until he got caught by an undercover cop, and he was sent to jail with the death sentence. K was his brother who had taken where Goomer had left off with my lessons and educating me on the group. I still missed Goomer, so I got where Day was coming from, he was still going through the Five Stages of Grief. After K had taken over, he had become a huge part of my life and my only friend.
“Yeah. They are new.” Jewel said, getting one from the Earth Pony mare’s hooves. She also managed to pull me from my memories, I was thankful they hadn’t brought back tears. “Thanks, Lightie.” She unrolled it and I saw what it said in full light.
Seek for
the
Sparkle
Underneath the words was a Cutie Mark, though who’s was the part I didn’t know. It was a six pointed star surrounded by five smaller stars on its edges. I looked at it, really loving the way it looked. I felt like I had seen it somewhere before… Maybe a dream?
“So this for what exactly?” I asked, I liked it but I failed to see how this would work for our group and how it was good for a funeral.
“Because it for saying ‘he gave it all’ in a different way, and also helps with recruiting. Say what you want, but it is new and everypony here said that they felt like he would have wanted it if he were still here today. Oh! And it means that we finally have a name! The Seekers!” Jewel said, more happy about the posters than I would have thought possible. I could sort of understand why, when one door closes, another one opens. But it still seemed like treating the death of a friend and a brother in arms against Starlight as a trivial thing. It rubbed me the wrong way. But who was I to judge?
“So we are the Seekers now?” I asked, trying out the title on my tongue. I liked it! I was going to use this title, regardless of whether or not these ponies were going to use it outside of today anyways.
“Um, yes? I think so at least. I mean there were thousands of posters like these made.” Jewel said motioning to the poster that was now lying on the ground fully set out for anypony to see.
“Would you guys mind if I finished my painting?” I asked, looking at Day who, out of shame and embarrassment, was looking at the ground.
“No, not at all.” Jewel said, nudging Day to follow her, and (thankfully) it worked, leaving me and my work.
“See you guys later then maybe?” I asked, really liking this group of ponies now that I knew more about them. I hadn’t met any other ponies who were Seekers other than K and Goomer.
“Maybe,” They said in union, not wanting to set anything in stone. I looked back to my work. It was half-done, that wouldn’t do.
I got out my red paint and then continued with my black, the red wouldn’t come until later. I finished the word Equality, letting the paint dry for a short time. I reached for the red paint, ready to shake it up, when I heard a noise. I stopped my hoof from moving and fell silent. The noise sounded like hoofsteps. But more importantly hoofsteps that didn’t want to be heard.
I crept my hoof into my saddle bags to reach for my knife, it was the only weapon I owned, they weren’t exactly cheap when sold on the black market. Or anywhere for that matter.
The mourners also heard the hoofsteps, I could tell by the guns and knifes that were coming out of their saddlebags and their Black Holes. Sometimes I wish that I can be a Unicorn, if only to be able to make a Black Hole and throw my stuff in there for the next time I needed it. Black Holes were tough to learn, and a unicorn had to apply themselves for days upon days to be able to conjure one, much less one whenever one was needed. But it didn’t mean that every single unicorn filly and colt didn’t want to learn how to do it.
Behind me, I heard the hoofsteps again, these were partially masked by magic. I got my knife ready, holding it in my teeth, ready for a fight. I had been trained by Goomer and later by K. In the fighting department, I was good.
“Put down your weapons! We know you have them! You are surrounded! Surrender now, or perish!” A voice called, it was deep, most likely a stallion. I lowered myself to ground, my belly was mere millimeters away from it. I was ready to pounce and kill anypony who attacked me, fighting with my knife hooves and wings.
“Never! You took my brother, and you won’t take anypony else! Ever!” A pony from the mourning crowd called out, it was clearly Day. He sounded strong and defiant.
“You got guts, colt. Too bad we have to kill you.” The same stallion with the deep voice said again, it just made me want to hurt him even more now. How dare he say that? I guess Starlight is a true monster who believes in ponyslaughter.
The soldiers- at least, they looked like soldiers- came running towards the group of mourners, leaving me with with chance to strike them from behind, maybe save one or two innocent ponies in the process. I leapt forwards, not waiting for anything else to happen or go wrong, I just needed to strike. Now. I took to the sky.
One of the soldiers looked behind him, seeing me. He opened up his wings and took to the skies, flying right at me. I bucked him in midair, he wasn’t ready for a Pegasus mare who knew how to fight it seemed. He got back up off of the ground, shaking himself off, not fazed at all. I was disapionted by this, but only for a few seconds before I too was knocked off balance. My knife fell from my mouth, leaving me mostly defenseless. I wanted to strike out at this new pony, not caring who they were, I was in a bad mood right now. I turned around and was met with a Pegasus with a long sword in her mouth. Her grey eyes lit up with joy when she saw my look of horror.
Our encounter was cut short as she flew abruptly to the left of me, as if something or somepony had pushed her aside. I saw that sitting behind her on a balcony to a large apartment building was a sniper pony. sitting there was an Earth Pony with an orange coat and a large gun. Yeah, this wasn’t going to end well.
I ran and grabbed my paint next to my wall in my mouth, thinking that if I could make so that the sniper pony couldn’t see where they were shooting, maybe we could all get out of this alive. Or at least very very beat and bloodied. And even if that plan failed, spray paint could be used as a weapon and that was better than no weapon. I could at least explode it with a bullet and have it land everywhere and distract everypony. Yeah, good plan Shining! Thank you Shining!
I ran back into the line of fire and the ground was blown to bits on my left side. I was thrown up into the air, but I caught myself as I flew through the air and flew closer to the sniper, who took another shot, but I was too fast for this mare! Or stallion. They weren't showing their gender by the way they looked. Rationally it could be either, both can be snipers in the-
I was pushed to the right side by the same Pegasus mare as before. She seemed happy to be able to get some much wanted revenge, but the sniper was a really bad shot and the Pegasus mare was shot right out of the sky by the sniper, her own teammate. She landed on the ground in a growing pool of bright red blood. I almost felt bad for the poor mare. But feeling bad for a pony like that was hard. They were some of the reason the world was so bad and wrong.
I hoped that the sniper pony would continue to be a bad shot, lest they hit me for once. I flew harder and braced for impact, not slowing down. I knocked the sniper off of their pose on the balcony. The pony fell and pulled the trigger as they did. The pony’s mask fell off, exposing his muzzle and face and proving he was indeed a stallion.
I looked to see where the shot from the sniper pony had landed. But it was chaos down there in the alley, just a mere six feet from me and the sniper pony. Behind me, the sniper pony fell, landing in a pool of red just like the Pegasus mare he had shot down. The pool was slowly getting close to my hooves and I flew up to avoid it at all costs but stopped short when I heard a voice and lowered myself down, the blood was warm and I felt an urge to vomit right off the balcony.
“I think we got them all!” The same bossy stallion said. “Open up a Black Hole for their bodies and load up the carriage with the ones that survived. They are going to be taking a little trip with us.” He laughed and I wanted to make him feel pain. How dare he kill ponies and just laugh about it?! It was sick and sadistic, and I was going to end it right now. Still laughing, I flew up and flew at him as fast as I could.
My body collided with his and I knocked him down. We were immediately dog-piled, soldiers were everywhere it seemed. I was thrown from the pile, using a little bit of flight and kick to the gut to escape. I still had my red spray paint in my mouth, as I hit against the wall I made a red streak with the paint. Somehow it was landed right in the middle of the equals sign, making an inequality sign. I was hurt by all of this though, and my body wasn’t going to get back up, not this time.
The stallion I had flew into (I assumed he was the leader, he did all of the talking and none of the fighting) looked at me from over my head. He spoke in a low tone, to insure I heard him and knew that he meant business. “I hope you’re proud. And now we get to kill you.” He laughed evilly and walked away leaving me laying on the ground, very hurt. I spit out the paint can, spitting on the ground to get all of the paint out of my mouth. But I couldn’t really tell if it was paint or blood.
“Round ‘em up! We have to get back to base! Starlight will love to add you Cutie Marks to her collection.” He said then turned around and looked to me and the two soldiers who were walking over towards me, undoubtedly to carry me to where ever I was supposed to go now that I was in their hooves. He looked me in the eyes and spoke, “Make sure we give this one the special treatment. This one is going to continue the rest of her days outside of Equal City 17.”
All around me ponies gasped and looked me and the stallion with wide eyes. I looked at him defiantly, I was not going to give up. This was my life, and it was not going to end today (I hoped). I tried to switch on my EyeComm, but in all the commotion I found that it had broken. So I wasn’t even going to be able to call my parents before I die? I felt like that was only right, I had been gifted with such nice parents, they should be able to live under the assumption that their daughter had died from a bullet rather than wonder if she was still alive out there in the Antarctic State. I felt a tear and a whimper escape me in spite of myself. The two soldiers that were flanking me picked me up and supported me on their shoulders, if only to make this go faster rather than caring about my life, injuries and well being. My injuries were going to slow me down.
I looked up and saw where the ponies were leading me to. It was to a Portal. It was such a powerful spell. Nopony could cast it alone, the power to make a portal could only be done if at least six ponies were casting the portal spell at an object. Then once one of the ponies cast the spell again at the object, it would flare up with a portal. I had never been through one before, I heard portaling was really bad. It killed ponies that were too weak to complete a portaling sequence. I didn’t want to go, but the choice to not wasn’t on the table. I just went with it, not wanting to get myself injured more.
Some ponies say that portaling is like dying.
I say it could quite possibly be worse.
I landed on the ground gasping for breath. I didn’t want to do this, I just wanted to take a nap but that wasn’t going to happen. I looked around to see where I was. I guess I must have blacked out or something. I didn’t know where I was.
But as I looked up into the clouds I realized where I wasn’t.
In Equal City 17.
It was so cold here and I saw my own breath. Beside me I saw a note. I reached out with my hoof and grabbed it, pulling it towards me. It read simply;
Dear Shining Waterdrop,
You have been a bad, bad filly! And now you get to take a time out! Away from Equal City 17 and all other Equal Cities out there. If you ever return you and your family will all die in our state of the art Death Camps! I hope you enjoy your new life! It won’t last long.
Sincerely and with lots of love,
Starlight Glimmer
I let the note fly away in an icy wind that came and threatened to rip me apart because I was feeling so small and fragile and powerless. I felt numb in all of my body now. Here I was on the outside. Question after question swirled through my head, ‘What happened to Day and Jewel and the others?’ ‘Will I die here if I don’t move?’ ‘What dangers await ahead?’
I found myself falling down, down, down into the deep, deep pits of despair. I didn’t think I could move. I laid my head down on the grass, thinking of all of the things I had left behind. But as I laid there wallowing in my own sadness and self pity, I realized what I had gained.
Freedom. Freedom to be who I am, to have a Cutie Mark, to be who I wanted to be! But it had come at the price, I tried to remind myself. But now I had a new reason to live. I got up on my four hooves and found that I could indeed walk again. I walked away from where I had been lying.
I was going to start my new life off right.