Twilight the Vagrant

by aeppel

The Bridge

A brackish rain fell over a dreary city. Water rushed down a concrete-lined canal swirling with debris and branches, and near the edge of the murky water, a police pony plodded along his patrol route. Rivulets of water streamed down his standard issue black raincoat, and he shifted uncomfortably as he felt the rain slowly soaking through the worn material. Of all days for a routine patrol, and of all routes to take, this was far from his favorite. His “buddies” down at the station had gotten everypony to draw straws for this route, and he was the unlucky winner.

In the distance, the flickering of firelight under a bridge reminded him why he hated to patrol this area. Street ponies of all sorts liked to hang under the many bridges criss-crossing the channel. Not that he disliked them—though he certainly did not relish his time with them either—but he was there to enforce the rules, and having to repeatedly enforce city ordinances and force the homeless to move along tended to wear on him. They didn't do near enough harm for the amount of trouble it took to repeatedly clear them out, especially since it was ultimately pointless. Nopony except the homeless and small-time gangs spent much time down in the canals, what with the complete lack of vegetation and the sludge-filled water, so they could have had the run of them for all he cared. Alas, he was not a lawmaker.

As he neared the bridge and braced himself for what was to come, the police pony heard the barking of a small dog. He saw it scampering around a pony wrapped in various rags, focused on something lying on the ground. Several unidentifiable piles surrounded the unknown pony. The police pony could hear a voice faintly, seemingly addressed towards the dog. As he got closer, he managed to catch some of the words.

“Oh, Spike, you know we don't have time for that sort of thing!” Well, at the very least, the police pony was able to confirm that the unidentified pony was female.

“Urf!” the dog replied, sounding a bit hurt. The officer got near enough to tell that the dog was grasping a torn teddy bear in its teeth and prancing back and forth as if it wanted to play.

The mysterious pony seemed to not catch the hint, digging through her piles. The police pony was finally close enough to be able to tell that they were stacks and stacks of books, piled in various dry places on the concrete under the bridge. The area was lit by a single burning barrel. Several other ponies clad in rags had been sitting near the barrel, but they clearly had been staying some distance away from the pony with the dog. However, upon spying a constable approaching, they had already begun to collect their belongings and creep out the opposite side of the bridge. They evidently did not feel like a conflict today. The police pony sighed with some relief. He would only have to convince the pony with the dog to leave, though she still hadn't noticed him approaching.

“No, no, no, no no no!” she muttered to herself. Suddenly, she raised her head and yelled in exasperation, “Spiiiike!” The last of the startled vagrants quickly scampered out from under the bridge and vanished into the rain.

“Arf!” The dog, apparently named Spike, had abandoned his efforts with the bear and stood happily panting with his front paws upon a hefty volume behind the pony. She turned around to face her pet, giving the officer his first glimpse at her face.

The police pony was startled by a particularly pointy feature on the mare's face. She seemed to have a paper cone attached to the front of her head, like a horn—like the horn of a mythical unicorn, in fact. Funny, he thought, that his daughter had just recently been asking for unicorn dolls. It seemed like a whimsical thing that a child might wish for, similar to imagining being a princess. How odd that this adult pony would be wearing something like that.

She quickly whipped the book out from under the dog with an “ah!” She seemed pleased with the find. She flipped through the pages as Spike shook his head and hopped back to his paws. “Elements, elements, e, e, e...aha! Elements of Harmony...see Mare in the Moon?”

The officer was quite close now, having made it under the protective shelter of the bridge. He quickly shook the majority of the water off before approaching one of the stacks of books and curiously reading some of the bindings. It looked like they were mostly moldy, discarded books that ponies had abandoned, ranging from thrillers to almanacs. Many were water damaged or torn, which was likely an occupational hazard for a book living on the streets. This pony must have been amassing them for some time to obtain such a collection.

The police pony stopped perusing the stacks to find that the mare had still not noticed his presence and was still reading from her book. “Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about nighttime eternal!” She gasped and whirled around, looking at the dog, which had curled up comfortably on a rather large atlas. “Spike, do you know what this means?” Spike merely yawned widely as she trotted over to him.

While he edged even closer, the police pony took a look at the book the unknown pony had been reading. It appeared to be a book of pony tales, like those he would read to his daughter. He sighed. He might be dealing with an unusual case, to put it lightly.

Her next action certainly did nothing to reassure the beleaguered officer. “Take a note, please! To the princess,” she announced to the dog while hoofing over a blank sheet of paper. Spike promptly began gnawing on the sheet, but she seemed not to notice. She stepped a few paces away and proudly began dictating...to a dog gnawing on an old scrap of paper under a bridge.

“My dearest teacher, my continuing studies of pony magic have lead me to discover that we are on the precipice of disaster!”

The police pony had been preparing to interrupt, but he paused a moment at that. Magic, eh? He definitely was dealing with a basket-case.

“Urf. Arf!” The dog had temporarily relinquished his hold on the sheet. The mare seemed to take note of it this time, at least until she spoke again.

“Threshold.” There was a beat in which the dog looked up at her curiously, tilting his head. “Uh, Brink?” A blank stare from the dog. “Ugh! That something really bad is about to happen!” Spike chewed with renewed vigor at the poor, tattered paper, as the mare rambled about nightmares and prophesies. The police pony tuned most of it out until the end. “I await your quick response. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.”

The officer almost sprained something muffling the laugh that threatened to spew forth at the mention of the mare's name. What kind of name was that? Twilight Sparkle? Did she think she was some sort of “fairy princess” or something, holding conference with her fellow princesses?

“Bark!”

“Great! Send it.” Spike seemed not to get the message.

“Urf?”

“Of course!”

“Wuff?”

“That's just it, Spike! The day after tomorrow is the thousandth year of the Summer Sun Celebration! It's imperative that the princess is told right away!”

“Bark? Yip?”

“IMPORTANT!”

“Rrrrf.” Spike promptly gobbled up the remnants of the sheet.

How that was supposed to send the paper in a form anypony would ever be willing to read was beyond the baffled officer. This whole scenario was beyond his pay grade for sure. Ok, he thought. All I need to do is gently tell her that she can't stay here and I'll just finish up my beat and go home. He braced himself for the bizarre conversation that he was afraid would follow, but Twilight was continuing her “conversation” with Spike.

“Oh, I'm not worried, Spike. The princess trusts me completely. In all the years she's been my mentor, she's never once doubted me.”

Spike then regurgitated the remains of the paper on the ground in front of Twilight, along with what looked like pieces of squirrel, apparently to her satisfaction. “See? I knew she would want to take immediate action!”

That was just about the last straw for the poor officer. He decided to get things over with and to get out of there as soon as possible. He was already pining for a sane, quiet meal with his family. He cleared his throat.

“Excuse me, ma'am, metro police. I'm sorry to, um, interrupt you...” She looked off proudly into the distance, and he wasn't sure if she was listening or not.

“But you simply cannot stay here. No loitering along the riverwalk. City ordinance, you know. I apologize for the inconvenience, but I can give you the time to pack your books.” She gave a large gasp, so he assumed he might be getting through. “I might recommend a homeless shelter or maybe a nearby park. I'm sure you can meet up with some of your, uh, friends, there.” Of course, the police didn't really like all of the homeless sleeping on park benches, either, but it transferred his problem onto another cop's turf, so it was a solution for him.

To his surprise, while Twilight seemed to continue to ignore his presence, she sighed and began stacking the books together and putting them into bags. He sighed with relief and moved on as soon as she began to load the books into a ramshackle cart, chatting to Spike about seemingly random things the entire time. Maybe he should have stayed longer, but he was done for the day. It was time for a warm meal out of the rain and the crazy. At least I have an interesting story to tell the fellas back at the station, he thought as the mysterious mare faded into the curtains of rain behind him.

Author's Note:

This idea's been in my head for over half a year, if not an entire year, but it took me forever to actually begin writing it. Please let me know if you think it's a good idea or not. I'm planning to cover no more than the content of the first two episodes, since that arc is pretty common in "what if" alternate universe scenarios.

The second chapter is currently in progress, in which Twilight meets with the rest of the mane 6 in a city park.

Comments

[lordofmyth]

for one thing, it ruins the story outright stating it is all in her head..............

another thing, then there would be no earth ponies at all if there is no magic. not sure what you call them at that point. earth ponies have magic.

[Bed Head]

You're taking an interesting idea here and running with it. I can totally respect that. The grammar and such look fine to me and this seems like a story that's worth exploring. I think I'll keep an eye on this one, just to see where it goes.

[pendrake72]

@aeppel...

I would also advise adding the Sad tag as well. Being homeless by itself is a soul-crushing social "status," and NEVER a funny thing to joke or make light of. Combined with severe mental problems (such as your adding delusions &/or dementia to your protagonist), it may even fall under Dark.

[archonix]

This looks like it'll be interesting. I do enjoy stories where the main characters are... well, not what they believe.

[cammerhammer]

3732729 I can agree with the Sad tag, but Dark is really pushing it. This isn't a mental disorder that is causing harm to others, and it is not cruel or scary enough to warrant it. Dark is reserved for stories that are worse than those involving a delusional hobo, unless that hobo is the Joker.

[Shinzakura]

3732865 3732729
The Dark tag may be warranted depending on how bad things get (e.g. Fluttershy is a sex worker who's desperate enough to do, ahem, "tricks" with animals for clientele and is mistaken by Delusion Sparkle as a vet - though IMHO at that point you're skirting the Mature tag if you get too descriptive.) Let's see how it goes.

[pendrake72]

3732865...
3733141...

As long as we all agree that the Sad tag is a must for this fan-fiction, that is an important point for any story that includes homelessness in its theme(s).

As for the Dark tag, yes I agree that it is dependent upon the overall progression and storytelling of this fan-fiction. "Dark" can be defined by a cruel/gritty environment &/or society as well as character interaction, as well as portrayals of scenes and characters.

The Mature tag is also a valid point, depending upon the story's direction.

It will be the Author's call, of course, since he/she (hopefully) knows the overall direction that the story will go.

[aeppel]

3732729
3732865
3733263

I've added a Sad tag, but I don't intend to go in a dark direction with this fic. I agree that homelessness is an awful thing that people have to deal with, but I really am not aiming to explore the sad or dark parts of insanity or homelessness, and I may be in over my head by introducing those elements.

The comment about the Joker, however, introduces an interesting thought. While his character is insane, it doesn't prevent writers from introducing him as a villain without a lot of redeeming values. This would seem a bit callous towards the insane, but it's done anyway. I'm just saying it's possible to talk about serious topics somewhat irreverently. However, the last thing I want to do is say something particularly offensive, so please let me know if I don't treat the issue with enough respect. Seriously, I really don't want to stir up trouble.

3733141

That would be an especially dark twist, but my idea for the rest of the mane 6 is actually rather ordinary. I want this alternate world to be bleak, but not outright dark or bad. In fact, I'm just drawing inspiration from our world (polluted cities in particular). The cities can be really miserable to live in, but people can still lead enjoyable lives and tend to ignore some of the worst aspects.

3732618

Good point with the earth ponies thought, but as you said, I'm not sure what you would call them. Possibly ordinary sentient ponies.

3732671
3732818

Thanks! I appreciate the comments.

[Shinzakura]

3733435

So more like The Fisher King rather than anything else. That works!

[Magello]

This deserves way more attention than it got.