Tales of a Lonely Pony

by Echo Montana Juliet

What Happens After Today

He leaped out of bed and looked to the window. Ponies walked around outside. He was relieved only slightly by this. He trotted to his father's bedroom. He was missing. He walked outside to see two guards standing on either side of the door. Before he could run back into the house, they snatched him up. Silent like the guards they were, he was taken to the castle. Eventually they got around to hoof-cuffing him, where they chucked him down in front of the Prince and his mare-friend, who he had recognized from this morning. Neither of them looked happy.

"You seem to have a knack for getting away."

"Well, I must work on it if I'm here."

"How'd you escape the prison?"

"The obelisk."

"How'd you get out of the prison."

"I don't know, the obelisk teleported me as far as I can guess."

"It's an inanimate object, how could it do that?"

"Magic, I don't have to explain that stuff."

Prince Armor gripped him by the cuff chain and lifted him high into the air with his magic.

"I've had enough shit out of you, boy."

His mare-friend rose.

"Armor! You are a prince, not some common street thug."

Prince Armor looked back.

"Two days, Cadence. He's managed to elude us for two days. No one has ever escaped the prison and managed to be hidden for more than an hour."

The guards began to drag him away.

"He is to be hung at noon."

So, this was the day he would die. Back into the prison cell, he sat and waited. No last supper. No final wishes. He just sat there. Looking out to the sky, he noticed it was passing by noon. Suddenly he heard the bars drop to the ground. Turning around, they really had. Not wanting to waste time, he hurried back to the obelisk, recited the words, and entered through. On the other side they still were not waiting, despite it being about two in the afternoon. He figured it was an hour trip in the obelisk. He grabbed a loose brick, remembering the code, and wrote down the words and signed his name backwards like his father had taught him during the years leading up to the overthrowing of Halderon. He'd been taught this, because under Halderon's rule anypony caught passing any notes, were to be sent to the dungeon anywhere from three days to a full year depending on what the note contained. After a year, it just went straight to a life sentence. He left the brick where his father could find it, engaged the invisibility, and walked out. Prince Armor was not at his throne, nor his mare-friend. Guards stationed at the door looked weary and tired, as if they'd had a night shift which he knew they didn't, or at least at the door. Oddly, he'd started feeling a bit tired too, but he needed to find a way out of the room. He silently walked to behind the throne, where a hidden button lay. Pressing it opened up a door just behind the Prince's throne which he descended down as it closed behind him. It lead to the main hall which, still invisible, he walked through the main doors. A gathering had been set up outside. There was a stage, and upon it was Prince Armor. He began to address the crowd.

"Ladies and Gentle-stallions, I have called you here today to address an urgent matter. There is a dangerous stallion on the loose. He's managed to escape our grasp multiple times. His name has not been heard, nor will his father disclose it, but he is a snow-themed pinto, about six hooves high. He is of a medium build. Some of you may have seen him when he jumped from the castle last Monday and lived. If you should spot him, you have every right to either kill him, maim him, incapacitate him, or other means of capturing him. He is wanted, dead or alive. There is a large reward for his return dead, of ten-thousand bits. Alive his value decreases to a mere five-thousand. If you somehow managed to find him inside the castle however, you may not kill him. You will receive seven-thousand bits to the reward for him being alive depending on if you called the guards, or caused a conflict. You will receive no money if you kill him inside the castle. There will be posters of what he looks like in greater detail posted on bulletin boards around the kingdom. Happy hunting."

And with that, Prince Armor teleported back into the castle, and the stage was dismantled. The crowd dispersed, and he went to the local bazaar to see if he could grab some clothes to disguise himself. He'd returned to his visible form, found a rack of clothes, which he'd snathed some unnoticed, and changed in an empty stall. He'd found a stand dedicated to coat dyes and purchased a few, due to the vendor being right there. In his new, still grey, clothing and hat, he walked through the streets back to his father's villa. No guards this time, but to be sure, he checked through the windows. There was noponies inside, so he entered. He walked into the bathroom and began to dye his coat a navy blue color. When it was finished setting, he was satisfied with the dark blue look. Made him feel more like the ninja he was turning into. He looked in the mirror, and started to talk to himself about how he'd change the Prince's mind. He thought out loud to himself for the longest time, and finished with vital words.

"What happens after today, will effect the future generations for years to come, and hopefully it will be for the best."