Chapter 1

It was a dark and stormy night.

At least in my head, anyways.

Or maybe it was the thunderous roar and the whistling rain coming from the patio window of my apartment. As I lied on my bed for the fifth hour, my body sprawled and my bed sheets a mess, my head staring up at the ceiling as the fan whirred, my mind drowned in the endless thoughts recounting the past events of that day.

It didn’t make it better that I had a head-ache, but that was from yesterday. Yesterday was a huge mistake, as it ended the one last thing that brought in my income to keep my cruddy apartment and give me food on my one table that also served as a leg stool whenever I watched my Crystal Vision.

It was an easy job, working at a shoe store that specialized in stallion wear. All I had to do was to stock up the shoes, move around some displays and work at the register. Sometimes, I would have a co-worker work with me some days, but often it was just me alone in the boring old store, some customers coming in and trying on new shoes.

Yesterday, I hit a bar with a couple of old buddies of mine and we drank the night away. We took shots, got drunk off our asses, and eventually I crashed into my apartment. Not literally, but I might as well have considering I was stumbling around like a newborn foal trying to trot on his four legs.

I woke up late, grabbed my coat in a hurry, and took the first cab that, thankfully, wasn’t taken. I gave him the necessary bits, quickly discarded his goodbyes, and crashed into the store.

Once again, not literally. But just like before, I might as well have.

My boss, who wasn’t exactly the nice type, as expected, yelled into my face. He was the gruff strong looking blue unicorn, a race I despise a lot. With a fuming red face that if looks could kill, he would murder me with a steak knife, he gave me the walking papers and sent me out the door.

As I stumbled across the bustling streets of the unforgiving city that was Manehatten, I stopped at a puddle that I accidentally dipped my hoofs and looked at myself in the watery reflection. I realised that this was often a cliché in those stupid movies that the characters reminisced about themselves and their pitiful lives whenever they felt down, but at that time, I felt I was in that situation. Now I guess it makes sense.

I stared at my reflection glumly. I wished that I was a Pegasus. Earth ponies always get the rut of the jobs in Manehatten, which I guess answers the question why I was working at a shoe store. I was of a modest build and I could handle some heavy stuff, but if you took a glance at me, you probably wouldn’t have guessed twice that I could open a pickle jar.

I haven’t shaved in a week and my bright brown mane was in its usual mess. It fit in with my slightly mud like coat, shielded by a black spring coat. Really, it didn’t matter what season it was; I wore the coat all the time. It also sheltered my cutie mark, a laughing mouth.

I guessed I didn’t really live up to my potential. I wanted to be a comedian, or an actor, or a writer, or anything. All I wanted to do was make ponies laugh. That’s why I came to Manehatten. It was safer than being in Fillydelphia, my home town, and it was where I could chase my dream.

Not to say that Manehatten still wasn’t safe. There’s still a couple crooks who will wait in the shadows of alleyways and strike down at your heart whenever they got the chance, but I believed that I was better than that then get myself tangled in one of those situations.

After the slightly emotional episode of me looking at myself in a puddle, I stumbled back into my apartment and then I found myself where I am now. Staring at the ceiling while the fan whirred and my headache making my brain throb. Least to say, it was not a good time for me.

Now there was a couple things that were on my mind.

What am I going to do for money? How will I keep the place? Where can I find another job?

The last one bit me hard on the flank. Jobs were scarce in the market at Manehatten, and unless you had connections (which I didn’t), you were out of luck and you would be in the same situation as me.

Looking up at the damn ceiling.

I scrounged up some money and got out. I figured I didn’t want to mope around. I hated my job, so I figured I needed a little walk. It was something that I haven’t done in a while, and I needed something to keep my mind away from all the shit that was going on.

I walked outside and was immediately met with the cold chilling cold as pellets of water splat on my face and the soft claps of thunder played a small song in the distance. I muttered a curse; I forgot it was raining.

But in the back of my mind, it didn’t matter to me. In fact, it was refreshing for a change.

I followed the direction of the blowing rain, not wishing for any more rain in my face. My spring coat connected with the current of the rain and I raised my hood over my head. Nobody else was wandering the streets, except for the few with umbrellas over their heads and briefcases, hurrying to go back home.

I felt an unimaginable cold as the fabric of my coat connected with my fur. It was uncomfortable to say the least, but I kept through with the walk. I wasn’t keen on going back to my apartment, and the roaring wind would just blow in my face.

As I walked down the now lonely streets, the street lights turning on, I thought about how I messed it all up. I left Fillydelphia in pursuit of my dreams, but they came beyond my reach as I fell down an endless hole filled with unsuccessful results to make a living. It didn’t make any things better when I got fired from a simple job, which I guess considers me a failure of everything.

I didn’t have too much friends here, either. Sure, they were a couple of buddies whenever we sat around in the bar and watched the hoofball game, but it never came bigger than that.

It also didn’t make it better that I never had a relationship here either. I met a couple mares here and there, but they were more co-workers than they were real relationships, so it made me lonelier than it should have made me.

I continued walking, the rain becoming fierce and the thunder turning to massive claps like a symphony in a small closed space. I chattered my teeth as the cold become more unbearable. Finally, like I should have, I decided to head back. I turned a corner.

Remember the bar incident? That was the second stupidest mistake I made.

Because when I turned that corner, I found an alleyway. I walked past it, or tried to walk past it, before my skin was met with a stinging pain.

Then, it burned like hell.

I immediately collapsed to the concrete ground, my face skidding down the grainy and stone terrain. Come to think of it, that was probably more painful than the knife sticking into the side of my stomach, or maybe it was the rain.

I am such an indecisive person.

Remarks aside, I felt my body being dragged into a dark space as my vision blurred. My breaths were becoming quick grasps for air and I could feel my blood escaping my body, staining my spring coat with red.

Needless to say, it wasn’t a pleasurable experience.

I laid on my back, my head-ache growing fierce by the second as I felt my coat being moved around. Then, I had no coat at all. Then I remembered something amidst all of the confusion and pain; my wallet was in there.

It didn’t take too long to process that I was mugged and now I was going to die in this Celestia forsaken alleyway. The pain became worse and I could barely breathe. My lungs felt like they were about to explode as I laid there trying to get as much air as I could.

But in the end, I figured it didn’t matter. I didn’t cry. It felt like it, but I guessed it was the rain that shrieked and pattered against my face and skin. It also made my wound feel a thousand times more unbearable. I started to regret being out in the rain at all. It was depressing, wet, and muggers could kill you and steal your stuff in a flash if you’re not careful.

Then, I felt like that my vision was dimming. The light, not that there was much anyways, was going away from me. My hearing was fading. I realized this was the end of me. I was an aspiring comedian in the big city, but in the end I was mugged by the biggest statistic your friends nagged you about. I guessed I should have listened.

But stupid me, I didn’t.

My father always told me that you should go out laughing. I always prepared for that moment, and I guess now was the time to take that saying and use it in a literal sense. Even though there was not much to laugh about, seeing as I was about to die alone in an alleyway, I did find something to laugh about.

It’s ironic that I was thinking about alleyways before this mess happened.

“Mister?”

I groaned, knowing that I couldn’t get up and just greet whoever was talking. Whoever was talking to me, though, she was a mare. She had a bit of shyness in her voice. I almost didn’t hear her at first, or didn’t make out what she was saying. In the midst of the buzzing in my head, I did manage to make it out.

I tried my best to keep my eyes open so I can see this mare who was talking to me.

That’s when I first saw an angel.

Her hair was wet and there was a pinkish flower set into her blue and white mane. Her coat was that of a cream flavour, which was a colour that I like in general. She had somewhat of a sailor collar with a tie. She looked at me with wide eyes as she darted her eyes around.

I gotta say, she was a cute one, but why was she here in the middle of a rain storm? She should be home, with a warm blanket as she looked idly at the pellets of rain outside her window. But instead, she was here looking at a poor dying sap who didn’t bother to remember that alleyways are deadly.

I was too busy staring at her with my dimmed vision that I didn’t know that she was talking to me.

“Mister? Are you okay? What happened?”

I muttered some ramblings before I could get things straight in my mind. Finally, I settled on one question with my raspy voice. It hurt to talk, but I had to ask her.

“Who are you?”

She looked at my wound and shook her head.

“That’s not important. I am going to call an ambulance for yo-“

“What is your name?”

She glanced directly at me. She darted her eyes around like she was about to tell a secret to one of her friends.

“Well, my name is Coco Pommel. Please, don’t talk. Help is on the way.”

She was right. Every word I said made my wound hurt, but it didn’t hurt too much anyways. I couldn’t feel anything and my breath was becoming shorter and shorter as I gasped for air.

I heard something, but I couldn’t see it. My vision was too dim for me to see anything. I felt my body being raised, and other ponies were speaking. I couldn’t make out what they were saying. I could hear the mare saying things, and then a stallion.
I could only hear that everything was going to be alright.

I woke up, and I was in a comfy little bed. The room that I was in was mostly white and the air smelled like rubbing alcohol. I could hear a heart monitor beside me beeping its usual beep.

It’s funny, I never really been to a hospital except for times when I had to make appointments here and there. I was actually a patient, and I was actually in a room where ponies saved my life. It was weird that I was in the bed. It was always other ponies and they were the ones being treated.

I never figured it would be me.

The door to my room opened and I glanced at who it was. It was a stallion wearing white as he carried a clip board with him. He studied it just for a moment before glancing at me. He smiled a little.

“Hello. How are you feeling?”

“Felt worse.”

“I can see that. Don’t worry, everything went alright. We worked with your wound and we stopped the bleeding. It could have turned really ugly, my friend.”

I looked at my sides. There was a bandage that covered my wound. I didn’t dare touch it. They put those on for a reason.

“It will take a few weeks for you to recover, and then we’ll have to do some more things along the way. You’ll make a full recovery if everything goes right.”

“Thank you, doctor.”

“No need. Now is there something we can get you? Food? Maybe watch some CV?”

I thought for a little bit, and I settled on one question. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask.

“Do you know where the mare went after everything happened?”

The doctor blinked and rubbed his hair a little bit.

“Well, we did get her name. It was Coco Pommel, I assume.”

“Okay, thank you.”

The doctor nodded and went out the door. I sighed and stared up at the ceiling.

Coco Pommel. What a nice name.

Soon, I felt myself drifting to sleep. As I slept, I only thought of that mare. It was all that I thought about. I guessed it would be a minor obsession, but she was a beautiful mare. Plus, she saved me from dying alone in an alleyway, so that owed her more respect than anything else.

When I came to Manehatten, I never figured I would find something that would be worth so much.

An angel.

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