Rhabdophobia

by Lunar Dust

Dawn in Canterlot

Chapter One

The shining sun painted the skies purple and marigold as the last stars of the night disappeared from the twilight sky. The clouds above shone with dusty orange light and the sun rose above the mountain ranges of the borders of Equestria. In Canterlot, upper-class unicorns in expensive clothing and frilly outfits of lilac and yellow to match the morning sky trotted in the cobblestone streets with their heads held high. Amongst the crowds of sophistication and elegance, a dreary grey earth pony carried a cello in her hooves, dragging the case against the ground and cursing under her breath. Scratches made their way into the crevices of the cello case from the cobblestone walkway as she walked on her two back hooves, and she growled as a small pebble flew up from the case and struck her on the snout. Suddenly, the case lifted off the ground and she fell with a hard thud on the concrete with the sudden shift in weight. Groaning and rubbing her temples with a worn-down grey hoof, her eyes focused on a blurry yellow shape above her.

“Need a little help?”

The earth pony rubbed her eyes and looked up to see a mint green unicorn in a lavish purple dress, levitating her case with golden magic and smiling crookedly. She held out a hoof to help the earth pony up, and it was immediately slapped away indignantly.

“What do you think you’re doing?” The earth pony growled and flicked the unicorns’ horn, shorting out her magic. This didn't seem to dissuade the unicorn in the slightest; she only grinned wider and continued to stare wide-eyed at the cello case and the pony in front of her with large, golden eyes.

“My name’s Heartstrings. Lyra Heartstrings; if I may be so bold, I’m a big fan of your work. I've seen you play before, Octavia.”

“That’s Miss Melody to you.” she sneered, shrugging off the forced compliment and glaring down at Lyra with angry purple eyes. The unicorn shrugged and brushed a piece of white hair in her mane off her face.

“I was only trying to be polite to a fellow musician.” Lyra shrugged as she turned to her side and gestured at her cutie mark, visible under her elegant dress; it was a golden lyre. She then pointed at Octavia’s own purple treble clef cutie mark and shrugged again. “I may not be as well-known as you, but I feel everypony should be…”

“I don’t need your kind of help.” Octavia cut her off with a menacing tone and a heavy heart beating like a drum in her chest. Her hoof-steps felt like heavy lead as she continued to drag her instrument away with her as the case clattered loudly down the street, much to the chagrin of the other ponies within earshot. Lyra only shook her head and walked in pace with the angry earth pony, bouncing along in time to the clattering of the cello on the sidewalk.

“Where are you going, Miss Melody?” Lyra inquired, cocking her head to one side. Octavia grimaced and trotted faster.

“I don’t have time for new… friends.” She ignored Lyra’s question and kept her pace. “Please leave me alone; I’m running late as it is and I’m uncomfortable with your kind of help.” Octavia politely mentioned, in vain hope the unicorn would leave.

“What do you mean my kind of help?” Lyra asked, to which she only received an annoyed grunt in reply.

“Hello, Heartstrings!” A sickly-sweet voice hollered down the street. A cream coloured earth pony ran towards the two, her dark blue and fuchsia mane a mess of large curls. She crossed the street without a glance and a heavy-set red stallion pulling a cart had to screech to a halt to avoid running over her. The heavy cart smacked into his rump and a string of obscenities came from his mouth, but the mare ignored him and kept trotting across the street.

“Bonbon, my darling!” Lyra cried as the earth pony embraced her. She picked her up in a golden aura and spun her around. Octavia screamed and ducked to avoid a swift kick from the spinning pony’s glowing hindquarters. She flicked Lyra’s horn once more and grabbed Bonbon by her foreleg, dragging her to her feet. She looked her over and chewed her lip, troubled at the sight. Unicorn magic can harm earth ponies, and Octavia has had first-hoof experience at the dangers of magic.

“What the hay do you think you’re doing?” Octavia demanded with concern painted across her face, eyeing the earth pony over and checking for burns. Bonbon shifted uneasily and swished her tail; a nervous habit she had picked up from years of stressful candy making under the scrutiny of picky little foals. Lyra lowered her fluffy ears and rubbed her horn with her hoof, staring. Having her magic shorted out by a flick of a hoof was not something that Lyra was used to, nor did she like. It felt too strange to her, the pressure of concentrated magic rushing back into her veins and flowing through her body, like holding back tears. It made her feel sick.

“What do you mean by that?” Bonbon gingerly inquired. Octavia sat up quickly and stared at the two in shock, taking Bonbon’s hoof in her own and looking into the other earth pony’s indigo eyes. She was taken aback by the grey earth pony’s demeanour. Celestias’ sun felt colder under Octavias’ unwavering stare.

“That,” Octavia gestured with her muzzle, crinkled in concern, “is a unicorn.” She spat out the words as if they were sour grapes in her mouth as she glared at the two ponies before her, and an intimidated Bonbon took her hoof from Octavias’ and slunk back. Lyra looked around and saw far more ponies than she saw before; a small crowd had gathered around the three of them.

“Yes… she is a unicorn.” Bonbon stated slowly. “Why do you mention that?”

“You’re acquainted with a unicorn?” Octavia marched up to her and stuck a well-manicured hoof in her face, “a unicorn!?” She lowered her voice and turned away from Lyra as she stuck her muzzle up to Bonbon’s ear. “Earth ponies and unicorn magic does not mix; I would watch your back if I were you.” She whispered. “I wouldn’t want somepony hurt by magic that they don’t control. It’s a dangerous game, compared with their vicious nature.”

“What kind of old-fashioned life have you been living?” Lyra piped up, overhearing the conversation of the two earth ponies. She walked over to Bonbon and swatted Octavia’s hoof away from her face. “The magic of all ponies is what Equestria was built on, Miss Melody.”

“Magic, my flank!” Octavia scowled, her eyes darting from the unicorn to the earth pony. She lowered her voice again and spoke to Lyra. “Unicorn magic burns the skin, and in the wrong hooves… well, horn… it can lead to the death of somepony you care about.” Lyra was taken aback, and fired up her horn in retaliation, gripping Bonbon’s hoof in her golden aura and flicking under the skin very, very lightly. Bonbon crinkled her nose in an attempt to cover up her laughter. She shot Lyra a dirty look and the pony released her grip, grinning sheepishly.

“See? No damage!” Lyra remarked.

“Plus, that’s a little racist, don’t you think?” Bonbon whispered to Octavia in return, before walking back over to the mint green pony, “And actually, Miss Melody, we’re a little more than friends.” Bonbon admitted as she nuzzled the unicorn, and Lyra giggled obnoxiously before slapping a hoof over her mouth and blushing like a madpony.
Octavia gasped and lowered her ears worriedly. This earth pony is clearly in some very real danger! Unicorn magic is dangerous; they’re capable of so much damage. Unicorns and their anger was not something to be trifled with, and Octavia knew that all too well; she slicked back her messy dark mane self-consciously, hiding a bear patch of skin with an ugly scar, posed on her upper forehead. It still made her exposed flesh crawl. Perhaps Bonbon was poisoned with a love potion? A sharp pain stabbed through her head and she rubbed her temples with her hooves angrily. No… they must be playing some kind of joke on her!

“This isn’t funny!” She bellowed. The crowd took a step back. “Unicorns treat us like we’re stupid; I worked damn hard to get where I am using my bare hooves!”

“So did I, using my magic.” Lyra whispered uneasily to Bonbon. She rolled her eyes.

“I know some unicorns have been prejudiced against earth ponies in the past,” Lyra started, tapping her hoof on the cobblestone walkway, “and that certain unicorns have done some very rotten things; all races of ponies have done so…” She glanced at the crowd, consisting of mainly unicorns in high-class fashion-wear with their noses up towards the commotion, “But even here, there’s virtually no violence on the streets!”

Octavia clenched her teeth and regretted raising her voice. She only wanted to help a pony she thought was in danger; Bonbon was a stranger, yes, but Octavia was not a fan of leaving a pony in the hooves of a potential monster, regardless if she knew them or not. All unicorns had that power in them, after all.
“Yeah, sure; whatever you say, you unicorn.” Octavia sighed. With a deadpan look, she grabbed her cello in her mouth and began to walk away. As she disappeared into the crowd, Bonbon couldn’t help but feel sorry for the earth pony as she wandered away, despite the anger bubbling inside her like volcanic molten lava from the way Octavia had treated her marefriend. The crowd parted as the small grey earth pony barged her way past the common crowds of well-dressed ponies, muttering under her breath. The surrounding crowd began whispering carelessly amongst themselves as the earth pony moved them aside like a cannonball knocking through a wall.

“What’s her problem?”
“What a loudmouth.”
“She’s in Canterlot! How dare she say such horrid things?”
“Judging by her behaviour, maybe unicorns are more refined than earth ponies.”
“What a snoot.”
“I bet she sucks unicorn horn.”

-

Octavia walked away, miserable and alone. Her sad, prismatic eyes took in the bright city streets ahead of her, and the hard cobblestone beneath her hooves; it felt like such a contrast to how she felt inside. She was usually so good with her outbursts, but she just… slipped up. She recalled meetings upon meetings of anger management classes surrounded by others like her that desperately needed help, playing her cello to release the stresses inside her. Delighting the group with her playing, she’d decreed that the instrument was her best shot at keeping her outbursts under her control.
The anger was just too much for her, this time.

“Damn Lyra.” She growled to herself, regretting the confrontation. She tried desperately to push the memory out of her clouded mind, but she simply wasn’t strong enough. That unicorn was out to insult her, and she only wanted to help Bonbon; what else was she to do but to stand her ground and fight back? She could never turn down a pony in need of assistance; that was just her way. She loved to help other ponies, especially strangers. It was good for her reputation as an artist and musician, after all, to be seen helping others with her own four hooves, without the aid of magic.
Bloody, bloody magic – it’d be the death of her one day.
She despised magic of all kinds; she considered it a cheap shortcut to what she could do with her bare hooves. Her cello case hit a bump in the road and scraped mercilessly on the ground, shocking her out of her thoughts, and she struggled to pick it up with just her teeth alone. She then noticed the wet, salty tears running down her cheek and she quickly wiped them away in confusion. She quickly glanced behind her shoulder to make sure she wasn’t being followed by any ponies who’d witnessed her outbursts, and when she saw only an empty street behind her, she felt a strange mixture of relief and guilt. In her ranting, she’d driven the ponies on the streets away.

“Damn Lyra.” She repeated. Maybe she was a little out of line, giving out advice without permission, but the aggressive unicorn stereotype is there for a reason. There’s a reason the majority of the Royal Guards she had seen in her visits were unicorns. They were quick and short-tempered, the lot of them. A race to surely be wary of, with raw power in their veins and fire at their very hooves; unicorns were primitive and uncaring. They were below her kind. They couldn’t control their anger.
But, after that outburst, was she any better than what she judged the unicorn to be?
…
Nonsense, of course she was! She couldn’t shoot her rage out of her head like unicorns did, after all, so she couldn’t harm anypony with her anger, and she worked with her hooves instead of using witchcraft to achieve her means. That automatically makes her the better pony!
Doesn’t it?
Octavia shook the thought out of her head and scoffed, continuing on her way with new-found arrogance filling her with faux confidence, and a lingering sense of shame following her like a shadow in a fading evening light.

Author's Note:

Thank you for reading.

Comments

[Saph]

Only finished the first chapter so far, and this already has me intrigued. Honestly it's a lot different than most things I've read on this site so far, and that's a good thing. Not sure if I need to broaden my horizons or what but I'll finish the rest of this later. Some of the grammar/formatting was off, (indent paragraphs?), but really good job nonetheless

[Magatsu Orpheus]