A Shadowless Day

by Ko the Wolf

Amnesty

Equinox walked briskly up the mountain path, feeling the cool gray stone beneath his hooves and looking over the side of the cliff where the horizon was dotted with the many islands of Nesoi. The royal city could be seen through the haze of blue, pointing majestically and sturdily skyward. The city was smooth and uniform in most of its architecture, a magnificent sight to see showing that if everyone worked together, then great feats could be accomplished.

Of course, even if you knew how the system worked, it didn’t mean you could change it. Equinox liked being the Prince, but such things could become pressuring sometimes. Find a fillyfriend, do better in school, practice your magic, get your mark, clean your room; all these things had a tendency to pile up sometimes. Smiling as he continued to walk up the path, he was glad that he was taking three weeks off to get away from it all. His father hadn’t been quick to agree, but the thought of not having to deal with his son, and allowing him to grow on his own without the need for the stallion to direct his offspring seemed like a good idea in the end.

Equinox stopped for a moment to catch his breath, the pack strapped to his torso starting to feel heavier as he climbed upwards. He reached back to get his water flask but stopped. Putting his hoof down he closed his eyes and concentrated, his horn letting out a couple of small sparks feebly. His green aura flickered to life around the container and it shakingly rose from the pocket in his pack. Tensing, he unscrewed the cap very slowly and tilted it until the water just barely touched his lips. He only had time for a couple of gulps before he couldn’t take it any longer and caught the flask with his hoof just as his magic gave out. He smiled to himself, that was pretty good levitation right? Perhaps he was progressing. The dark colored colt almost took time to pity the earthponies, but he stopped himself before he could. Why pity that which is naturally beneath you? Hmpf, served them right too. They obviously deserved it.

Taking another step after putting his flask back with his hoof, he felt the ground give way beneath him. Yelping in surprise, he fell a good fifteen feet before landing painfully in a crevice half-filled with rubble. He took a moment to look around before a sharp pain from his forelegs made him look down. Holding out his hooves, he looked at them while biting his lip to keep himself from crying. Some of the shale had cut into him, leaving several small but painful red openings in forelegs when he fell onto them. Looking up, he considered calling for help before realizing that nopony would be able to hear him out here.

“Well this just turned out bucking swell now didn’t it?” he laughed a little as the word left his mouth. If his mother could hear him now she would have put him over her knee and spanked his flank, but out here there was not a single pony to tell him what to do. And nopony to help me out if I get into a jam either. He reminded himself. Oh well, let’s see if I can get outta this one. He focused really hard and screwed up his face in concentration, feeling the magic flow out of his horn. Slowly, the appendage lit and his aura surrounded him in green light. He felt himself begin to lift, straining at moving himself upwards. After only a couple of feet though, he fell back onto the rocks at the bottom of the crevice.

His fur matted with sweat from the exertion, he just sat there for a couple of minutes to ease the pressure in his head from the strain of trying to use that much magic. Equinox looked around, noting the wall of fallen rocks behind him, the two walls of solid rock on the left and right sides, and then what appeared to be a cave in front of him. He squinted, and surely enough a small light could be glimpsed through the dark hole in the rock. That’ll probably be my best bet, unless I want to try and climb up that wall of pointed rocks.

Standing up, he winced at the pain in his legs and took a cautious step. The leg held his weight firmly. Well, nothing’s broken. Equinox walked into the dark cave, stepping carefully on the uneven ground outlined by the light coming from the entrance behind him. As he kept walking, he took a look around the cavern. The cave started to widen out, and he noticed that it curved gracefully into smaller caves. It was also quite dry in here compared to the caves in the islands with large deposits of limestone.

The cave began to become thinner again as he passed through and out the other side. Shielding his eyes against the sudden sunlight, he found it difficult to see and didn’t notice the clif that he stepped off of until it was too late. He tried to scream or cry out but his throat was choked up and not being very cooperative. Remembering at the last second what happened to his legs he moved them out of the way and fell on his torso instead. The breath was knocked out of him as he felt the impact. He panted heavily and rolled onto his side. Well, this seems to be a recurring theme. He thought as he squeezed his eyes shut. Ouch, that’s starting to hurt pretty bad now. Ow, okay that really hurts. Spots danced before his vision before he blacked out.
--

Equinox woke gradually, the pain in his chest calling his attention. Finally opening his eyes, he looked around groggily. He shifted slightly and felt a comfortable thing beneath him. Looking down, he could see that he was resting on his bedspread. A warm light lit the area around him, and as he looked up he realized that it was the cave he had passed through earlier. His brain finally starting to get moving, he smelled vegetables cooking in a pot, and heard a fire going. Attempting to get up on his hooves proved to be a bad idea and his side protested mutinously. Wincing as the pain sharpened, he gasped and fell back onto the bedroll.

His ears flicked up and his eyes shot wide open as he heard footsteps. Either it was just his brain or those didn’t sound normal to him. Turning his gaze towards one of the openings to the cave, a large head turned the corner to meet his eyes. As Equinox continued to stare, the creature finished turning into the cave and stood before him. Two, large, horns curled over its long ears. Another horn jutted from its forehead that resembeled a unicorn’s, but its face was very much not a pony. Black fur coated the creature’s body when it wasn’t interrupted by green stripes or glyphs. Its front paws were fingered, but it’s back legs ended in hooves instead. White hair hung like a mane on the top of its head and continued down its back until covering the end of its long tail in a sleek plume. All in all, it was probably three times taller than Equinox and four to five times as long.

Two pairs of green eyes stared at each other before the owner of the larger ones opened his mouth to speak. But the voice that was heard instead belonged to the equine. “Dragon! Help! Somepony help me!” The tall creature winced slightly as Equinox dragged his body off of the bedroll and attempted to escape out the cave. He yelped as he was lifted off the floor and into the air. He calmed somewhat at seeing the rotating circle of blue light beneath him.

Equinox felt an unseen force turn him around so that he was facing the dragon. He closed his eyes tightly and held his hooves in front of his face, whimpering slightly. Equinox felt a sharp intake of breath and his eyes opened as a smooth voice touched his ears, “Hey, calm down little one. Why would I have any reason to hurt you?” Equinox lowered his forelegs and looked disbelievingly at the soft, green eyes resting their gaze on him.

“B-but you’re a d-dragon.” Equinox said quietly, his voice cracking. He was still trembling, but his breathing had slowed considerably.

“Shhh..,” The dragon cooed, raising an arm and gently brushing the mane between Equinox’s ears. The colt shied away from the contact at first, but started to relax slightly as the dragon continued with the soft, rhythmic strokes of his fingers. “I’d never harm a foal, especially one who’s injured on my doorstep.” The dragon lowered Equinox onto the bedroll, letting the injured colt lie down.

Equinox looked at the floor, embarrassed at his outburst. “Sir?”

The dragon looked at him, turning his head from the steaming pot over the fire. “Yes?”

“Ah, um...what’s your name?”

The dragon smiled and said, “My name is Amnesty.”

-----

Muffled voices reached his ears, words fading in and out.

“...should wake up...”

“...else you can do?”

“...up to him, we can’t...”

“...up, please...saved us.”

A throbbing in his head brought Equinox slowly to the world of the waking. He felt smooth sheets around him, and a soft breeze over his face. Slowly, he cracked open one of his eyes, the dim light in the room soothing and cool. He opened his eyes further, turning his head slightly so that he could check out where exactly he was. Everything was a dark blue, moonlight coming in through the opened window. He exhaled, the throbbing in his head not getting any worse. He shifted until he was sitting on the edge of his bed, looking blankly down at the floor in front of him.

Becoming more and more observant as he woke, he noticed that there was an odd feeling in his throat and, upon further inspection, the area under his eyes was wet. Amnesty... He sighed and raised a hoof to his face to wipe away the tears but something in stark contrast to his white fur caught his eye. Looking at the white band, his mind kicked into gear. No, no it can’t be. Equinox got off the bed and shakily walked over to the window so that he could read the text written on the wristband, his chest seizing up with apprehension. Almost falling over in his haste, he stared down at the writing over his right hoof and his eyes grew wide.

A single sentence caught his eye immediately, and he tore off the band with a look of anger marring his face. The sudden raise in blood pressure though, was not going over well with his injured head and he felt woozy for only a moment before he slouched into the chair next to the window. As the wristband fell into the moonlight on the floor, the words on its surface became clear. Ponyville Municipal Hospital.

Comments

[Crisslunarflame]

First! Great, as always.

[Ko the Wolf]

Aww, thanks!