To Glimpse a Wider World

by Burraku_Pansa

Chapter 1

“They’re always doing something like this, I tell you.”

“Where could they have gone? Oh, I hope the poor dears are alright…”

“Trouble, the three of ‘em. Ya see? Cutie mark or not, this is why I tell ya not to hang around with them.”

A large crowd of ponies, illuminated by torchlight and the fading sun, stood before a stage outside of Ponyville town hall. From them emanated a great chattering, the frenzied conversation of a mob that, for the most part, worried why it had been formed. Three names in particular seemed to be on everyone's lips.

Atop the stage, nine more ponies and one zebra found themselves arranged in a haphazard circle, holding a conversation of their own. Eventually, they nodded amongst themselves, and one mare—a bespectacled, tan earth pony with a gray mane—stepped out from the group and over to the stage’s podium. By the time she’d reached it, the crowd had grown silent, but the mare still cleared her throat noisily.

“It isn’t often that I have to call a town gathering for an occasion that has such a level of seriousness attached to it,” the mare began. “As many of you have no doubt been informed, three of the town’s fillies have gone missing. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle—the ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders’, as they call themselves—have not been seen since this morning, leaving Miss Cheerilee’s schoolhouse. The decision has been made to arrange a number of volunteer search parties. Miss Sparkle, you have the floor.” She turned and nodded to the purple unicorn standing behind herself before vacating the podium.

Twilight Sparkle promptly stepped up, spreading a collection of note cards out overtop the podium. “Thank you, Mrs. Mayor,” she said. “It’s just as she says, everypony. All that’s been found is a note in their clubhouse, which read that they’d ‘gone crusading’ and that they’d ‘be back soon’. The fillies’ guardians were expecting the three to come home this evening at the latest, but nopony’s so much as caught sight of them in the past eight hours. We need to pull together to try and find them as soon as we can. They have a knack for getting themselves into bad situations."

- - - - -

The street lamps throughout Canterlot Square flared to life as the as the sky above grew darker. The last of the open-air merchants were packing up their wares for the day, leaving the brightly lit storefronts of the square’s numerous late night conveniences unobstructed for the evening rush. Despite the late hour, the city’s thoroughfare, which ran into and throughout the square, was packed. Equestria’s elite—politicians, scholars, nobleponies, and the like—scuttled quickly to and fro, never mind the hour.

Three small fillies scampered awkwardly between the legs of the busy crowd, until one pointed a hoof towards an adjacent alleyway between a busy café and a twenty-four hour bank. The trio broke from the crowd and dashed into the alley. They huddled together against a damp wall, myriad emotions playing across their faces—the little pegasus wore a disgusted scowl, aimed directly at the bow-clad earth pony, who, for her part, looked markedly regretful. The unicorn had tears in her eyes, prodding one forehoof with the other, right where a horseshoe-shaped bruise was sure to develop over the following few days.

“This is prob’ly the worst idea we’ve had yet…” said the earth pony.

The pegasus's eyes narrowed further. “Oh, so now it was our idea?” she shouted. “I don’t remember coming up with it!”

The earth pony buried her head more deeply into her hooves, tears of her own starting to well up.

The pegasus filly withered. “Oof, um…" She rubbed the back of her neck. "Look, I’m sorry, Apple Bloom. I thought it was good, too. At the time.”

The unicorn raised her head. “It w-was a good idea, Scootaloo,” she said, audibly trying to hold back sobs. “We’ve b-been trying for who kn-knows how long to find our special talents, but we b-barely leave Ponyville. New place, n-new ways to get a cutie m-mark… We j-just… we just shouldn’t have come alone.”

“Yeah… Prob’ly should’a paid for a train ticket, too. That conductor’ll be keepin’ an eye out fer us now. But…” Apple Bloom raised her head a little, a slight hopeful gleam appearing in her eyes. “But we’re here, Sweetie! Ah was worried we might not ever make it this far.”

“That’s something, I guess,” said Scootaloo, the anger all but gone from her voice. “But now what? This place seems even bigger than I remember. Where do we start looking for things to try?”

Sweetie raised her eyes, staring up at the scant few stars bright enough to make it through Canterlot’s own illumination. She sighed heavily, breath visible in the chilly Canterlot air. Calm enough now for her sobs to have ceased, she spoke, “Girls, it’s too late to start looking tonight. Let’s just get some sleep, okay? I feel like I’ve been running all day long.”

Sweetie’s companions looked up to the sky as well, and murmured their agreement. “But where are we gonna sleep?” asked Scootaloo.

“Yeah,” Apple Bloom responded, “‘s not like we can afford a hotel room or anythin’…”

“Apple Bloom, the next time we do something like this, we’ve gotta spend more than an hour planning it, ’kay?”

Apple Bloom nodded resolutely.

Scootaloo nodded back. “Okay then. For now, we need to find a free bed someplace. Any ideas?”

“None,” said Apple Bloom. “How ‘bout you, Sweetie Belle? Know any… Oh.”

The pair looked on at their friend, noticing that she was already curled up on the ground of the alleyway, snoring lightly. They looked to each other once more and shrugged, before finding their own spots beside her. The earth was poorly paved, cobblestones jutting up here and there from decades of neglect, but they managed. After a while tossing and turning, the trio found sleep, passersby either not seeing them or not caring enough to disturb their slumber.

- - - - -

The hustling and bustling of the passing ponies had continued throughout the night, and was now joined by the excited shouts of tourists. The trio of fillies had slept through it all, and now sunlight had begun creeping into the alleyway as the day began. Sweetie Belle’s closed eyelids were the first to feel its sting, and the filly found herself being slowly roused by it. Very soon, though, she started to notice a smell in the air.

A pungent odor wafted into the unicorn’s nostrils from the wall opposite her and, reluctantly, she forced her eyes open. Leaned up against the far wall was what looked to be a very unsanitary stallion; his brown coat was splotched with dirt, and his black hair and beard were full and scraggly. As if sensing her gaze, the stallion turned to Sweetie Belle, smiled as best he could with so many of his teeth missing, and gave her a wink.

The filly gave a gasp and backed up against her own wall, and she reached out to to shake her friends awake. It took a few moments, but soon they were smacking their lips tiredly, until they too caught the stallion’s scent, their eyes shooting open.

“What… What is that?” asked Scootaloo, nose crinkled. The unkempt stallion’s smile disappeared at this, and a light blush came over his face as he sniffed the air around himself.

“Ah know it ain’t e’zackly pleasant,” he said. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked shocked for a moment, before noticing the stallion and joining Sweetie Belle in staring at him. “Not s’much ah can do ‘bout it, though. T’ain’t rained fer comin’ on a week now, and they got guards ‘round the fountains nowadays. Hot shower’d be heaven right about now, lemme tell ya.”

Apple Bloom, recovering the most quickly, mustered up the courage to speak. “Howdy there, sir. Mah name’s Apple Bloom, and these here are mah friends Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. What’s yer name?”

The smile returned to the stallion’s face, and he tipped the filly a nonexistent hat. “Name ’a Pennypincher. Pleased ta be makin’ yer acquaintance, little’uns. No need ta be scared—ah don’t bite.” He aimed the last part of his introduction at Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, who had yet to stop staring wide-eyed at him.

A few moments of silence passed before Apple Bloom realized that her friends weren’t going to say anything back. It was then that she noticed Pennypincher’s cutie mark, a bronze-colored ¢ sign, and decided to fall back on the trio’s old standby. “Hey Mister Pennypincher, how’d you get yer cutie mark?”

The stallion’s grin wavered just a bit. “Oof, ah dunno if ya want ta be hearin’ that story, little miss. ‘S not one ’a my happier tales.” The stallion shifted into a more comfortable position, and Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle—now seeming to take a genuine interest in the Pennypincher—did the same. “Naw, suffice ta say the kindness ‘a strangers ain’t so easy to come by as it were when ah was yer age. ‘S fine by me, though—if’n there’s one thing ah know, it’s stretchin’ my bits. Couple ’a coppers ’n ah can eat fer a day. How ‘bout all ’a you? I know t’ain’t fair fer me ta ask yer story when ah ain’t given one ’a my own, but let an old stallion keep ‘is secrets, if’n ya please. Why’s yer little group here in Canterlot?”

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. “And what makes you think we’re not from here?” she asked, a note of suspicion in her voice.

“Beggin’ yer pardon, but the three ’a ya don’t much look like ya been livin’ on the streets fer long, and yer little friend”—he indicated Apple Bloom with a forehoof—“is far too polite to ’a been raised ‘round here. Not nearly spoilt enough.”

“We’re from Ponyville,” piped up Sweetie Belle. “We came up here to try and find our cutie marks.”

“‘Cause after all—” said Apple Bloom.

“We are—” chimed in Scootaloo.

“The Cutie Mark Crusaders!” the trio shouted in unison, almost loudly enough to rupture Pennypincher’s eardrums, and more than loudly enough to draw confused stares from the ponies passing by on the adjacent sidewalk.

Pennypincher made a show of smacking his ears with a hoof, as if clearing them of water. “‘S mighty nice, ah s’pose. Whassat mean, e’zackly?”

“It means that the three of us try anything and everything to get our special talents!” said Scootaloo. “Stunts, odd jobs—you name it, and… and we’ve probably found out we’re not so great at it…”

A frown found its way onto Sweetie Belle’s face. “The problem we’ve been having is that there’s only so much to do in Ponyville,” she said. “We’ve tried just about everything there that we’d actually want a cutie mark in.”

“Yeah!” said Apple Bloom. “So then we decided ta come to the city and try to find some new stuff to do. It worked for mah sis when she still didn’t have her cutie mark.”

Pennypincher tapped a hoof to his chin. “Well, Canterlot ain’t really a stunt-friendly sorta place,” he said eventually. “And jobs? All ’a ya seem a bit young fer one ’a them, but… Hm. Maybe an appren’iceship’d be more up yer alley.”

“An apprenticeship?” asked Sweetie Belle, her tone midway between inquisitive and corrective.

“That’s right. A whole heap ’a folks ‘round here’d just love ta have a bunch ’a fillies like you learnin’ their trade. The work’d be on the rough side, and they wouldn’t be payin’ ya much more than ya’d need ta live by, but ya’d get ta try the job out. They’d even give ya a place ta spend the night. ‘S more than can be guar’nteed to a lotta folks my age.”

“That… actually doesn’t sound so bad, if it means a cutie mark,” said Scootaloo, staring off. Her two companions, on the other hand, looked shocked.

“Scoots, what are you talking about?” asked Sweetie Belle with a worried tone. “We’ve been gone for a day already, and everyone back in Ponyville must be wondering where we went. I’m fine with staying a bit longer, but an apprenticeship takes forever! Years, even!”

“Yeah, and besides,” said Apple Bloom, “Ah’m already sorta an appren’ice back on the farm. Ah can’t even imagine how mad AJ’d be if ah up and started bein’ an appren’ice someplace else. Not to mention how bad the farm’d get without me.”

Scootaloo’s gaze snapped back to her friends. “Well, yeah, I know all that!” she said, smiling. “What I meant was that we could, um… just say we wanted to apprentice and leave later! Y’know, just try a job out for a bit.”

The others thought about the idea for a few moments, and gave their approval. “It’s settled, then!” said Apple Bloom. “Cutie Mark Crusader… Um.” She deflated somewhat. “What’re we gonna be, again?”

“Well, have yerselves a look around!” said Pennypincher. “‘S plenty ‘a shops ta choose from.”

“Sounds good!” said Scootaloo, her excitement bubbling up again. The trio got up and began to depart the alleyway for the nearby crowds.

“Bye, now, little’uns!” Pennypincher called to the girls as they left. “If’n ya stay long enough ta get paid, ‘member who gave ya the idea!”

The three fillies waved goodbye to the bedraggled stallion as they bounded into Canterlot Square proper.

Comments

[Frankie]

...
I don't know. I have to read more before I can make a judgement.

[Zemious]

Seems interesting, definitely well written.

trucking forward.

[FloydienSlip]

Hmm. Certainly an interesting start.

[Csquared08]

Did you prepare enough?

I don't think you did.

I think I caught you woefully unprepared.