Sunstone: Not a Hero?
A record was spinning on the turntable of Sunstone’s personal gramophone. Out of the horn of the apparatus came the microtonal, atmospheric, and rich sound of that new style of electronic music all the youngsters worshiped almost religiously. Sunstone had bought that EP in a music boutique by combining his allowance and a modest part-timer paycheck. Ever since then, he has played it almost every day. All of those intricate bleeps and bloops did their job at helping him concentrate during his intensive study sessions. Since these tended to last a couple of hours, background music was a welcomed addition to help him out. Maybe a little bit to his family’s dismay.
He was in his bedroom, posted by his desk with a singular candle lit and the curtains drawn. As the number of books required to obtain his diploma increased over the years, so too did his workspace to accommodate them all. No longer did he need to sit at the undersized toddler lectern he cherished oh so much during his younger years. On the verge of being a young adult, he needed something a little more serious to reflect his 17 years in Canterlot.
Sunstone closed his “Advanced Magical Applications of Stoichiometry” manual. He exhaled to give himself the moral boost he desperately needed. But with his music, his self control, and his strive to succeed, odds were stacked in his favor.
He was ready.
“Alright Sunstone, you can do this.”
He inhaled. And then, on top of his head...
“‘Various specific stones, ores, and minerals, when sufficiently heated, after a while, will become oxidized. A powdery substance known as calx will be the result of that chemical reaction.’”
He flipped a couple of pages to make sure he didn’t get that wrong. And huzzah! His memory was on par with his textbooks. Things were starting to make sense now!
Confident with his streak, Sunstone kept on going.
“Let’s see now, mmmhhh...” He looked away from the book, eyes closed. “‘Calxes have many interesting magical applications, especially within the dogma of potion brewing. They act as important adjuvants that fulfill certain roles when mixed in. Their properties are codified by their natural (or artificial, in rarer cases) color.’”
Sunstone tried to remember the most important colors. For sure this was going to be asked in the upcoming end-of-semester exam. These tended to be pretty brutal, and Sunstone didn’t want to take any chances.
“Okay, so... Red calx is used as an enhancer: It multiplies the effects of the potion. Blue calx, however, is an inhibitor. Pretty much has the opposite attributes of red calx. Then we have purple calx, which is an accelerator. With it, the reactions of a potion occur much quicker. Orange calx makes a potion’s effects last longer. Gray calx is... is uh, ah...”
He tapped his chin, pupils lost to the corner of his eyes.
“Darn, I actually don’t remember that one. Must be pretty useless.”
He quickly searched in his comprehensive manual once again.
“Ah, there we go: ‘Gray calx serves no specific purpose whatsoever. It’s an inactive filler that merely helps increasing the volume of a given potion.’” He chuckled a bit. “See? I knew it was nothing special.”
Three knocks on the other side of his closed door attempted to interrupt his time of learning. Sunstone decided to ignore them, hoping his visitor would quickly get the message. In fact, contemptuous, he raised the volume slider of his gramophone. That sure would show them, ha!
“Okay. So where was I? Ah! Identifying from which ore, metal, or mineral a type of calx stems from simply by the study of its physical properties. You can measure its density, its texture, and its color to figure it out. There are even advanced experiments, such as the hydrochloric acid test, more commonly known as the ‘bubble test,’ which you can perform to-”
Three more door knocks.
Clearly, the intruder was either stubborn or dense. Maybe a little bit column A, little bit column B. Whatever their major malfunction was, they sure couldn’t take a hint. Sunstone rolled his eyes and let out a prolonged sigh. He closed his book in annoyance. He obviously couldn’t be left alone, noooo. Somepony had to bother him.
“Yeah, alright, damn! You can come in,” he grouched.
The door timidly opened and in came a horn atop a pink head.
“Sunstone?” said the mare. “You’re in there, right?”
“No, I’m somewhere else,” he immediately replied, a bit irked.
When he spun on his chair to see who had dared to inconvenience him, he was left a bit surprised. That was definitely not somepony he expected.
“P-princess Mi Amore Cadenza?”
“Hehe, it’s okay Sunstone. You know you can just call me Cadance, right?”
Wasn’t the first time she said that.
“If it’s all the same with you, princess, I’d like to stay formal.”
Wasn’t the first time he replied that either.
And as always, even though she tried her best to hide it, Sunstone still caught the micro expression of uneasiness that washed over her face. Regardless, she managed to keep her large smile and the majority of her composure. Oh, she was good.
“May I come in?” she politely asked.
Ha! Why even bother asking? She was royalty. Didn’t matter that she was a couple of years younger than he was. She pretty much had the birthright to tread wherever the heck she wanted. What, was Sunstone even allowed to say: “Nah, get lost?” What a preposterous idea. If she wanted to come visit his humble room, then of course he’d oblige. That’s just how it worked in Equestria. He was dirt, she was grand: Same as it ever was.
“By all means, princess, make yourself at home!” Sunstone bowed with a borderline sycophantic voice.
She offered another smile despite the negative undertones her host was giving.
Cadance was a smidge smaller than Sunstone. Her long stripes of colorful and curly hair had been tied up in a ponytail behind her head. How adorable, mentally mocked Sunstone. She approached him shyly and peered at the loud object on his worktable.
“What’s this?” she asked, genuinely curious.
“Ah, you see princess, foals these days, they call it a ‘gramophone.’”
She chuckled at the obvious wisecrack. “No no, I mean, the music? I’ve never heard anything quite like this before.”
“Ah. Well, if you must know, it’s from a young emerging musician called DJ Pon-3. No idea if that’s her real name or just a pseudonym. Anyhow, that’s her first musical piece, and that there’s some pretty good acid techno. Any more questions about this music?”
“Um, yes. Just one. Could you please turn it down?”
Okay, Sunstone actually laughed at that. He was still pretty disgruntled, mind you, but he wasn’t one to resist a good quip at his expense. Anyway, since it was royally decreed, Sunstone figured he had no choice but to comply. He reluctantly removed the needle from the disc and the music was immediately cut with an unpleasant scratch.
Cadance used the newfound silence to pace around the room. It was, um... well, calling it “messy” would be a gross understatement. She could forget the bed that was completely turned over, but it was hard to ignore the sea of papers littering the floor, the random sculpting tools scattered about, the dirty plates that somehow hadn’t found their way to the kitchen sink yet... Yeah, it was a late teenager’s crib alright.
She didn’t want to make it look like she was judging his living quarters too harshly, so she tried to scrounge for something nice to say. She approached a cork board on the wall that piqued her curiosity. It was filled with sketches and works-in-progress. But in the center of it was a chef-d’oeuvre. A drawing much larger than its surrounding companions.
On it were three earth ponies on their back hooves holding a sphere.
“Sunstone, did you draw this?” she asked, impressed by the quality of the sketch.
“Mmmmh?” Sunstone lifted his head from his study book, which he had quietly returned to. “Oh. Yeah. I scribbled that silly thing a couple of weeks ago.”
“That’s a very nice draft! You really have a talent for such things. But...”
Sunstone frowned. “... But?”
“Well, wouldn’t it be more harmonious if there also was a pegasus and a unicorn holding the globe instead of three earth ponies?”
...
“No.”
With that cold and blunt answer, Sunstone returned to his favorite activity of ignoring the princess.
She blinked a bit, unsure how to further smooth things out. Sunstone could sometimes be a bit difficult to puzzle out. Talking with him often resulted in conversation judo. He was always so reclusive, so distant. What common grounds could anyone have with the pony who never left his room? With the pony who barely smiled? With the pony whose favorite catchphrase was a condescending sigh? With the pony who was, for all intent and purposes, allergic to anything remotely fun?
He hardly partook in family diners, let alone gatherings. He was never present during celebrations, activities, or events of any kind. Twilight Sparkle being enrolled in the School for Gifted Unicorns? Sunstone was absent. Shining Armor applying for the tryouts of the academy’s youth program? Sunstone was absent. Night Light making it to the semifinals of his bingo league? Sunstone was absent- well that one was understandable, to be honest.
Still. It’s as if he practiced solitary confinement on a daily basis. Every time the princess came to visit, he was always ready to disappear without saying a word. She didn’t even know Twilight had a second brother until the fourth or fifth time she came to foal-sit!
But Cadance wasn’t going to give up without trying. As the princess of love, it was her duty to be there for a pony in need. And behind Sunstone’s elaborate masquerade of sarcasms and surly zingers, she perceived a hidden cry for help.
“Sunstone, I was wondering... well, may I ask you a question?” she treaded carefully, going to his left and taking a peek at his studies.
“You’re a princess. You don’t need my permission for anything,” he replied, tongue-in-cheek.
Another wince she tried to stiffen. “Well... You know how your parents hired me to watch over Twilight, right?”
“Mmmh.”
“Don’t you think it’s a job you could be doing yourself? Watching over your little sister and all? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love foal-sitting her, and I’m not trying to tell you what to do, but-”
“I’m busy.”
Cadance lowered her head, a bit defeated at the bleak, no-nonsense response. “Yes, of course...”
That’s the answer Sunstone always gave when it came to family affairs. “I’m busy.” Two little words that would always shut off any kind of discussion, any attempt at reaching out.
Meanwhile, Sunstone continued writing homework notes. After a few quiet seconds, he tried a quick look to his side. Was she still here? Ugh. Here we go again.
“Look,” he said, giving in. “I’m sorry, and I truly do not mean to be rude, but that’s just how it is. Okay? I straight up do not have the time or patience to look over my sister. I’m already juggling a job at Joe’s donut shop, a bucketload of homework – as you can clearly see, and a tough session at a college that’s an hour out of town; because apparently, Canterlot is too sophisticated to have proper tuition for the likes of me. The last thing I need is to get involved in my siblings’ shenanigans. I tried that a couple of years back, and that didn’t end well.”
“What do you mean by your ‘siblings’ shenanigans?’” she asked, genuinely curious.
Sunstone chuckled sourly. “Oh, you know. This and that. They call it ‘Sibling Supreme.’ Twilight never told you about it? It’s a bunch of silly competitions they do against each other to see who can pee the furthest.”
“Sunstone...” mildly scolded Cadance, unhappy to hear such foul language.
Getting reprimanded by a pony younger than he was. How rich. Sunstone just had to relish the deliciousness of the situation.
“It’s true though!” he doubled down. “Who can have the best grades at school. Who can be the best stand-up comedian. Who can toot their own damn horn the hardest!”
Sunstone started to raise his voice by the end of his enumeration. He took a big breath to reduce his temper.
“That’s what they do, princess. And mom and dad think it’s the cutest thing ever.”
Cadance tilted her head. “And you don’t want to participate?”
“Ha! Even if I wanted to lower myself to their stupidity, it’s not like they’d want me there. I’m way too old compared to them, after all. I’d have an ‘unfair advantage.’ Can’t let lil’ Twilight and Shining think they don’t stand a chance now, can I?” He waved a hoof. “Besides, I’ve seen what happens when I get involved. I once made Twilight cry before. That was a good dose of reality. I’d rather stay out of trouble and not deal with the fallback of that horsecrap anymore.”
Yikes. It was worse than she thought. The offhoofed comments about his siblings was a bit alarming. It wasn’t natural for a pony of his age to hold grudges like these. She had to help him realize that the way he evaluated his family bonds were probably a bit biased for the worse, otherwise, he might cultivate and foster these negative feelings to the point of no return. It was a good thing that Cadance was particularly articulate for her age. She knew how to apprehend and talk to a given audience. Time to use those skills to win Twilight's brother over!
“I... don’t think that’s completely accurate, Sunstone. I’m sure they’d love to have you with them. I mean, take Twilight for instance. I talk with her a lot during foal-sitting and... you know she really looks up to you, right?”
“Uh huh.”
“I’m serious! You remember that time at the Summer Sun Celebration when she saw for the first time princess Celestia raise the sun?”
“No. I wasn’t there.”
He wasn’t. He was working double at Joe’s at the time. During an event as big as Summer Sun Celebration, Canterlot always expected a huge influx of tourists. Naturally, greedy businesses and shop owners took that as a good opportunity to jack up their prices. Employees were tough to come by during the holidays, so those who were willing to put in extra hours would benefit from a higher pay to compensate. For Sunstone, enjoying a healthier salary, even if it was just temporarily, was a boon. Train rides to school were expensive: He needed the bits. So, every festival, while his folks enjoyed themselves, Sunstone busied himself making donuts and cleaning shop. It’s not like he drooled over the idea of meeting the princess of the sun anyway.
“Well, point is,” continued Cadance, “ever since then, she became super invested in magic readings. Yes, part of that is due to how impressive she found the princess to be. But you know what really got her going?”
She paused a bit. Sunstone raised his shoulders.
“Growing up with you, Sunstone. That’s the best motivation she’s ever gotten. She saw how passionate and how invested you were with books. She told me more times than I can remember that she wanted to be just like you. She finds you inspiring, Sunstone. All she wants is to follow in your hoofsteps.”
Sunstone considered that for a moment. Him? She found him inspiring? He was her role model?
... Nice try, princess. That was just an elaborate ruse to keep his guard down. Cadance and Twilight were in cahoots, obviously. They wouldn’t spend so much time together if they weren’t. It would take more than a bunch of thinly-veiled lies to convince him. For the time being, he was going to hold onto his convictions.
“No she doesn’t. She just wants to one-up me and prove that I can be easily beaten. Books and academic achievements were my shtick, and now she's trying to take that away from me!”
Satisfied with his dismissive comeback, he reached forward and opened the curtains. The new sudden flood of light that invaded the otherwise dark room made the princess squint and protect her vision with a hoof.
The window gave view to the house’s well-tended backyard. In the middle of it, they both could see Shining Armor, young, healthy, and determined, rushing toward a wooden pony mannequin with pillows strapped to it. His head impacted the decoy, and with his strong build, he managed to push it back almost effortlessly.
“And look at my brother. He’s just like her! Just because I’m physically stronger than him, he’s been training non-stop to rectify that. I’m an earth pony, princess! Strength is the only advantage I have over unicorns. Ever since he got his cutie mark and his growth spurt, I swear he’s done nothing but try to surpass me.”
...
“Princess?”
Cadance was frozen, staring intensely at the young unicorn. Her cheeks reddened and her breathing deepened. Shining looked so professional, so coordinated during his training. His blue mane, his white fur, his strong hooves...
“Seeing something you like?” Sunstone teased.
“H-huh?” she shook her head, forgetting for a moment that Sunstone was still right next to her.
“Instead of window licking, why don’t you just go down there and marry him, mmh?” he teased some more.
Cadance’s face became redder than a tomato.
“W-what!?” she blurted out. “N-no! I mean... no! I would never...!”
Sunstone quietly snickered at his flustered guest. “For a princess of love, you sure have mixed feelings about it.”
“I... It’s not... Oooh, what’s this?” nervously asked the princess out of the blue.
In a desperate attempt to change the subject, she picked up a random small sculpture on the windowsill portraying an earth pony pumping one hoof out.
“Heh, nice segue, princess,” smirked Sunstone. “And to answer your question: That there in your hoof is the first thing I’ve ever chiseled. It ain’t too shabby, but I still need more practice. I’ve only taken to sculpting a couple of months ago after all. Every asset and extra curriculum credits I can get will help me elevate myself above the mass. That’s why I draw too, by the way. I have no other choice, otherwise, I’ll just risk staying a nopony forever.”
She was quite content with the long-winded answer, because it involved not talking about Shining Armor anymore. That wonderful, good-looking, gorgeous...
Sunstone saw that she was getting lost in thoughts again and coughed impatiently. Daylight was burning, and he was getting a bit peeved that he still couldn’t study proper. Seemed as good a moment as any to let her know that this was seriously dragging on.
“Pardon to be so blunt, but was there a reason why you came to my humble hideout in the first place?”
She blinked a bit. Ah, right! Her impromptu visit. She craned her neck back and looked at her cutie mark.
“Oh. Um. Well, I'm here to foal-sit your sister, but on my way up to her bedroom, well... I had to stop myself. Because I suddenly detected a good pang of heartache nearby.”
Oh.
Sunstone knew where this was going. He was not in the mood to play her game. He had school work to go back to. A backseat psychiatrist was the last thing he needed. He had no spare time to pour into this nonsense.
“Well, princess, better go ahead and calm my sister down, then.”
“No, Sunstone, the heartache, it ah, it came from your room. So I thought maybe I could come in and help?”
He squinted. He didn’t enjoy his feelings being meddled with like this. Especially from a pony who couldn’t read between the lines and outright refused to take a hike.
“I... appreciate it, but your love detector is in need of some fine-tuning. Because I’m fine, I’m totally fine.”
“Really? Are you sure? Because if you have anything on your heart, just know that I’m a great listener.”
She kept inadvertently pushing his buttons. He was getting increasingly annoyed at her resilience and started feeling tense on the inside. That little ball of frustration in his chest was slowly inflating.
“I am fine, princess,” he insisted between grinding teeth. “Really! The only thing that’s stressing me out is missing some precious minutes that could be better spent studying. I’ve got a lot of school work to do and very little free time. Plus, I’ve got to go to punch-in in less than an hour. So if you could please...?”
He pointed with his face toward the door, really inviting her to get out of here already. Cadance looked back, then sighed. This time, she couldn’t ignore Sunstone’s not-so-subtle “please leave” cues. She wasn’t going to win that battle today, unfortunately. If only she could find the right words to breach that stubborn wall of his. Her cutie mark was pretty much pulsating with the insecurities emanating from that poor earth pony. But she couldn’t do all the work herself. He had to do his part too.
One final attempt.
She was going to try to say one last thing, in a desperate gamble to get him to open up.
“Alright, I'll leave you alone then... But if I may? I think you work and strain yourself too much... Sunstone, this isn’t healthy. It’s not good to constantly hide yourself away from your family like this. You know they love you, and I’m sure they would be happier if you took some time for yourself as well.”
Sadly, the risk didn't pay off. Because, much to her chagrin, her speech didn't fly high with Sunstone. At all. He tried to hold it in, but in the end, that was the line that broke the camel’s back. Was she seriously patronizing him right now? Her, of all ponies?
The silver pony banged a hoof on his desk. That drew a quiet “eep” out of her.
“I ‘work too much?’ S-says who? A princess who’s already on top of the world? Spare me the horsepucky! Must be reeeal tough to be exceptional at such a young age, doesn’t it? J-just like my brother and my sister! Already well on their way to become champs and leaving me in the dirt! Need I remind you in which city we live, princess? Freaking Canterlot! I’m already at a MAJOR disadvantage what with not being a unicorn, but Shining and Twilight? Oh, they sure can thrive in this little paradise! You know what this means? It means, I have to work twice- no, THRICE as hard as they do so I can make a name for myself. Otherwise, how else are they ever supposed to see me as their big successful bro and not this loser pony who’s tainting their family name, huh? Huh!?”
“W-wait! Sunstone, I... I didn't mean-”
“Oh no no no please, oh please, I beg you princess: Keep telling me how I should dictate my life! You obviously know better than I do! ‘Take some time for myself?’ Are you seriously that naïve? You’re still practically a kid; I don’t have any lessons to take from a know-nothing know-it-all!”
Sunstone breathed in and out, his eyes widening. He put his hooves over his mouth, shushing himself. Even he knew that spitting at her like this was uncalled for. If he was spiteful before, now he was completely out of line.
Cadance received all those words like someone threw stones at her. Despite Sunstone’s insults, she kept her tact and stayed level-headed. She waited for a good minute before she could formulate a reply.
“I... I’m sorry you see me this way. But... you make a lot of assumptions, and I don’t think that’s fair. It’s not always a breeze for me either, you know. We all have our struggles, alicorn or not.”
Sunstone lowered his head, still in shock that he dared badmouth a princess this harshly. He didn’t want to show any cracks in his resolve. But here? He failed miserably. Why couldn’t he have stayed impenetrable like he always did? Why did he suddenly feel the urge to have an emotional outburst like this? It hadn’t happened in years, and now...
“I’m... I’m sorry princess, I shouldn’t have...”
“That’s okay Sunstone, I forgive you. It happens to the best of us,” she said, offering a sincere smile despite everything. “I just hope you understand that Shining and Twilight love you because of who you are, not because of who you are trying to be.”
She rubbed a hoof on the carpeted floor, knowing her time with him was up.
“I suppose that I should um, I should probably leave you to it, then?”
Sunstone didn’t lift his head to look at her, but he still nodded in shame.
The princess of love excused herself and quietly left the room, the door gently closing behind her. She waited for a few seconds in the corridor. Her heart-shaped cutie mark was practically burning with his unhappiness.
Sunstone’s music started blaring throughout the house once more. She shook her head, eyes closed, and let out a sigh of disappointment while trotting away.
I was on my way up the mountain, ready to put in another day of work. Today was a Saturday. And I was working. Yes, I worked on the week-ends. That wasn’t imposed on me, yet I did it anyway.
Look, I loved to work, okay? I think I made that abundantly clear already. It was a fulfilling duty, and I was a capable pony, etc etc. Working six days a week didn’t make me a martyr or whatever. If anything, it helped fatten my coffers. Which was good. Money was good. Money money money~. And hey, my house needed the repair work, remember? That kind of stuff sort of operated on having a big ol’ pile of bits. So yeah, I wasn’t going to refuse Mr. Prospector’s generous offer to let me work overtime.
Besides, I had a perfectly good excuse to clock in more hours. When I took inventory yesterday, after I brought in our new batch of copper that is, I noticed that our reserves of grounded rubies were worryingly low. I was more than willing to rectify that. Our lackluster supplies gnawed at me all night; even maybe a little during the party as well.
The party...
You know, on the one hoof, it was an amazing event. I really enjoyed having my 15 minutes of glory. I mean, who wouldn’t? The townsfolk, they all busted their flanks to make it happen. They must’ve prepared and pepped up the bar all day while I was on my shift. What kind of ingrate milquetoast pony would I be if I was a grump about it? No, really, it was a good time all around. Spending precious moments with friends and acquaintances? I’ll take any excuse to do that!
On the other hoof, however. It ah, it didn’t end as well as I expected it to. And it was entirely my fault. A small part of me wanted to blame the alcohol, but that wouldn’t be exactly honest now, would it? No, it’s my attitude that done did it. Such a pleasant evening, tainted by my suboptimal – not to mention unprovoked – social move.
I still cannot believe I lashed out at them the way I did. That must’ve come out of the blue from their perspective. What a jerk I’ve been. And then, to continue making a total foal out of myself, I isolated my sorry ass with a beer, only exchanging a few words with Sweet Pint. As if to make things worse, Skybrush even came back to see me to make sure everything was alright. Naturally, I assured her it was so, but somehow, I think she knew that I was just trying to diffuse my little oopsie. I nursed a few more drinks for the rest of the night, and the party was called off a couple of hours later.
Look, you have to believe me! It was an overall fun night. Let’s forget about the last part. It didn’t count. That was just me being stupid. Let’s call it a mulligan, heh.
... A mulligan that still made me feel out of it even today. Ungh. Work should appease my mind, aye? That seemed like a good way to turn the page and to never speak of this incident ever again.
With a newfound boost of confidence, I ascended some more. I even felt my ears popping due to the increased altitude. That’s okay, I was used to this phenomenon by now.
I took a different path than yesterday. Ruby deposits were located elsewhere after all. I was walking next to the minecart rails on the narrow path when I peered over the rocky cornice. I stopped in my tracks a bit, appalled by the scenery below.
“Oh wow!”
What I saw! Or rather, what I didn’t see. A huge chunk of forest, that’s what! Completely missing right by the bottom of the escarpment from this mountainside. A gigantic square of land filled up with chopped up trees, piled up timber, and other various debris; all of them, resting on a bed of chipped wood and nubby stumps.
That was site 2B, was it not?
Well, congrats Seesaw Log and Leafy Humus! You successfully cleansed an entire chunk of the surrounding preserve. Sheesh. They really weren’t kidding about their exploit yesterday. In fact, they might have undersold it, ha.
I get that Mayor De La Tour wanted Outer Grove to have enough space for that fancy college of his, but boy, how big did he want it to be? We were barely a hundred in here. That seemed like overkill. The clearing could’ve easily fit five hoofball fields, and that was a modest estimate!
Look, obviously, I wasn’t an expert; far for me to entertain the idea of telling Log and Leafy how to do their job. If they judged that basically nullifying a corner of the Undiscovered West was the way to go, then hey, more power to them. Besides, they were probably just carrying out the blueprints carefully laid out by Mr. Prospector. Surely, they knew better than to deviate from them. All was well.
I sardonically chuckled to myself and marched on. Today was ruby day, and I had a good feeling about it. My sixth sense all but ensured that I would strike a fortune!
Well, my sixth sense certainly had a strange sense of humor. Or maybe it was defective?
Whatever the case was, today was going poorly. Poorly with a capital P. Poorly to the max. In fact, I don’t think I recall the last time I was that subpar, that inefficient at my job. My cart was barely a quarter full when my stomach told me it was soon time for dinner. My instincts were all off, and rubies made a mockery out of my expertise.
I guess somehow, I still felt under the weather.
What’s wrong with me? Did yesterday evening jumble me up that much? Like, come on now! Yes yes, we get it, princess Twilight Sparkle. You tripped me up, okay? You win!!! That being said, could you kindly leave my mind now, if it’s not so much trouble? I had work to be done, you see. Gray Calx was pragmatic and down-to-earth; not emotional and mopey. So, begone now! Shoo! Out of my brain! You’ve done enough damage already.
...
Sigh.
Might as well call it a day. I’ll have some serious explanations to give to Mr. Prospector. Not to mention, I think he was still recovering from his night of debauchery, so bad news was the last thing he’d want out of me. How I hated to disappoint.
I was bringing the cart up the steep slope of my tunnel as I always do. It wasn’t as heavy as it usually was; another grim reminder of my terrible performance today.
I was halfway through the return path when a sudden earthquake shook the whole cave system. Everything vibrated with fervor. So much so that I had no other choice but to trip to the floor. The tremors might’ve only lasted two or three seconds at best, but that was enough for me to let go of the minecart.
I flipped to my back, just in time to see the cart speeding down the rails, gravity giving it all the acceleration it desired. It soon disappeared into the deep darkness below, the crystal light of my helmet failing to illuminate this far down. And then, a few seconds later...
CRAAAAASHHH!!!
Followed by the distant sounds of gems spilling everywhere.
“Are you KIDDING me?” my infuriated voice echoed.
Wonderful! High score! Let’s pop out the champagne everypony!
Today was a day, wasn’t it!? One of the most days ever. The hay did I do to Marephy’s Law to end up on its crappy side so badly? I dared not to think of the damage my cart received. For all I knew, it was a mashed-up wreck of metal. It would take me hours, literal hours, to get it out of here, bring a new one in its stead, and fill it back up. I’d be here all night. Cool Saturday, right? Hey, maybe the tremors could dislodge a boulder from the ceiling and smother me while we’re at it?
Speaking of the tremors, what in Faust’s name caused them in the first place? My geological knowledge knew that this sector was NOT prone to random earthquakes. You see, we were in the middle of a tectonic plate, which meant that-
!!!
S-something roared! Aggressively so. Same as yesterday night! I heard it loud and clear! Came straight from the outside, a-and... and there it went again! More bestial snarls! Oooh that sounded unhappy.
Okay, you know what? We’ll handle the clean-up job later. I have had just enough of these mind games. I’m going to check what the deal was once and for all. I wasn’t crazy! I wasn’t hearing voices- or screams, rather! I’ll prove to the world that my delusions were grounded. I. Wasn’t. Losing. My mind!
I got back up on my hooves and took no time to gallop toward the exit.
When I appeared out of my rounded chasm, I had to put on the brakes. Violently. I slid forward, raising a cloud of dust behind me. I even had to flail my front hooves in a backpedaling motion to help me come to a full stop. When I finally did, I flattened my body to the floor, making myself as minuscule and innocuous as I could. I held my mouth shut with my two front hooves to avoid uttering a reflex scream.
What. THE HECK! This can’t... w-w-were t-t-these...? I c-c-couldn’t be dreaming this stuff, r-right?
Could somepony, ANYPONY, please, explain to me why there were TWO FREAKING URSA MINORS DOWN THERE!?
Right by the base of the mountain! Wandering in the middle of site 2B! I knew Ursa Minors weren’t the friendliest creatures of the bunch, but these ones looked unquestionably ANGRY. Aggressive to incomprehensible levels, especially for us unassuming little ponies. But it was indisputable: They were rage incarnate. The purest manifestation of fury.
One of them was larger than the other. Maybe the smaller one (“smaller” being used loosely here) was a cub, or something? I dunno, I wasn’t an expert on the topic of destructive creatures!
What I did know, though, is that they looked oh so peeved. The mother (or father?) smacked away a pile of logs, whilst the younger one busied him or herself with pounding the barren muddy floor – and now I know where the “earthquakes” came from. They paced around the site, destroying everything that they could. Geez, if I wasn’t so dumb, I’d tentatively guess that something about that place had attracted their wrath.
The fact that they didn’t spot my frail frame all the way up there was nothing short of miraculous. My cover hadn’t been blown – at least not yet. I was just there, spying on them, my body trembling in ways I’ve never felt before. There was fear, and then there was me right now. It took a lot of mental fortitude to not faint at the sight.
Both of these giant bears were radiating with a blue cosmic backdrop. The crepuscule made them stand out like sore hooves. Everything around was getting darker, but these two Ursas, they were getting more and more vibrant.
Finally deciding that they loitered about for long enough, they took the wise decision to leave the stripped area and headed West. Right until they turned around the mountain I was standing on, where I could see them no longer.
...
Wheew!
I think I held my breath for a solid minute there. I started panting audibly, giving some much-needed oxygen to my lungs. A cold sweat ran down my temple, and my heart was drumming with painful palpitations. What a thrill! What an experience! But hey, the danger has passed, right? H-hurray?
Then it hit me.
These two gigantic monsters? Were on a direct course toward Outer Grove.
Oh, buck.
That wasn’t ideal now, was it? Oh crud, oh crud, oh CRUD!
Welp. Time to put an X on Outer Grove. They were done for. Totally out of lifespan. They were going to get absolutely leveled. Let’s pour one out for the poor souls down there. One Ursa was already trouble, but two of them? There was no way out of this one. It was going to be a bloody massacre.
I was just lucky to have been out of town during its time of destruction, phew! All I needed was to wait this one out and sulk in my pit like a big crybaby. Better safe than sorry! Inaction saved the day – my day! Hehehahaha, good job, Gray Calx!
...
Wait, what the hay was I even saying right now?
I had friends living there! Good ponies! Ponies who pooled their efforts to commemorate my name not even a full day ago. None of them deserved such a fate!
And Skybrush... Honey Dream... I couldn’t possibly...
I stood up in a heartbeat. I had to do something about this! Warn them proper, or something. I wasn’t going to let them perish, unaware of what even hit them! I was the only one aware of the problem, and it was up to me to use that knowledge to save the day.
... But I wasn’t a hero. I DIDN’T want to be a hero. Oh sweet Celestia, why was I put in such situations? Why meeee! Couldn’t anypony else have taken my role here? I just wanted to mine for a living; how dare I, right!?
Okay. Okay Calx. You can feel sorry for yourself later. Now was the time to act like an adult.
A plan.
A plan, a plan, a plan. A plaaaaaan-
Right!
Here’s what I was going to do. I was going to beat these two uglies to the town. That would leave me some time to shout “THE END IS NIGH” in the streets like an absolute madpony. Problem was, I couldn’t possibly outpace them. Except! I just witnessed ten minutes ago a pretty efficient method to go downhill at Wonderbolt speeds. Yeah... that could work! You sly devil, Calx!
I hasted myself and jumped into an empty minecart that stood all on its own outside. Feeling confident, I yanked the braking mechanism with all of my earth pony strength. Rocking my body back and forth, surely, the cart started to go forward on its rails. The gentle slope, becoming more and more diagonal, made the cart and I gain a lot of speed, until eventually, it was moving faster than I could’ve galloped all on my own.
The wind was blowing in my purple mane. I had to squint with watery eyes. Holy moly, that thing was speedier than a rollercoaster! Seriously, why was I going so effin’ fast!? I was merely trying to tell my fellow villagers of the upcoming danger, not to break the sound barrier!
I attempted to put the brake back on, but that was futile. The lever just became red with the friction and emitted a firework of sparks. It even smelled like burnt metal. There was no stopping the Gray Calx ride. Hey, at least I had a helmet to protect me, right? Good lord, I totally was going to get myself killed before the Ursas could do it for me. Hilarious.
Fortunately, the cart held during the many twists and turns, and neither derailed nor toppled over. Yay.
Unfortunately, my comet of a ride soon ran out of tracks. Nuts.
Barreling down at alarming speeds, I saw the end of the line. A simple little contraption on which carts could come to a rest. Although in my case, it probably won’t achieve anything.
To the left, resting on the cliff of the mountain, was an old-fashioned bungalow: Mr. Prospector’s office. As for the stallion himself, he was seated not too far where the collision would occur. Napping on a rocking chair, head hung low under his big hat, he was most surely sleeping off his hangover.
“WAAAAAAAATCH OUUUUUUT!” I tried in vain to warn.
But it was too late. A few centimeters now, and-
KA-BANG!
Goodbye, cruel ground!
Upward I went. Like I was shot out of a canon. My helmet got projected away from the sheer force of the impact – so much for that! Everything was upside down. Guess I was in the middle of a majestic front flip? I was a few meters up in the air, on my way to a back breaking injury.
Even though it all happened so quickly, I swore I saw the green form of Mr. Prospector passing under me. In the microsecond he appeared in my view, I even managed to see him snorkel awake with a gasp.
Couldn’t float forever, unfortunately. I eventually started descending. Faster and faster now.
SMAAAASH!!
Back first directly into a pile of crates. I totally wrecked them – and myself.
“Unghh...” I moaned in pain.
Followed up by a bunch of coughs. Ouch... my everything. What was in those crates, effin’ bricks or something!? Oh wait, no. Spare parts for the rails, as it turns out. If only I worked in a mattress factory, guh...
I heard a pony gallop toward my corpse of a body. “Sweet jumpin’ Celestia, what do you think you’re doin’, son?” yelled Mr. Prospector. “Have you completely lost your marbles, eh!?”
I somehow succeeded at bringing my sore self up. I cannot recall the last time I maimed myself this badly. Thankfully, adrenaline was on my side for the time being. Tomorrow would suck, though.
“I... I’m sorry Mr. Prospector, I didn’t mean... But it’s, t-there’s-”
“What’s gotten into you? You’ve never been this... this reckless! Here I thought I could just snore my killer headache away, and this is what I wake up to!? A crazy acrobat of a pony who’s...” He stopped himself, peering at my forehead. “... who’s bleeding! Calx, your head, you’re… you’re hurt!”
Huh? I mean, I did feel something warm and wet up there, but I passed it off as some oil or something that splashed on me during the collision. Surely, it couldn’t be...?
I probed the damaged area under my mane, and looked at my hoof. It was stamped by redness.
See, normally, this is where I would appropriately flip my lid. But we had more important things to deal with! I had to get back on track (no puns intended). Time was of the essence!
“There’s no time for that!” I harshly grabbed him by his vest and brought him snout-to-snout with me. “Mr. Prospector! The town’s in grave danger! U-Ursa Minors! Two of them! Coming to wreck everything in their path!”
Despite my psycho babble and my intense breathing, there was a moment of silence. Soon to be broken by Mr. Prospector, nervously chortling.
“Surely you jest, eh? That’s why you injured yourself, isn’t it? To make this unsavory joke more genuine?”
I just stared intensively at him. His mustachioed grin faded out. His eyes, which were oh so full of comedy just then, were now terror-stricken. I don’t think he fooled himself with the improbability of his assessment.
“... You’re not kidding, are you?”
“Have I EVER joked about stuff like this!?”
Okay, now he was in full blown panic mode too. Guess my neurotic mood finally got to him. To think that he was always so mellow and collected. Now though? It’s like he was a completely different pony.
“Oh this is bad. And I mean, this is BAD!” he rambled, losing his nerves. Which was new to me. Never seen him freak out before. “I knew this was bound to happen one day...” He shook his head, trying to get a grip. “We need to warn the whole town!”
“I’m already there, boss! My shouting voice is all prepped up – let’s go!”
I was about to bolt away to fulfil my destiny as the harbinger of bad news, but he halted me before I could do so.
“Hol’ up!” He lifted a commanding hoof, despite his alarmed state. “Think I’ve got a better idea, eh? Follow me, Calx!”
Considering we were competing against a bomb with a very short fuse, I wasn’t about to second guess my superior. I followed him without arguing.
I might’ve been a pretty muscular pony, but that didn’t mean I came without my share of shortcomings. As it so happens, my cardio was ah, a bit lackluster, to say the least.
Okay. Alright. It was terrible. You’ve got me. I was panting and wheezing. I could’ve easily been mistaken for a pony in the middle of an asthmatic attack. My tongue was out of my maw, trying to lower my inner temperature. Sweat dampened the entirety of my fur. So much so that my mane was sticking on my neck, yuck. I must’ve looked miserable to the common observer.
Guess that’s what happens when you cross half of a town in a fraction of a second. With a busted forehead too, ha.
So. Tired and wounded. A throbbing migraine and lungs close to a total meltdown. Legs burning with pins and needles. Spots peppering my darkened vision. That was my current status when Mr. Prospector and I finally reached our destination.
The clocktower. That’s where I’ve been dragged, apparently.
“W-why... why...” I huffed and puffed. “Why d-did... why t-t-the clocktower?” I struggled to ask.
“Because, Calx, my boy, it is our duty to ring the bell to alert the royal guards!”
Ring the what to alert who now?
Mr. Prospector exhaled in annoyance at my blatant incredulity. “Young ponies these days, they always skip their history classes, eh! I can either take twenty minutes to give you a quick lesson, OR, we could save the town. What says you?”
“O-option... option B, please,” I mumbled, my regular breathing pattern slowly returning to me.
“Wise choice, son. All we hafta do is- Darn nabbit! It’s locked!”
It sure was. He was forcing the little metallic half circle handle on the wooden door, but it remained defiantly static. Nothing was moving, nothing was budging.
When he started banging on it and shouting for anypony on the other side to come greet us unwelcome guests, I approached the door-shaped barrier as well. Pegged to it, I noticed a little note with some text hastily inked on it.
“On lunch break. Be back in a week.”
That’s what it said. That’s what the note said. Are you literally yanking my tail right now? What sort of buffoon just bails on their job like this?
“That lazy sonufagun!” raged my boss. “We need to go find that good-for-nothing, irresponsible screwup of a custodian! But he lives across town, that oaf! And I’m not even sure he-”
“There’s no time for that!” I cut his rant. “Any moment now, the Ursas are going to pop in unannounced. We need to go in there, now.”
He scratched his hat at that. “... What are ya sayin’, eh?”
“I’m saying, let’s bust this door open and barge in!”
He gave me a look of incomprehension. But then, he nodded, fully aware of what needed to be done. We were always so law-abiding, so by the book. Deviating from our goody two horseshoes attitude was a tough pill to swallow. Still, drastic circumstances called for drastic solutions. It was for the greater good.
We both got into position, our backs facing away from the obstacle.
Me: “On three! One!”
Him: “Two!”
Together now: “THREE!”
In a coordinated effort, we bucked the door at the same time. Two strong earth ponies, applying all of their might toward an unmovable object. It wasn’t unreasonable to imagine that it stood no chance. Yet, against all expectations, that sucker held on. Sure, it bent inward a bit. Sure, a few nails popped out of the planks. Sure, wood shrapnel flew in all directions. But the door was still functionally locked.
However, my boss and I, we didn’t take no for an answer. That’s why we went at it again. Same song and dance.
Two more synchronized kicks. This time, the door waved the white flag and swung open in a satisfying thud. The decades old locking mechanism effectively shattered in a million pieces. We took that as an invitation to make our way inside.
The building was tall, but slender. A few meters both in length and in width. The walls inside were a drab beige, though the years haven’t been kind to the paint job. It started peeling, giving way to the mortar and bricks it tried to conceal. A spiral staircase a couple of stories tall went all the way to the top, where a large (and rusted) brass bell waited patiently to be rung. I wasn’t scared of heights, but you’d have to pay me a lot of bits to escalate all the way up there. Not only were the stairs barely larger than my barrel, but a couple of planks had fallen off over the years, replaced by a colony of spiderwebs. Not to mention, the guardrail had all but collapsed at various spots. I don’t think this clocktower passed any kind of building regulations.
On the bottom floor, dust had gathered into little triangular deposits on the four corners of the only room. Interlaced with the defunct planks, moldy newspapers, and other various trash of your choice, were random equipment, tools, and pieces of machinery. Like those big printing rollers in the back, what the hay were they even doing there? And those bags of cement powder too. There was no rhyme or reason for any of those knick-knacks. If I knew any better, I’d say that this place was mostly used as a storage room for whatever and everything else too.
There was a small wooden stool smack down in the middle. Probably where the alleged key master would sit and uh... do something? Get paid to keep the spiders out of trouble, mayhaps? Who knows.
Most importantly, though, were the two large ropes dangling right in front of the aforementioned stool. Really thick, these ropes. Almost larger than my hooves, I’d say. In any case, this is where Mr. Prospector bull rushed as soon as he entered this vertical room.
“Take yer rope, Calx! We’re going to ring that bad boy!”
“Aye captain!” I agreed like the devoted worker I’ve always been.
I pulled on my designated rope. He pulled on his. We gave it our best effort. And you know what happened after that?
Sweet nothing, that’s what.
“Hum...” I hesitated, suddenly unsure of his masterplan.
“It’s... the bell’s all out of whack! Hasn’t been properly maintained in 20 years, Calx! Must’ve rusted to Tartarus and back. We hafta pull harder, eh?”
“Gotcha. Let’s go all in, boss!”
I wasn’t done giving him the benefit of the doubt. Call it sunk cost fallacy, but we put all of our eggs into the clocktower basket. So we were going to ring that stubborn bastard if it was the last thing we did!
I pulled so hard that I actually came close to pop a blood vessel. My head had already suffered enough in one day, thank you very much. But hey, our extra elbow grease paid off, because at some point, I started feeling a tug in the rope. The tension loosened, and as we pulled in an async pattern, more and more did it start going up and down. Ladies and gentlecolts, we had movement in the ropes! The first few chimes of the bell started to be audible. We were going somewhere with this, hahaha!
That was wicked and all, but um, the up-and-down motion started to be a little too intense. I had to be on the tip of my back hooves just to keep my grip. Now the bell was fully crying its message to the locals. Yeah uh, that was loud. Like, really, REALLY loud. Felt like my head was on the verge of exploding.
“That’s it Calx! Let’s keep it going!” shouted Mr. Prospector, his voice almost entirely drowned by the thunderous bell. “Hear that? That’s the sound of a proper warning! Just a little more, and-”
“H-hey! Y-your hoof, it’s...!”
What I wanted to say here was: “It’s stuck in the rope.” Because it absolutely was. His left rear hoof, to be precise. Two or three loops had accidentally bundled around it, holding him hostage in a firm noose. But I never got the chance to tell him.
Mr. Prospector, that old pony who had seen it all, that stallion I had the utmost respect for, practically disappeared when he got swooped by the rope and lifted in the air. The last thing I saw before he hung upside down in midair was two big eyes that realized just a little too late what was about to happen.
He was bouncing up and down, flailing like a mosquito caught in a flytrap. The bell’s ringing started to lessen (but was still positively loud), leaving him stuck a couple of meters up from the floor, as though he was a pony-sized mistletoe leaf – how fitting that he was green.
I think that he was shouting for help. He must’ve been, right? I saw his mouth move, but I couldn’t hear the many swears I’m more than certain he was patenting on the spot.
For sure I had to get him out of here! My instincts at play, I grabbed in my mouth a sharp chisel I still carried in my work saddlebags and... gulp... started to go up these monoliths of safety hazards I liked to call stairs. Guess I jinxed myself by wishing not to climb them five minutes ago. One step at the time, I was treading cautiously. If they cracked under my hooves, I thankfully couldn’t hear it.
Close to my dangling supervisor, I could see that blood started to rush to his head, given his woozy expression. I ah... I extended myself over the void with shaky back legs. Tool prudently placed in my mouth, I began to gently saw off the rope. That stupid rope! Why did it have to be so rich with fibbers!
It eventually gave in at some point. And so too did the brittle platform I was standing on.
Yup. A chunk of stairs totally collapsed under my weight.
The result? Two idiotic ponies falling onto the concreted floor. In a neat little pile of limbs, dizziness, and coughs. My ribcage tanked the hit and I think his did too. That’s what I got from the both of us wheezing straight after the impact.
When the thick cloud of dust finally dissipated, a helping hoof I gladly accepted got me back into the game.
“Oof... urk...” I groaned.
“T-thanks Calx... for... cough COUGH... not l-leaving me all on my lonesome u-up there...”
“W-what a day, h-huh?” I tried to quip.
“Heh... I’m quittin’ drinkin’ for good now!” he quipped right back.
...
...
“THE URSAS!” we both screamed.
Total panic.
That was the best way I could describe the apocalyptic scene before the two of us. The moment we stepped outside, our jaws came close to dislocating themselves. Long gone was the once peaceful Outer Grove we all came to love. It left in its stead streets full of ponies running for their lives. Mares and stallions, foals and grownups, all of them, shouting in terror. Mothers clutching babies, street vendors desperately trying to protect their stalls, shutters from home owners closing themselves with loud bangs... It was disastrous.
I saw ponies tripping to the floor. I saw ponies adopting the fetal position and rocking themselves in a fit of pure dread. I even saw ponies holding each other like it was the end.
I heard cries, screams, pleads for help, prayers... But above all? Even surpassing the sound of the bell we worked so hard to activate?
The angry roars of those two Ursas I spotted earlier.
They were here. They were here, and they didn’t want to play nice.
I could see them by the end of this larger main boulevard. Since the clocktower marked the center of Outer Grove, this effectively meant that they had breached the outer perimeters of the town. They wanted sweet revenge, and they were going to hit where it hurts.
And hitting they did. The adult Ursa, that unreasonably big freak of nature, swatted with vigor what I believed to be the storeroom for our edible rations. Where the bakers and grocery store owners went to refurbish their shelves and- look, did it really matter? They were destroying stuff! I couldn’t care less WHAT they were destroying! I only cared that they WERE destroyed stuff, period!
Catching me by surprise, to my right, a pegasus mare in full golden armor came rushing. She hastily put her helmet on, as though she just woke up from a peaceful nap. She had her teeth clenched and her nostrils were flaring with determination. When she saw the same Ursa Mr. Prospector and I were gazing at, she recoiled with disbelief – and maybe even with a dash of scepticism.
“N-no way! It wasn’t a prank! T-the bell... it wasn’t...”
She mumbled a couple of four-letter words I’m not at liberty to disclose. She then stretched those trained wings of hers and flew straight in the direction of public enemy number one. Soon after, her co-worker did the same – minus the curses this time. Both of them, armed with pointy halberds, were gleaming in the early night, like twinkling stars in the infiniteness of the violet sky.
As we stared at the two soldiers circling the bigger Ursa, we heard someone whistle.
“Hey! Mr. G! Gray dude! You numbskulls gonna stay frozen in the open like this forever!? Over here!” the whistler urged us.
That voice, I pegged it as Sweet Pint’s, which was impressive given the uproar all around us. She was poking her head out of an alleyway crammed between two tall dwellings. She was also hysterically waving her hoof, more than intent on getting our attention.
Between taking cover and getting pulped by an Ursa Minor, the choice was simple: We made our way to her hiding spot.
“What the HAY were you two dingleberries lollygagging about!? Are you that eager to kick the bucket or what!?” she berated us.
Sweet Pint might’ve been smaller than your average pony, but she sure had a character to make up for it! Bossy and rough around the edges, trust me, you didn’t want to end up on her bad side. “Naponyleon complex,” Doctor Stethorsecope once said (before getting bucked in the guts).
But make no mistake, that coarse persona of hers was just an elaborate charade, because in truth, I knew she bore the “sweet” part of her name for a good reason. Took me a while to figure her out. She just cared too much, that was her issue.
All’s that to say, we knew better than to reply to her accusations. When she shouted at you, it was in your best interests to keep your mouth zipped and nod like a good pony.
Seeing as we learned our lesson, she sassily harrumphed and instructed us to follow her. So we did just that. Trotting behind that pink earth pony of braided white mane.
A little further down the thin back alley, we ended up in a small alcove with benches and trash cans. A sanctuary where we could be safe for the time being. This is where the rest of Sweet Pint’s group was waiting. A lab coat and two construction helmets: Doctor Stethorsecope, Leafy Humus, and Seesaw Log. With Mr. Prospector and myself, the whole gang was here! It was a relief to know that all six of us were safe and sound despite the ongoing disaster. What I wouldn’t give to end the night with a death toll of zero...
“Calx!” hailed Log.
“Mr. Gold!” followed up Humus.
“You two made it, heheheeee! Oh how glorious it is to see you’re okay!” continued the jumpy doctor for them. “We heard the bell loud and clear, so the four of us quickly met up in this lil’ spot. And then... and then, ah...”
He trailed off, gazing at me. He cocked his head sideways and his left eyeball twitched. Uh oh. I’ve seen that crazed look before. I didn’t even have time to brace for cover when, in one unexpected leap, he invaded my personal space and forcefully tilted my head backward. He attacked my vision with a small crystallight held in his teeth, making me see spots.
“H-hey!” I complained.
“Fresh horizontal laceration on the encephalon about oh, one decimeter in length. No basal layer or scabs formed yet. Blood coagulated on the cranium with a mix of sweat. The wound has neither been properly cleaned nor disinfected with iodine, making it prone to bacterial infection, and-”
“Stop it! Back off!” I pushed him away a bit.
“But ah- what? Come on now, you can’t just go ahead and amuse yourself with blunt traumas and expect me to not bandage them, heheheheee!” pouted the doctor with another one of his typical uncanny laughs.
“Calx, you’re hurt!?” worried Seesaw Log.
“You’re hurt, Calx!?” echoed his broken record of a colleague.
“I’m fine, I’m fine!” I insisted with a tinge of hurry. “We can get that checked later, alright? But for now, we have bigger issues, guys! Two Ursa Minors are currently wreaking havoc and-”
“Whoa what!?” shouted Seesaw Log. “Ursas? Like uh, those giant blue bears thingamajig? That’s what’s happening? Why!?”
Yes, why indeed?
“I dunno Log... they seemed pretty pissed off at site 2B when I first spotted them,” I replied.
“Ya don’t say, eh?” lowly said Mr. Prospector, giving a stern and apprehensive look to his two employees.
“Okay but look- does any of this matter for now? W-we gotta... we need to do something about it!” I urged the whole gang.
Maybe I wasn’t assertive enough, because everyone remained silent. Mr. Prospector awkwardly rubbed his hoof on the dirt. Both lumberponies exchanged a worried look, biting their lower lip. Doctor Stethorscope anxiously toyed with his glasses. Okay then! They might not have said a word, but the resultant message was loud and clear.
“Preeeetty sure we can’t butt heads with Ursas, Gray dude,” sarcastically said the barmare. “Must be pretty lonely in Delusion Land if you think we stand a chance.”
“What?” I puffed out. “N-no! I’m not saying we should fight them! Do you think I’m nuts?”
“Coulda fooled me,” she shrugged.
“No! What I’m suggesting is, we need to save as many lives as we can! Ponies out there, Mr. Prospector and I, we saw them: They’re completely lost and terrorized! We need to bring them someplace safe; someplace where they won’t be at risk of having their home crumble down on them or... or get clawed to death!”
I at least got her to consider my pleas. Good. Sweet Pint thought about it for a second or two. All eyes were on her; except those of Mr. Prospector. Somehow, he was still glaring at Leafy and Log. Suspicious.
Eventually, after a short moment of deliberation,
“Yeah... yeah, we could do that,” said Sweet Pint, having found compassion and courage. “And I know just the place. The Two Arches, it has a cellar underneath. A very large one at that too. It’s built directly in the bedrock of the mountain. Ain’t no way these big pea brained bears can reach their grubby paws in there.”
Good enough for me. If my party proved anything yesterday evening, it’s that her workplace sure could harbor a lot of ponies.
And just like that, we were slowly devising an efficient plan to get us out of that catastrophe. See what happens when six heads work together? When six friends pool their might to work as a team? On our own, we had our quirks and were overall pretty inefficient. But as a group, we had the will, the means, and the wits to work this bad situation out. Friendship truly could trump anything.
After a very short debate (we were still under attack, after all), it was decided that Sweet Pint and Doctor Stethorscope were to usher as many ponies as possible to the designated safe room. The doctor would stay stationed down in the cellar, ready to treat as many patients as he could. Because – and let’s be real, here – it was more than possible that some of our dear villagers sustained some injuries already. Having his healing skills down there was the best use of his talents.
Phase two of the plan involved the rest of us – aka Mr. Prospector, our duet of lumberponies, and yours truly – to lure an Ursa out of town. Why’s that, you might ask? Well, as Sweet Pint delicately put, we had no means to combat these overgrown monsters. But it wasn’t about winning the battle. It was about moving the battle someplace else. Someplace that wasn’t prone to be reduced to rubble. With the four of us, surely, we could pull it off. If, for instance, one of us suddenly became incapacitated from a cramp or whatever, well, there were still three other able ponies to help the victim out.
We picked the smaller Ursa as our target. That seemed self-evident. Not only would their smaller size increase our chances at survival should we fail, but it was also entirely possible that endangering the parent’s “baby” would attract them out of town as well. Double whammy, so the saying goes.
“Plus,” I added, “I think the bigger Ursa is already busy dealing with the two royal guards. Look!”
Like clockwork, right above our little unsuspecting eyes, in the middle of the night sky, a pegasus was passing overhead. She even fired a powerful burst of concentrated magic from her horn in a display of pure force.
“See? We’re in good hooves. They’ve got this covered,” I concluded.
...
Aheh.
H-hang on for a minute.
I feel like I’ve missed something here. Something wasn’t adding up. Since, uh... since when did pegasi learn to fire spells like unicorns? They couldn’t do that, couldn’t they? Unless I’ve lived under a rock for most of my life? Because... Because there were only a couple of ponies who could pull that off. And one of them was-
“PRINCESS TWILIGHT SPARKLE!” exclaimed Seesaw Log, pointing up.
My stomach churned all that it held and purged it directly to my bowels. I came this close to puking my own heart.
“W-w-what... what d-did you just say...?” I pathetically whimpered.
“It’s the princess! Hohoho heeee! She’s here to save us all! It’s a miracle, everypony!” answered the yellow quack.
And then, they all collectively cheered. Jumping and hugging, as if the struggle was already over. W-what the buck is going on!?
I dared another peek at the sky. No matter how much I tried to deny it, the winged figure gliding above us was unquestionably alicorn-shaped. And despite the darkness of the night, I still detected specs of purple. Good lord, it was purple! SHE was purple!
...
No.
Hahaha, no.
No no no NO!!! Are you kidding me!? This wasn’t happening. Tell me this wasn’t happening? This couldn’t POSSIBLY be happening, couldn’t it? Two Ursas tearing our town apart, somehow, I could wrap my head around that. But THIS? HER? We had to have been collectively sniffing glue and hallucinating or something. That was the only plausible explanation. Because the alternative was impossible. Straight up impossible.
“What the HAY is SHE doing HERE!?” I bellowed.
Mr. Prospector slapped a stern hoof behind my back. “Being a hero, that’s what, eh Calx? We’ll pull through thanks to her!”
And there they went again. Another round of ovations for... for...
I started dry heaving. My face became cold, yet I was boiling on the inside. It was as if I caught a cold in an instant. I felt so powerless, so lightheaded. And dizzy too! So, so dizzy. Everything around me wobbled uncontrollably, amplifying my queasiness. W-why were the walls closing in on me?
Couldn’t keep my breathing in check anymore. I felt like I was struggling for air, yet at the same time, I was drowning my lungs with exaggerated gasps. Is this what a mental breakdown felt like? Because if so, I didn’t like it one bit!
I…
I had to get the HECK out of here! I couldn’t stay here! I wasn’t here; I was NEVER here! The only thing worse than the complete obliteration of Outer Grove was me being spotted by that stupid, nosy, meddling, tactless-
“Are... are you alright, Calx?” Log tilted his head at me.
My friends. They all stared at me with concern. Again. Again! Déjà freaking vu! Memories from my gaffe at the bar yesterday flooding right back in! History was repeating itself!
“GAH!” I screamed.
Right before bolting in the opposite direction. Away from my pals, without so much as owing them an explanation. I didn’t know where my legs were instinctively taking me, but anywhere else but here would do the trick.
“Hey!” a now distant Sweet Pint complained. “Where are you going, you nutcase? What about our plan!?”
Forget the plan! The plan was dead to me! I had to bail. I had to make it to the outskirts. I had to run in a straight line and never look back. I had to un-exist, to be low profile, to be a safe distance away from that purple mongrel!
She was ruining everything, as she always did! Sucking all the glory for herself: How typical! Being idolized by my friends, hypnotizing them with her charm and her alicorn superpowers! Stealing them away from me... More, more, MORE! She always wanted more! Nothing left for me! She had to come all the way here to vacuum the crumbs of joy I had left for myself!
I cannot believe this. And to think that I hadn’t seen her in so long.
How I wished it had stayed that way!
Left, right, left, right...
Didn’t matter where I was going. So long as it wasn’t straight into an Ursa, or worse, into the princess of friendship herself, then I was golden. But boy, was I in a total state of panic. A perfect fit with the surrounding rabble galloping all over the place.
Nothing could calm me down. It’s as if I had Equestria’s next big bad villain right on my heels. I panted, my friends. I panted hard and ungracefully. My cardio still hadn’t improved in the last half hour. The only silver lining was that my crew didn’t give me chase.
I had no idea what was going to happen to Outer Grove. A victory for the Ursas, or for the defenders? Didn’t matter. Wasn’t my battle anymore. MY battle was to bring my messed-up and shaken self out of the equation and lay low. With a little bit of luck, maybe the princess was going to fail and get smashed to bits. That was the best outcome that could possibly come out of this whole mess.
I turned a corner. Since I wasn’t really looking where I was going, it was only natural that I ended up bumping into something. Thankfully, it was soft and cushiony.
“Unf!” I grunted.
When I shook my head to clear up my mind, it occurred to me that I was laying on top of another mare. A rather portly mare.
“S-Skybrush?”
She didn’t answer when I helped her back on her hooves. When I saw her face, my heart broke in two.
Huge streams of tears leaking out of her pale green eyes. She was crying like I’ve never seen anypony else cry before. Seeing her this broken was wrong. So very wrong!
“G-goofball?” she sobbed.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt? Skybrush, are you hurt!?” I insisted perhaps a little too hard.
You have to understand. She couldn’t be hurt. Ever. Okay? That clear? She was the last pony in the entirety of Equus who deserved anything bad to happen to her. I swear I was going to declare a personal vendetta against the universe itself if ANYTHING harmed my friend. She was such an incredible pony – much better than the rest of us combined – and she was to be protected no matter the cost.
“I’m... I’m fine, b-but... y-you?” she fearfully looked at the red line right above my eyes.
“Don’t worry, it’s just a superficial wound.” I shook my head. “Why are you crying? Did something happen to you? Where’s Honey Dream?”
She lowered her head and let out a few plaintive moans. But no clear answer came.
“Skybrush...” I tried again, even more serious. “Where’s Honey Dream?”
“I don’t knoooowww!” she bawled.
She melted into my hooves, resting her head on my back just a little bit above my saddlebags. I could feel my fur getting wet with her tears. She hiccupped, wailed, and completely broke down. That poor mother...
For a moment, the world stopped. I swallowed those words with great pain. That completely brought me out of my psychotic Twilight episode. I'm not sure if this was a good thing.
“You... you don’t know?” I repeated, still in shock. “She’s not with you?”
“Noooo! She... She... Oh Caaalxx!” she cried again.
“Concentrate, Skybrush! Do you know where she might’ve gone?”
She sniffled a bit. “S-s-she was g-going... going to meet w-with some of her friends b-by the fountain... I... And then, the Ursas...”
The fountain... not good. Not good at all. It wasn’t too far off the clocktower, where the Ursas were currently wandering. She was right in the middle of the battlefield and, consequently, was in grave danger.
As I embraced my friend to give her hope and courage, I couldn’t help but look ahead with glassy eyes. As if something took a bite out of my very soul.
A few dozen meters away, I could see the bordering forest where I could lose myself and never be found by that dumb alicorn. My way out of Outer Grove, right there. An escape route ripe to be used, teasing me in an almost in a seducing way. All I needed to do was to let go of my friend and bolt forward. I mean, it was right there.
However, that would mean leaving Skybrush’s daughter to an unknown – and potential fatal – fate. Could this be a burden I’d be willing to carry for the rest of my pitiful life?
Heh. You know what’s hilarious?
The fact that I even pretended that this was a dilemma. A choice involves a set of answers. Here, there was only one correct answer, and it was a no-brainer. Anything else was absurd.
I had to find Honey Dream. I just had to. No matter what.
“Skybrush...” I lifted her sadden face with my hoof. “I promise I will bring your daughter back to you safely. You hear me? She’s going to be alright.”
“Oh, Calx...”
“But you can’t stay here either. With two rampaging Ursas, it’s too dangerous! Me and the gang, we decided to shepherd the residents in the cellar of the Two Arches. You need to go there so you can be safe. Do you understand?”
She silently nodded.
“Good, good. But please, listen to me, this is important: Be EXTREMELY careful. I would never, EVER forgive you if you put yourself in danger.”
Again, she simply gestured positively.
Alright. That put my mind at ease. Off to find the little filly and bring her back in one piece to her mom!
I was ready to turn and run straight back into the fray, but Skybrush put a gentle hoof to my back.
“Goofball?”
I gave her a look of assurance. She wiped a tear.
“... T-thank you.”
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Not gonna lie- first couple chapters, I thought of Sunstone as kinda sympathetic.
After this, it's just kinda... Pathetic. He ran away from his family, blaming his siblings for their parents responses. I just... I don't think he gets it.
i cannot wait to see how this story develops!!
i don't think Twilight realises how her older brother feels at all!! Hopefully, she can realise it and try to patch up their relationship, if at all possible
I hope I'm wrong but is it me or did Sunstone act like the pony version of a Hikikomori at the beginning of this chapter? Later we saw that he took the risk of warning everyone in town and that he prioritized Honey Dream's safety over her mental breakdown. We still need to know the entire backstory, and the two versions of that story, Sunstone's and Twilight's, because I'm sure each one will tell a different version.
Love it keep it up
11743482
I feel like there will be a lot of swearing first, about 2 or 3 mental breakdowns, and a lot of flashbacks before that happens. The worst thing that can happen is that Twilight approaches Sunstone's friends and they try to convince him to make things up to her just because she is a princess, that would definitely make Sunstone not only have a mental breakdown but also what I I call it "memories of Vietnam".
Good chapter, looking forward to more. In regards to the rating question I think you might as well make it a teen rating as there have been serval real swears through out this and other chapters, not that they bother me but it could bother others who want a complete E for everyone story. You can still keep the same tone of course it would probably just be safer that way, but Idk I'm not a writer.
11743473
No he probably doesn't, but as you pointed out, that's probably more their parent's fault than his. It's rather telling that Sunstone was apparently having to supply his own money for school costs and related expenses instead of having help from his parents. It's possible he was doing it all himself out of some misplaced pride, but at the very least it can be implied that even if the Sparkles themselves didn't have a non-unicorn bias, the rest of Canterlot definitely did and it contributed to his soured relations.
Ever closer to the unwanted reunion it seems. Wonder what chaos will ensure from that, I eagerly await the next chapter!
11743499
agreed!!
11743473
I won't agree with him being pathetic (yet), but it is starting to feel like the family division is resting more on Sunstone's shoulders than anyone else. That said, there are some hints and implications of the parents and others outside of the family being more/most of the problem.
I'm gonna wait and see what is revealed before laying it all on him for overreacting or something. Having a full on panic attack just at the sight of his sister is a bit extreme so hopefully there is some supporting events to make it make sense. Thankfully as self-centered as he seems at times he can still chose to do the right thing when it counts.
I think what your trying to go for here is going to tilt this towards a T rating, if not now then later.
T-Rating aside hmm yeah, I would probably change it to something more mature due to alcohol and blood and possibly gore that might be involved plus that will give you all types of opportunities to further the mood and scenes any who Keep up the good work and I can't wait for the next chapter.
awesome chapter, but honestly if i ware a logical pony in outer grove i really question why 2 ursas and a princess show up on the same day in the middle of nowhere xD
11743615
i mean then again it's Equestria, Ancient beings and Demigods appearing out of nowhere is a regular occurrence.
To have a mental breakdown just at the presence of a pony must imply there was something big that happened !
Going theory… parents slowly neglected our protagonist emotionally and perhaps financially (it’s implied they didn’t help pay for his school or commuting expenses) over time. While unicorn bias has been mentioned it could also just be the parents avoiding “stress” he causes. Imagine having one kid who’s always dealing with bullying, social, educational, and financial issues, it’s just one bad thing after another, then you have two other kids who just keep bringing in good news. Over time as our “hero” became more self isolated they probably just turned their attention to Twilight and Shining because it was easier. On top of that, they were probably easier to relate too, as their education and futures seemed more localized by comparison, Protégé of the princess and royal guard are both Canterlot institutions. He also seems to always insist he’s “fine”, which was probably easier for his parents to accept on face value then actually looking closer and finding an issue. He seemed to care for himself, so why would they interfere? Of course this is a very wrong perception, but the point is to show not all bad parents act out of malice. Often times they don’t even realize what they are doing until it’s far too late. This of course has caused scars on him, and his isolated childhood and teen years seem to have left him very socially and possibly emotionally stunted.
Cadance was well portrayed here I think, especially at the age she was at the flashback. While she had her cutie mark and was able to sense issues of the heart, she was a long ways from actually mastering her talent. She emphasized with Sunstone, but that wasn’t enough, she didn’t “understand” why he was upset. Just saying “your siblings love/look up to you” isn’t enough, it also didn’t help she bungled an important event where he actually “wasn’t” there making him see her as a liar. This of course isn’t her fault entirely, she just assumed he would be with his family. Which under normal circumstance would be a good assumption, in his? Not so much… probably didn’t help either that while she supposedly came to “help” him she immediately started ogling his brother the first chance she got. While he didn’t want her help, seeing her immediately turn her attention to his brother likely only further solidified his views on his family, it’s never really about him, just his siblings.
Love this chapter. It's really shows his inferiority complex. He even named himself after something he thinks is useless for Celestia's sake. Canterlot being unicorn centric didn't help at all with his feeling of familial alienation. Self isolating is on himself but anytime he tries to connect he get punished for it so I can't blame him. I am guessing his parents aren't trying at all and just bring him up like they were so it's not helpful in connecting him with his siblings. Them trying to be fair to all is being unfair to him because they are treating him as if he was a unicorn rather than an earth pony.
You guys are absolutely right about the rating, I see that now. It's true that many themes evoked here have a stronger penchant towards a T rating. I decided to change it upon reflection. Now, know that this won’t affect how I’ll apprehend the story. I’ll keep going as if I didn’t change the rating at all. What I mean is, I won’t adjust my tone simply because I’m now “allowed” to do things an E rating prevented.
Sorry if that ol’ switcheroo deceived any of you. That truly was not my intent. I ain’t malicious; just a lil’ bit stoopid at times. S’all!
I also did a round of corrections and got rid of some typos. Some really embarrassing stuff snuck in there, eesh.
11743615
Heh, the cutie map has pretty good instincts when it comes to sending the right pony at the right time. One could say it "knew" that the almost entirely defenseless town needed a strong protector precisely then.
11743473
Self-hatred and family issues are one heck of a combination. Sure, becoming reclusive/bitter isn't the right thing to do, but it's easy to fall into that trap when you've spent years feeling like you're unimportant and unwanted (as someone else pointed out, he named himself after something useless, for Pete's sake), especially when you feel alienated from the people inside your own home. The poor guy doesn't have any friends, and even when people have reached out to him, it's always been (from his perspective) not for his sake, but because he's Twilight's/Shining's brother. Add on the facts that he lives in a magic-centric city and that his siblings are personally cared for by royalty while he possibly struggles to get his parents' attention, and it makes sense why he'd end up the way he did.
Also, while he's wrong to assume that his siblings' actions are done out of malice, I don't think his assessment is entirely wrong. His siblings (especially young Twilight) are absolutely the type of people to try and outdo him at his own game in a misguided effort to make him proud. Their interests and talents are certainly their own, but they were definitely influenced by their big brother. Alas, in trying to make him proud, it seems they only made him feel even more worthless, and convinced him that he needed to work even harder.
Lastly, as others have pointed out, him having a panic attack merely because Twilight was there raises some red flags. I won't speculate as to the particulars, but I get the feeling Twilight (and maybe his family as a whole) accidentally screwed him over/stole his thunder big time before he bailed.
great story so far, the only issue would be how the ursa's are referred to. in the show, the ursa Minors are all infants, their adult variation are called Major. other than that, i look forward to the next chapter.
I'm loving it so far
Longer chapters are definitely what the people want though
But make sure not to overwork yourself
I've seen a good number of stories go on infinite haitus thanks to burnout
11743700
You said exactly what's on my mind.
11743838
maby the reason twilight game him a panic attack is something to do with why he ran away. sunstone seems frantic and wants to avoid his family as much as possible even not liking mention of them. In contrast if i rememeber correctly twilight and the others seemed less horrifyed when bringing him up and more sad, regretfull maby? either way it seems to paint a picture that the event to push him to leave either involved the whole family or mainly twilight from his reaction. was the cadence meeting before or after the rainboom, if it was before maby sunstone was at the entrence exam and something happend? his sister almost killing him then him being told to shut up when he is terrifyed could be it but we have too little info atm so its just speculation
oh no, why can't Sunstone understand that no one will take away from him what he has gained. At the moment, I can see how he is trying, but his anger at his sister will destroy him, because it almost did. I am waiting for their meeting, or his running away after the fight.
"What's another 10 years? I'll look for another town and start again"
-sunstone
11743850
It's a good thing Gray Calx has just about the same amount of knowledge about Ursa biology as I do, lol. There's going to be a small twist about his inaccurate assumptions in the next chapter anyhow.
11743939
Really? I was always under the impression that longer chapters were more straining for the readers. Big numbers can sometimes be a tad discouraging, no? Maybe I'm looking at this all wrong (I probably am).
11744252
Holy shit dude, that made me laugh. Thank you for this, hahahaha!
11744256
It depends on the story of course. if the food is good, we want seconds
It doesn't matter how long a chapter is if they're all this good
I really like how you gave your MC relatable traits, lots of stories make their MC's out to be these unbeatable heroes who always prevail no matter the trial put in front of them. I also really like how you are giving us glimpses to both sides of the story from sunstone's and those around him. It is important to have characters have flaws so they can grow and I can't wait to see how "Grey Calx" grows!
11744256
I'd say your chapter length is fine. Anything abovr 12k words, however, might be a bit too much to sit through.
11744256
Ideal chapter length is purely a matter of taste. By this point, you have probably already discouraged readers that like short chapters (and attracted readers that like long ones) so you might as well keep writing long chapters if that's what you prefer.
I like big chapters and i cannot lie.
Nice chapter just like the others, you really managed to pull me in this story with only a few chapters.
Can't wait to see more soon and finally see the unwanted reunion, especially since last chapter made it seem like Twilight thought he rbrother was dead or something, not just gone.
Do you have an idea of what the Sparkle family ages are? Just wondering so I understand how much older Sunstone is to the others.
Another brilliant chapter i'm so pumped for the sibling reunion sure to be a lot of drama~ Also ouch Sunstone got a lot of resentment toward his family among other things.
I just had a though, what if the relashionship bethween sunstone and his family deterioreted so much that to get away from them and for them to not try to find him, he faked his own death. The idea Just came to me while re-reading the interaction conversation Twilight and Spike had on chapter 2. The way Twilight was talking about sunstone made it seem like she thought he was dead.
It's strange that he has to pay his own school costs!1if he really runs away it would be funny if he ended up at Sunset! The fact that the Magi works differently there would be a possibility!
I liked this chapter!
Man, I love angsty stories like this. Stuff like betrayals and drifting away is smeof my favorite stuff.
11743615
Twilight simply is a magnet for trouble.
Dude named himself useless, set Candace on the path of marrying Shining Armor, and Chip and Dale are in fact responsible for this mess.
Fantastic. Even if Sunstone had left Twilight still would have known he was there because of his art work at the two arches.
Still what the hell happened to find having your sister crushed be a good outcome?