The Brightside

by DJDemitri

Big Trouble

Sickle stretched his cramped legs and aired out his wings. "A little stuffy in there." He shook his body letting a few feathers fall free.

Cappuccino just sat still in shock, her heart thumping like a thousand equestrian army's marching in step. Sickle used his hoof to push back his blond mane. "Sorry, I din't mean to scare you miss." He stuck his hoof out to help her up.

She pushed it away and backed up against the wall. He shouldn't be in here!

Cappuccino vocalized her own thought "W-what are you-ou doing in h-here!"

Sickle just looked at her, "I'm going to go to Manehatten. What about you?"

Cappuccino started calming down, the initial shock wearing away,but it didn't stop the shaking or tension in her voice. "I-I'm going to s-see my dad." The red stallions warm smile made her feel a little better.

Sickle nodded "I am sorry if this comes out rude, but do yo have a stutter? It seems very odd."

Cappuccino could hear it too now that she listened for it. "N-no. I-I just-t have a nervous t-t-tick. W-why are you in the luggage and not with everypony else?"

Sickle cleared his throat to speak "I... uh... couldn't get on at home, so I snuck on." He gave an obviously forced smile to show his innocence, it wasn't effective.

She stood up on shaky legs, "R-right, so your some sort of criminal or s-something? They wouldn't let you on so you snuck on? I'm getting the conductor."

"Wait!" The stallion flipped her around and pinned her to the wall. "Please, you can't! I can not go back home! Ever! If you get the conductor I will be sent back to my grave"

The tension and fear returned like a boulder in a Daring Doo novel. "L-let go! Let go or I'll... I'll..." Cappuccino was no fighter and years of coffee have been terrible on her nerves making her shake violently and sweat a little. She couldn't bluff or seduce her way out. I can talk! "Let me go or I'll scream!"

Nobody ever called her the brightest mare in town.

At the mention of screaming Sickle stuck his hoof in her muzzle silencing any response making the already on edge mare feel like she was going to die. "Please, I am not a criminal. If I go back I will be killed but some racist conductor just made fun of me and refused to stamp my pass, so I just kinda stowed away in the luggage car. Please, please, please don't scream." He let go of her muzzle.

"Understand? Are we cool?"
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"Ma'm would you like to file charges against this stallion?" A police pony was questioning Cappuccino at the train station in Ponyville. "No please, it was a mistake. I didn't mean to..."

She watched as the red stallion was being carted away with his feet, wings, and muzzle chained up. He was not too happy.

"I didn't mean to call for help it was just my nerves I swear!" It was all involuntary, her body never did anything she wanted it too under any stress. Luna banish these wracked nerves!

The officer pony looked at her and back down to his notepad "It says they found you "cowering" in a pile of luggage with the red pegasus hovering above you. It took three conductors to tackle him and one of them has already given a full confession of how he was denied in Stalliongrad. This is serious ma'm and we need your full cooperation." he grabbed her by the hoof "You don't have to be scared anymore, we got him locked up."

Cappuccino pulled her hoof away from him. "He's not bad he was helping me. I just got a little scared is all and he tried to help before the conductors tackled him." Best lie ever. "So why don't you let him go and we'll call it a day?"

Again, nopony ever called her the brightest mare in town.

The police pony was unmoved by the lie. "Even if you drop your charges, for whatever reason, he is a stowaway and will have to go to court for sneaking on the train."

She was baffled at that. "Court for sneaking on a train?! Isn't that a little harsh? I mean make him pay for a ticket or fine him but to have a princess judge him?"

Court in Equestria was very serious. One of the two princesses looked over different crimes. The more serious crimes were handled by Celetia herself due to her thousand years of knowledge. This left her to come to judgment without a jury. Luna however looked after crimes not as serious but still big enough to go to court. Since she had been on the moon for a thousand years, a jury was always advises her, though she had final say regardless.

The police pony tucked away his notepad and took off his hat wiping the sweat from under his horn. "You must not be familiar with what is going on in Stalliongrad miss. There was a huge crime problem just last year. Those crazy ponies, in celebration of the night princess returning, let out all the low level prisioners as some sort of freedom day celebration. Rather than celebrate and come to a resolution of becoming better ponies like they were supposed too... crime rings and mass chaos arose causing the city to be sealed off by walls, magic, and a good portion of the equestrian royal guard. Nopony flies or walks away from there, the only way out is a train that only approved ponies may leave on. Although now I am guessing the royal guard will be doing a complete overhaul on the station's security because of this. Nothing will get out of there after this."

Cappuccino thought about this. Wow, I had no idea. They really must have kept this on the down low. If it is true I may have been talking to a major crime boss or some sort of drug dealer! On the other hoof, he may just be some scared pony getting away from all that. He said he used to be a criminal but who is to say he still isn't? For some reason I still trust him, I mean, he sounded truthful. He could just be a good liar! But then... why would he tell me anything? The pony was snapped out of her train of thought by the police pony, which was good because she would of been there for hours.

He cleared his throat "Well, anyway do you have anymore questions?"

She twiddled her hoofs for a second "Just one..."
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Sickle was bound and chained to the wall. The least he could say was that this was very uncomfortable. "Why am I chained up?" He was directing his question to a red looking farm pony that was easily three times his size. The big galut said nothing, but continued to chew on his hay stalk.

"Cause we ain't never had no big city criminal before." A very stern female voice broke the silence. An orange mare in a cowboy hat trotted from the front door with a tray of apple pie and water. "Cause of your riff raff, them police ponies pulled mah brother away from the farm today tuh babysit you. Sayin somtin bout you being strong for a pegasus and they need muscle."

Sickle used to have an uncle before the industrial revolution with a farm, he knew it was a hard life and every bit helps, and every loss hurts.

"I'm sorry." he was sincere when he spoke, but that comment only made the orange mare put her brother's lunch down and stomp over to the cage.

"Ah don need non of yer smarty pants comments today! I have been workin double hard because of you and I ain't gettin nearly as much done."

"I wanted to go to Manehatten, just a mare hit me with her bag and yelled."

"That is jus sick mister! As far as I'em concerned we are enemies." She was practically fuming with a red face and steam coming out of her ears.

Without much to lose he just thought of the only thing that really calmed his sister down "You look pretty today."

*Petew*

That method was an obvious flop considering that not only did the mare spit in his face, but her anger did not decrease.

"You an me ain't friends, I'f that wern't clear enough. I ever see you outside of this cage I'mma buck you so hard in the head you'll be seeing Luna raising the sun!"

"Fair enough" Defeated Sickle just stood in place as the farmers exchanged a couple words and a few glances his way. Then the mare left and the Stallion sat with his lunch.

Not nearly a minute or so later a Pink bouncy pony hopped her way into the jail. "Hey Big Mac, AJ bring you lunch? I know how good of a sister she is and she ordered a pie this morning, you know, the one you usually get when you come to sugar cube corner. So everything going alright? The big meanie not giving you any trouble? I have to know cause my friend wanted to see him, and I wont let her in if he is a big bully." The words spat out like rain out of a storm cloud.

The Red stallion just sort of sat there with an unsure look on his face before answering "uhhh... Eeyup" The pink mare went into another fit of words "Oh so he is being a big bully then I should just tell his one visitor to go home cause she shouldn't hang around ponies like that cause..."

Her words were silenced by a hoof by a brown and white mare that Sickle had met on the train.

Sickle was the first to speak "Come to criticize the dangerous criminal that you caught? To gloat or to tell me how bad I am?" His words dripping with spite.

"W-well I-I am actually here to h-help you." Cappuccino stuttered, the fear and embarrassment showing.

Sickle raised an eyebrow "Help me, why? How?"

She cleared her throat to try to ease her nerves. "W-well I believed what you said and I don't want you to go back. I-if what you said w-was true I-I can't just-t let somepony die because of m-me."

Sickle was confused "You shouted for help. My case is pretty open and shut. Luna may have been gone for a thousand years but she can crack this case pretty easily. How are you going to help?"

Her nerves got the best of her, she couldn't speak.

Tapping her Pink friend on the shoulder it was her cue to stop bouncing. "C-could-d y-you?"

The pink mare turned to Sickle in a serious manner "If by chance the court deems a case of deportation wrong or immoral the party may be allowed to live in another town, on parole of course, under supervision by another pony who has not committed any crimes." Her serious attitude left her and she went back to bouncing and humming to herself.

Sickle pondered this "So if I can convince Luna that it is unsafe for me to go back I get to stay with somepony here?"

Cappuccino nodded

"Who would take me? My accent is so foreign in these parts I sound like an outcast. Plus if anypony feels like that orange mare did nopony will take me regardless!"

Cappuccino twiddled her hooves again. "Well I wast thinking since it was my fault... my father could take you."

"Why would he do that?" He was more suspicious, but he was never one to bite the hand that feeds.

"Cause it is my fault, I mean you would be in Manehatten by now if it wasn't for me. Now you're stuck here and I figure it would be a nice way for me to... get over my social anxiety as well as give my father some help when I'm not here."

Suspicion was still evident. "You want me to help you get over your shyness?"

"Well yes." She confessed

Sickle really had no choice. "Okay, If you help me stay, I will help you get over your nerves."

Cappuccino smiled gleefully "Great!" She stuck out her hoof.

Sickle looked at her and rattled his chains.

Cappuccino retracted her hoof "Oh yea..."