Folio

by DustyFolio

3

It had been several hours since Dusty had made that declaration in his head, and now it seemed rather foolish. He had no idea how to get to Ponyville and he had quickly found himself hopelessly lost amid the meandering streets and alleyways of the Equestrian capitol. His mind kept thinking back to the horrifying incident with the guards. The thoughts were always accompanied by a shudder and a struggle to hold back the sobs. He had been too afraid to try and speak again, his mouth felt like glue on the inside. Even as he tried to concentrate of finding his way through the city, he found himself constantly distracted by the gnawing hunger in his belly and the thirst that accompanied it. Dusty lumbered on a block or two before coming across a fountain in a small square lined by shops. It was still dark and the streets were almost empty. He could, though, hear the murmurs of ponies in various buildings talking to each other fearfully. Apparently something terrible had happened to the princess and now her sister, Luna, now ruled Equestria.

Dusty had read about Nightmare Moon in several of the books the princess had brought him. She was some sort of evil specter trapped in the moon, but destined to return. “So this is what happened to Celestia,” he thought to himself sadly as he headed toward the fountain. What could he do against such a thing? Celestia had been right about him being dangerous to other ponies, a fact that tore him up inside. He had never wanted to accept it before, but now that he had seen it with his own eyes the weight of that fact crushed down on him. He shook his mane, trying to disperse the thoughts and focus on getting a drink. His eyes spying the fountain at last, the sound of its gentle gurgle and splash making him almost break into a gallop to reach it. He restrained himself, approaching the square carefully in case any other ponies were lurking around.

Finally feeling like he was alone he approached the fountain, leaning in eagerly to drink. The sight before him in the water caused his heart to seize in his chest in a moment of breathless shock. Who was that stallion in the water? Dustin gazed at the image; haunted purple eyes -- sunk in their sockets, filled with sadness and loss -- gazed back at him. The color was almost gone from the chestnut, leaving an almost ashen colored coat in its place. A long and unkempt mane hung limply about a weary frame. It took a while for dusty to realize he was gazing at his reflection. No longer was he a young colt, but an almost fully grown stallion. Dusty was surprised that he had grown so much; he had never really paid much attention to it, it just never seemed that important. He had no other growing colt to compare himself to as he grew. He was sure that nopony from home would even recognize him anymore, if they even remembered he existed. Dusty shook his mane again, clearing his thoughts. He lapped eagerly at the fountain water. It tasted warm and stale, but that did not matter; it was still amazing. It slaked his thirst all the same.

Now he needed to eat. He could no longer ignore the gnawing hunger, and stumbled a bit as he sped up his canter. He moved aimlessly through the streets, hoping to catch the scent of something edible. He was not above stealing at this point. He had come to terms with that. If he were captured while eating something, he told himself, it would have been a worthy trade off.

Dusty caught the smell of something wonderful and almost walked headlong into the wagon before he realized it was the source of the smell. The thing was a rather garish stage affair and he heard movement inside. Hunger had overridden his fear, though. He snuck up on the opening, which bathed the alley in front of it with a soft warm light. Dusty slowly raised his head to peer inside and saw a silver haired unicorn cooking something on a small camp stove. It was probably just some hay stew, but nothing had ever smelled so good to him. His mouth was watering as he tried to think of a way to acquire some without the mare noticing him. But she had noticed him and stared in shock at first. Then her face showed pity and finally, she spoke with a haughty look.

“How dare you sneak up on the Great and Powerful Trixie in the middle of the night!”

Her voice shook with barely concealed fear, yet she continued. “I could turn you into a frog with but a flick of my mane!” Dusty stumbled back, and fell onto his haunches, but hunger prevented him from running. His growling stomach answered for him. Trixie’s gaze softened for a moment. “I see, it has been a while since you have eaten, has it?” Dusty simply nodded slightly, unsure of what to do and Trixie laughed, it was forced and hollow, but it calmed him a bit nonetheless. “Well, let nopony say that The Great and Powerful Trixie is not as generous as she is majestic!” Trixie ladled some strew in a spare bowl with her mouth, and set the bowl on the lip of the lower wagon door. “It is not much, but better than starving I suppose.”

Dusty moved cautiously towards it, he was not sure how to react the boisterous mare, but he would not turn down any food. He began eating it quickly, burning his mouth in the process and wincing at the cramps that formed in his abdomen. “Slow down there stallion.” Trixie said, her voice more gentle this time. “There is plenty, and you are only going to hurt yourself if you eat it too fast.”

Dusty did his best, but it was difficult, and eventually the soup cooled enough for him to eat it, which he did, albeit still too hastily. “That’s better,” said Trixie with a smile. Though still afraid, she seemed to have relaxed a bit. “Now, do you have a name? The Great and Powerful Trixie does not share food with strangers.” Dusty stared at her again, wondering idly, now that his hunger had abated a little, why the strange unicorn referred to herself in the third person. Trixie looked around nervously, “Well?” Dusty blinked, and shook his head, raising a hoof to his throat and shaking his head again. Trixie blinked, and her eyes saddened a bit. “You’re mute then stallion?”

Dusty simply nodded, unwilling to tell her the truth at the moment, though not feeling good about lying to the generous mare. Trixie frowned, but then gazed at Dusty again, a thoughtful look in her eyes. “Can you write?” Dusty blinked, he was not sure. He had not done so in a very long time, but it seemed worth a try, and so he nodded, Trixie smiled and brought him a scroll and quill, along with another bowl of stew, which he happily ate. This time he gave it a moment to cool. When he had finished he slowly took the quill, which had already been dipped into the ink well, into his mouth and frowned. He tried to concentrate on writing. He knew it would be close to illegible, but still he slowly wrote his name, Dusty. He peered at it for a while before sliding the parchment towards Trixie, who smiled a little. “Dusty, that sounds like a farmer’s name. You from a farmer family, Dusty?”

Dusty shook his head, and motioned for the quill, when she gave it to him he carefully wrote the word “Booksellers” and slid it back in her direction. Trixie arched an eyebrow at this and then nodded. “So, besides starvation, what brings you to the home of the Great and Powerful Trixie?” Dusty blinked and his eyes darted back and forth as he searched for a good answer. But Trixie shook her head, seeing the stallion’s reaction. “We all have our secrets Dusty, you can keep yours.” Dusty felt relieved and that was apparently quite visible, as Trixie laughed softly. “You are just lucky to have met The Great and Powerful Trixie, the most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria!” Dusty blinked and looked at Trixie incredulously. When she saw his face she laughed again and nodded. “It’s true! I once stopped a rampaging Ursa Major!”

With that she launched into a long winded tale of how she strolled into a town and saved it from a giant constellation run rampant, but Dusty did not hear it. The warm stew had gone to his head and exhaustion overtook him. He never heard the end of the story, nor did he remember Trixie covering him with a blanket while he lay in the alley, nor her smoothing his mane with a look of great pity on her face for the obviously troubled stallion. She figured whatever he was running from, it was terrible enough to drive even a large stallion like dusty to such a ragged state.

Comments

[fluttershy-ya]

good story

[horsez219]

Spelling error, last paragraph. When she's putting a /blanket/ on him, not a /blacket/