> Dysphoria Chronicles: Sunspot's Flight > by wispin > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1: One Giant Leap > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dead silence. That was the first thing the young colt noticed as he slipped out the back door of his family's home, closing it with a far-too-loud thud. The neighbors heard me for sure, he thought in a panic as his heart pounded in his ears, every carefully laid footstep a thundering earthquake against the oddly hushed backdrop of Baltimare. He hurried down the side street away from his neighborhood, his pace increasing to a gallop. Glancing back behind him, he suddenly was slammed to a halt, falling backwards onto the ground with his legs splayed about him. “Walking,” An annoyed female voice sneered at him, “Is a fundamental part of life. One really ought to know how.” He looked up fearfully, dreading to see the face of his mother, but breathed a sigh of relief – it wasn't. The speaker had already pulled her taxi coach down the road, giving him a rude glance as she sped away. The colt slowly stumbled to his feet, shaking his head to clear it, and pressed onward. He paused in his trot as he approached the intersection, slipping behind the shelter for the taxi stop and breathing a sigh of relief as he sat down upon the curb, safely away from the clutches of his mother. For now. If she hadn't been out for the day, he never would have made it this far. He’d just have to avoid her. He looked around after catching his breath for a moment, and what caught his eye as he looked down the normally bustling boulevard of the city’s shopping district was the distinct lack of commerce. Instead, shopkeepers and food cart peddlers alike had closed up, the dark storefronts lined instead with hundreds of angry-looking ponies lining the sidewalks and milling about in an agitated fashion. The normally happy and boisterous crowds plying the city streets were quietly murmuring among themselves, and a palpable tension hung in the air. As he stepped slowly further down the side street towards the city square, he heard snippets of conversation as he passed by several of the groups. “.. came through earlier, him and his little entourage, prancing by like they owned the place..” “I know! And did you see the way it was dressed? How uncouth! Why, if I had a foal that was so unbecoming of his upbringing as to..” He shuddered internally and accelerated his pace, moving closer to the city square where a larger crowd was mingling. He sensed a different energy from this group than from the rest of the spectators; they were far quieter, and nopony spoke to one another. Some shifted on their hooves nervously, looking around at the others as if they expected to be jumped at any moment. “Sunspot?” a surprised voice behind him called out. A hoof suddenly cuffed the back of his head, and he came to a swift halt as he stumbled. “What are you doing here!?” Sunspot froze at the familiar screech behind him, the taste of bile rising in his throat and the feeling of dread gripping his stomach. It was like a poison liquid, trickling into his soul. He knew that voice. He turned around slowly, his tail tucked between his legs and his ears splayed back. His mother. "How dare you!" She seethed at him. “I thought you learnt your lesson the last time you disobeyed me, but apparently my loving forgiveness isn’t good enough for you.” She raised her voice again. “First, you run off without permission,” The mare hissed, bearing down on her son as he backed away from the look of cold steel in her eyes. “And then, you come here when I specifically forbade you from doing so!" Her eyes bore down on him, filling him with dread. "Come on," she said finally as she began to turn around. "We’re going home." “No,” he whispered under his breath, and his mother turned back with her eyes widened. “No..” the colt said, his voice catching in his throat for a moment as he gathered his courage. He closed his eyes as his jaw shook, an involuntary and uncontrollable shiver gripping his body. “I need to be here.” He opened his eyes, tears fresh in them as he spoke more loudly with a renewed fierceness. “I .. I’m not sure if I’m like these ponies or not.. but I might be. I have a lot of questions, and I need to ask them. I need to figure things out.” His mother stared down at him, her eyes slowly hardening as she leaned towards him, contemplating her response. A fierce pain erupted in his jaw as his mother's hoof sharply cuffed his head, and he fell backwards, cowering low to the ground. “Don’t you ever say anything that stupid again,” his mother yelled, her narrowed eyes like black marbles. “Just you wait until we get home; I’ll erase any doubt from you. Either that or send you to live with your father. He’s been trying so hard to get custody. Maybe I should just let him deal with you from now on.” She threatened. A new fear gripped his chest. Oh Celestia, not that. His mother was bad after the divorce, but his father? No, thank you. He tried desperately to fight back the tears welling in his eyes, his throat constricting again as he touched his face gingerly with one hoof. “Stop crying and get up,” his mother barked. “We’re leaving.” “No!” he cried fiercely, glaring through his tears. “I’m not leaving until someone answers my questions. This is important to me, Mom! I have to figure out what I am. Who I am.” He paused for a moment, biting his lip at the look in her eyes. “This might be my only chance to talk to someone who has gone through what I feel,” he said more quietly, almost apologetically, hoping to avoid another strike. His mother glared down at him, fuming, but as he winced to brace for another attack, a pony suddenly stepped in between them. “Don’t you take another step,” his savior said, her pure voice ringing clearly through the shocked silence of the crowd. “Out of my way,” his mother seethed, her voice gaining a murderous edge. “This doesn't concern you.” “I believe it does,” the mare said, and the colt was struck by a sudden awed realization. He sniffled as he looked up at the mare's back. It's her, he thought. That's Evening Rose! “If your son is going through all this trouble to get his questions answered, I’d say this concerns me a fair amount.” “I’m warning you, freak,” the voice of his mother intoned. He peeked in between the mare’s sheltering legs at his mother, who was approaching the pair slowly. “Get out of the way. It’s bad enough that you are corrupting the youth of Equestria without trying to reward rebellious behavior. Step out of the way, or there will be consequences.” A muffled sob rose in his throat. He knew all too well what those ‘consequences’ could be like. “Then I guess there will be consequences.” Sunspot looked up in surprise at Rose as she spoke. Noticing his expression, she turned to gaze down at him with a kind, reassuring smile. He tried to return her smile through his tears, but a growl from his mother returned him to his cowering. “I do believe that’s enough!” A different voice rang out and the colt opened his eyes to see a stallion step in between Rose and his mother. Two others that he didn't recognize either stepped up beside Rose, standing between him and his mother in a protective formation. He looked up and Rose winked at him, offering an encouraging smile, before turning to face his mother again. “What, so you’re all going to gang up on me now?” The agitated parent shouted indignantly. “What?” The stallion asked, raising an eyebrow. “Oh, this? You misunderstand. My colleagues behind me are standing together to stop you from harming the colt, that's all. As for me, well, if you want to strike Miss Rose, my colleagues, or myself, we promise we won’t stop you, but do know that the moment you do, we will go through every legal channel, court, and process necessary to make sure that it will be a decision you regret for the rest of your unsavory life.” “Excuse me?” “Oh, you’re very much excused,” the stallion continued. “You see, I’m the person in charge of this whole thing. I hired Miss Rose, I got the permission from the mayor, and it is my organization that has planned and hosted every event from here to Canterlot. As such, it is my duty to tell you that if any harm comes to me or those who work for me, I will personally go to Celestia herself to ensure every possible penalty is brought down upon you. Make no mistake; it will be an act of revenge, not justice.” A wave of hope rather than bile swelled in the colt’s throat. Maybe everything will be okay.. if Celestia herself were involved.. The stallion’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “And to be honest, I have half a mind to do so already after watching you strike a colt in the middle of a crowded square, but I had offered no such warning, and I’m not sure exactly how much we could do legally since he has the misfortune of being your son. Do be aware, however, that I will be reporting this to the mayor to make sure that this incident is followed up on, so it would be unwise to mistreat the kid more so than you already have.” He heard his mother laugh. “So this is it?” she said, “You’re threatening me? Do you have any idea who I am? No, it doesn't matter; you’ll regret talking to me like that regardless, Mr..” “Dusk,” the stallion responded. "Dusk,” the mare repeated. “Well, Mr. Dusk, you’ll find that I’m not a mare who is easily intimidated by lobbyist groups with oppressive agendas. And Sunspot, when you’re done playing with you new friends, you can go to your father’s house. He can pick up your stuff tomorrow.” Bile once again replaced the hope in Sunspot’s throat as another sob wracked him at this comment. I can’t, I can’t.. I can’t go live with him! I never should have come here, I’m so so stupid, I.. “Are you alright, sweetie?” One of the ponies asked, interrupting his thoughts, and he looked up in surprise. “Did she..? She.. left me?” He asked, stammering in between sobs. “I’m afraid so,” the second pony said, “but don’t worry. She’s just a little mad. We’ll make sure you get to your dad, and I’m sure that she’ll cool off and take back a lot of things she said once she comes to her senses. Not my father, Sunspot thought. “But what if she doesn't?” He wailed. “What if she doesn't love me anymore?” The ponies looked at each other awkwardly, bringing a fresh wave of tears to his eyes as he lowered his head, ears drooping. “Dusk, what do we do?” One of the voices asked. A few long moments later, the older stallion - Dusk, Sunspot had heard one of the mares say - spoke. “Okay, I got it. Take young Sunspot here to the mayor, explain everything that happened, and arrange an escort for the young colt to his place of residence. Organizer, I need you to go tell everyone in charge of this event about what happened and to be on alert. I am not certain that the mare we encountered is the type to retaliate, but from what she said, I would not put it past her.” Oh, she is, believe me, the colt thought fiercely but kept his gaze morosely on the ground. “Make sure we’re ready for anything." He continued. "Rose, you keep your mind clear and focused for your parts of the event. Meanwhile, I will go write a few letters and talk to a few ponies. There were a lot of spectators to this little scene, and we’d do well to manage the flow of information before it gets out of hoof.” “May I interject?” Rose asked, prompting Dusk to nod. “How long do you figure it will take to set up an escort for Sunspot here?” “Well, it would have to be official ponies from either the police department or a social services office,” Dusk responded, “so it will probably take an hour or so to get word to them, gather the necessary ponies, and bring them back considering it’s not an emergency. I’d volunteer us to do it, but we want to go by the book with this.” “And that’s not counting answering the questions that the mayor might have about all this,” Rose said. “Could I watch over the colt while Timetable carries out her tasks? We can be here ready for when the escort arrives. I think he needs some time to calm down anyway.” The colt’s sobs had since ceased, although tears were still shining in his eyes. “Yes,” Dusk said, “I do believe that’s acceptable. Just make sure to keep him safe. Now let’s go. We have things to do.” The trio left in different directions, leaving him alone with the mare. “Hey there,” Rose said hesitantly. “Mind if I talk with you for a bit?” He continued to stare at the ground bitterly. “Not like it matters. Nothing matters anymore.” “I wouldn't say that,” Rose said soothingly. “It’s going to be okay. You’ll see.” “How would you know?” Sunspot asked angrily. “Do you know what it’s like for your mom to not want you anymore?” “Yes.” The colt looked up in surprise. He opened his mouth to speak, but found himself unable, so he merely closed it again and waited for her to continue. “I lost my parents for a while,” Rose said solemnly, “and the story of how it happened is actually a lot worse than what you’ll read in the papers. That’s not the important part though; the important part is that when I was in Canterlot last week, I ended up having dinner at their house. I’ll admit it was still a bit awkward, but they wanted to reconnect with me - the real me. It might take them a while, but I don’t think parents are programmed to give up on their kids forever.” “You really think that?” She shrugged. “It’s what I’ve seen, anyway,” she said. “I know not every case is like mine but… I really thought I would never even see my parents again, let alone have them ask me to come and spend time with them and my brother. If they can get past it, I’m sure your mom can too.” A renewed sense of hope once again filled him, however tempered it might be by reality. At least he had something to hope for. His sobs finally relented and he sniffed a bit. “Thank you,” he said shakily to Rose. “Sorry.. about crying like that. I was just scared.” “I understand,” Rose said. “I’d be scared too, but for what it’s worth, I think you’re being awfully brave.” “Thank you,” he said in reply, a slight sense of pride bubbling up in him. “No problem. Now, if I heard correctly, it seemed like you might have a few questions you wanted to ask me.” He truly smiled for the first time that day, the bubble of pride turning to a fresh set of joyful tears.