A simple letter may not sound like a lot. It sounds like the most insignificant thing in the world, to some. But sometimes, every once in a while, a few small words on a sheet of paper can make all the difference in the world. They can bring out someponies' greatness, or lead one to their ruin. Sometimes, all in the same letter.
Matilda gripped the pen in her mouth , the young jenny’s mouthwriting was hardly the neatest in the world, but she had to let him know what was happening. She wrote hurriedly as her family packed around her, trying her best to think of the right words to say. it wasn’t as easy as it sounded. The words in question were the ones she’d been trying to say face to face all this time as they grew closer and closer together. They were too important to say like this but she didn’t really have any other options left to her .
Her family hardly approved of him of course, he was a mere jack of all trades, a nobody in a big city. He got by okay but that was hardly enough. Her family on the other hoof intended her to carry on the family business, to choose a commoner for a partner was unacceptable to them. She had known for a while they would try something like this. She knew him though, she wrote explaining everything, her rushed mouthwriting trying to say in a few short minutes what she hadn’t had time to say for herself in all the time she had known him.
As she wrote she thought of him and smiled despite her worry, with his carefree manner and that easy smile of his. She loved him and knew he would follow her, into the maw of Tartarus itself if that is what it took. Once he found her she would finally break free of her family and start off on her own. Just her and Cranky, wherever they washed up had to be better than this.
Outside her father impatiently tapped a hoof, he was tired of this nonsense, that good for nothing jack would never follow her. He was confident of that. “Hurry up in there Matilda” he shouted. Even the cabbie was getting restless. She hurriedly finished the note doing her absolute best to not let her tears wet the page, a lady does not show such weakness after all.
Carefully she sealed it , kissing the seam, then penned s.w.a.l.k (sealed with a loving kiss) on the back, it was for him after all. then carefully she placed it where he was sure to see it. Then with one final longing glance back at the place she had grown up in, she turned and stepped out of the house , closing the door behind her.
At that moment a stray breeze blew in through the doorway and the letter that was so important to her was blown from its resting place it landed nestled just out of sight behind the door. All that was left was an empty house , as if Matilda had never been there at all.
Cranky Doodle Donkey was on top of the world. Things in his life were finally starting to look up, he had the promise of new work, and the bits it would bring in, a beautiful jenny, possibly the most beautiful jenny in the world as far as he was concerned. Plus nestled deep in his pocket was the fruits of all his hard work these past few months and his first paycheck from Axel Grease the Wagonmaker. The prettiest ring he could find, after all nothing was too good for his Matilda.
His Matilda, those words still made his heart burst with joy every single time he heard them. He still had a hard time believing she had even said yes from time to time. She was absolutely stunning with those big beautiful eyes of hers. She came from a well to do family in the neighbourhood, one that even ran their own company. What she even saw in him confused him to no end, but nonetheless she had agreed.
Cranky checked his mane one last time, he was rather proud of it after all, then raised his hoof and knocked. But there wasn’t a single sound from inside, the curtains didn’t even move. He knocked again, still nothing. Now he was worried. Lifting his hoof again he reached out once more and this time he tried the handle. To his Surprise the handle moved and the door creaked open, revealing an abandoned house. All the furniture was gone, if it wasn’t for how tidy things were left you could almost believe anybody had ever lived there.
“Matilda “ he shouted searching the house for any sign of her, his heart that until now had been in his mouth started to sink as he realised she was gone. The whole family were gone. He didn’t give up though, he turned and headed back towards home.
Once there a resolute look still on his face he kissed his mother goodbye, packed up a saddlebag of supplies. Then he went and bought a cheap tent. Next stop was his erstwhile employer. Axel was of course sorry to see him go, grumbling halfheartedly about the follies and fancies of youth, but then to Cranky’s surprise slipped him a few bits and wished him luck.
Once all this was done Cranky acquired the best, most detailed map of Equestria he could find anywhere in the city.
He knew Matilda would never have abandoned him, certainly not willingly. So there was no way in Tartarus that he was turning his back on her. Finally he went to see his dad, explaining where he was going. Then Cranky turned his back on the city he had called home , the only place he had known since he was a foal, and set out on a quest. He would find Matilda even if he had to search till he was older than Celestia herself.
Less that five hours into his journey and Cranky was already beginning to debate the wisdom of his decision. He had barely made it five miles when the heavens opened up above him, the wind howling and lightning crashing, really the weather team must have been giving it the works up there. With a frustrated groan he cursed his own foolishness. Why hadn’t he at least checked the weather schedule with the pegasus teams before he headed out. Then he remembered, he wasn’t in the city or even a village anymore, the weather out here did whatever it wanted. He gave a shudder at the thought, weather acting on its own? Unnatural was what it was. Oh well there was no use crying over spilled milk, wherever she was now she was waiting for him to find her, and find her he would.
Ignoring the biting wind and rain and pondering why the Tartarus he hadn’t picked up a better cloak he looked ahead. Pouring his energy into keeping moving, after all stillness meant coldness. Reaching into his saddlebags he fished out a by now slightly soggy cream cheese, daisy, and buttercup sandwich , it tasted terrible but if he was going to do this he’d need all the strength he could get. So he idly swallowed it down as he walked . His hooves were feeling like they were slipping half a step back for every step he took but even half a step at a time was a half step closer to her, well with any luck it was.
The thought of that was enough to put a spring back in his step, he imagined her expression when she realised how determined he was to keep her close. He thought of her that night at the gala, how beautiful she looked, yet somehow sad, trapped like a bird in a cage, that was the night he fell in love. The night he swore to free her from that no matter what it took. The thing he wanted most in the world was to see her genuine smile again. Like sunshine from behind a cloud.
That thought spurred him on more than anything else, it put a smile on his face, and once his mouth was sufficiently sandwich free he even managed to whistle (no mean feat for a donkey I can assure you) despite the rain, and in spite of the bitter cold he was on his way. The tune they had danced to first as a couple echoed around the woods as he thought of the Jenny of his dreams. The darkness somehow seeming more oppressive as he reached his first dilemma of the day. The road ahead forked sharply and the signs were too heavily weathered to really be all that legible in the dark.
“well” said cranky to himself, “fate aint keeping us apart so I guess I’ll put my faith in lady luck, heads left, tails right.” Much scrabbling in the far deeper and much thicker than it appeared mud and the loss of a twenty bit coin later Cranky decided lady luck was a complete and utter sadistic diamond dog of the female variant and took the fork that leaned to the right. After all it had to go somewhere at some point in time.
Two hours of wandering blindly down what could be called a path by only the most generous of terms he was prepared to reconsider that opinion. He hadn’t seen a single pony all day and there wasn’t a sign of civilisation to be seen for miles. From a hilltop he searched hoping desperately to see a place to sleep, an inn, a barn, hay at this point in time he’d even settle for a sufficiently dry rock to pitch his tent under, bits didn’t grow on trees after all, and he had no plans to throw any more away. Intentionally or not he had just lost a chunk of his travelling budget that would have been better spent on shelter for the night.
Maybe he should have been paying closer attention to the slippery road ahead, if he had maybe he wouldn’t have learned the hard way that if he thought the road was slippery then he really didn’t want to step off the path. He scrabbled desperately to regain his hoofing as he slid faster and faster down the muddy banks, but he was going too fast, the saddlebags and tent really didn’t help there either as the banks disappeared under him into a sheer drop.
Next thing he knew there was a gigantic splash, and everything was cold, the saddlebags were hauling him down as he struggled to tread water and make for the shore. But the packs were heavy and the banks were steep and slippery, he simply couldn't get a grip. The current really wasn’t helping him much either, pushing him under every time he surfaced. In desperation he kicked off the tent, and his saddlebags as the current dragged him along.
Then just as he gave up hope something landed in the water right beside him, it looked like a lifering. Fervently thanking lady luck for being so forgiving of his earlier rudeness he grabbed a hold and clung on desperately. As he got hauled in he noticed a strange looking riverboat , then a massive hoof reached from the deck and hauled him free of the water. He suddenly found himself confronted by a giant of a stallion with a fiery handlebar moustache that was practically a work of art.
"Well Brica m'dear" the apparition boomed with a hearty chuckle. "This has to be the strangest looking fish I've ever caught"
"Now you pack that in Brac" came a kindly voice from behind Crankys rescuer. "The poor dear looks arf drowned as 'tis wi'out being subjected to yer terrible jokes ter top it off. Yew just get 'im below decks an' dried off, I'll pop the kettle on and get a proper fire going on the stove."
The last thing Cranky remembered that night was being lifted, not unkindly over the huge Stallions shoulders and carried downstairs, after that he was too exhausted to remember much or even care.