> BAD INFLUENCES
>  by Ali Gonzheimer
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> BAD INFLUENCES
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Right now, I’m standing on Ponyville’s bridge; carrying two bags full of bits… trying to figure out what to do with them. But I just can’t.

There are exactly sixty thousand bits on each bag; and actually, I’m a little tempted to throw them to the river, because I just simply don’t see any use for this money anymore. On the other hoof, I suppose it wouldn’t take much time until some pony found it. But… none of this would be happening if I… No. The only thing I have to worry about now is, what am I going to do with all this money? …Maybe the best thing is donate it to charity, or maybe…

“Whoa!”

Some random pony came out of nowhere and bumped against me, and we both fell to the ground, also as thousands of bits. And now that I’m seeing all of those golden coins dispersed all over the bridge, I’m realizing how much it really is. Did I count it right?

“Hey!”

Two guards called my attention. They were approaching from the distance at full gallop speed. They look like bank guards… and they seem angry. That’s when I took a second look to the guy next to me. It was a tall middle age pony, with messy hair and a poorly shaved stubble. But even now, it took me a moment to analyze what it was an obvious situation, because there was another bag on the ground next to this pony, and there were lots of more bits lying around. Now I was completely sure that it wasn’t all my money. Meanwhile, the two angry looking guards were approaching real fast towards me, and towards this unfriendly looking pony I had next to me. That was the moment, when He finally stood up, only to stare at me with anger; but then he quickly started running away, leaving me alone on that bridge.

“Stop right there!” The guards yelled. And I didn’t like how this was starting to look.

Those guards were approaching straight to me, but I only stood still, surrounded by all these stuff out of context. The criminal was getting away, the guards were getting closer, and I was standing there… right in the middle.

“Stop! You criminals!”

Suddenly, they were chasing both of us. And while running, the actual criminal turned to see me. He seemed surprised to see me galloping behind him, but then he quickly turned to look ahead and took a turn to the left, jumping through some bushes. And, well… I had no other choice but follow him.

The criminal made his way through some trees and scrubs, nearly escaping my sight. The guards were still right behind me. And for a moment there, I almost felt like one of them grabbed my tail with his teeth, but it slipped through his mouth, ripping some hair from my behind; but I was so nervous that I didn’t even turned to see what really happened. But it was that moment when the criminal jumped trough some other bushes; so I had to do the same, a few seconds after him… And now I finally realized we were on the train tracks; and right ahead, there was a train underway, leaving the station. In that moment, I saw the criminal. He was reaching the train and getting on board on the last wagon; but it was getting away. I had to hurry, if I was going to catch it. So I started galloping as fast as I could, with both guards still behind me.

“They’re getting away!” One of them shouted.

The train started gaining speed, but I felt like I could almost reach it; so it was that moment when I decided to jump, on a desperate attempt to get on board, but I only failed on grabbing myself to the handle… But in that instant, right before I hit the ground with my face, I felt a hoof holding me by my throat, puling me to the inside of the wagon; and before I realized, I was already on board of the train. Those guards were now too tired to continue, so I simply stared at them as they gave up and disappeared in the distance, on the train tracks. Then I thought, it was all finally over, so I let go a relief sigh while I turned around. But when I opened my eyes, all I saw was the criminal, right in front of me, staring at me with a terrifying expression on his face… this, was definitely not over.

A COMPLETE STRANGER

After that incident, there was only me and the criminal, alone on that wagon. So then he started talking to me:

“What was all that about?” He asked me, in a really passive voice, but yet angry.

“I…” I tried to speak, but then he suddenly jumped towards me, threatening me with his hoof.

“Why did you follow me?!” He yelled, very angry this time.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to…!” I shouted; but again, he didn’t let me finish:

“I needed that money, you know?! I’ve went through a very bucked up day just to get it!” He explained, but by the way he was talking, I started having a very good idea of who I was dealing with.

“I… I’m sorry! I didn’t plan it!” I tried to explain myself. But I that moment, he didn’t even seem to be listening to me at all.

“All of that struggling for what?!” But yet, I kept apologizing anyway:

“I’m sorry!”

“Don’t give me no apologies now, I’m not in the mood.” He said then, with a calmer voice. In that moment, he seemed like he had calmed down a little, so I decided to try to reason with him:

“I’m sorr… Look, you don’t know me, and I don’t know you. So…” And he started staring at me in silence as I spoke. “…I’m just going to leave; and I won’t bother you anymore.” And then I realized, that he seemed to be getting more and more upset by the second… I think I should shut up.

“Or… I guess I could stay here for a while.” I said then. And feeling completely threatened, I started walking backwards and sat on the corner, while he continued following me with his eyes… his creepy eyes.

After that, we spend a lot of minutes inside that wagon. It had been a while since we got chased by those guards, and it couldn’t be more awkward. There was nopony else there, and none of us had spoken a single word. He just continued walking from one side to another, babbling something in a very creepy way. And with all of these stuff happening right now, I felt like the train wasn’t moving at all. This trip didn’t seem to have an end! Besides, he had been staring at me this whole time… But maybe, if I can hold on, and don’t move a muscle, I can make it alive to the next station… no matter where it is.

So I tried to distract my mind from this horrible reality; and as I was staring at the window, seeing the sky and the mountains to the horizon, I couldn’t help but asking myself. What would have happened to all that money just lying around on that bridge? And so, I continued wandering on my thoughts, until a few minutes later, I noticed that the criminal got completely distracted. I felt like it was my chance; so I stood up very carefully, and really slowly started heading towards the wagon door. But then he stopped me:

“Where do you think you’re going?” He said all of sudden, without even looking at me. But then he turned his head, and with a cold expression on his face, he replied:

“Sit down!” His raspy and imposing voice let me paralyzed for a moment. But… in that moment, I suddenly thought: This is ridiculous! I was terrified, but I wasn’t going to tolerate this guy for much longer.

“No!” So I yelled then.

And he got notoriously surprised by my response.

“I’m leaving this car right now, and I’m walking away from you!” Then I shouted, pointing straight at him with my hoof.

Somehow, I think that was the bravest thing I have done in my entire life. But then, when I was already prepared for any kind of violent response, he just remained silent, with no physical response at all; so I kept talking:

“Look. It’s not that I don’t appreciate that you saved me from those guards. But I’m leaving this wagon right now!” Then I declared, as a final statement; and then, with a firm posture, I turned around and approached to the door. I put my hoof on the doorknob and then I turned to look at him one last time. But he still said nothing… so I said the only thing I had to say to him at this point:

“Well, goodbye!” And I was about to leave, when he suddenly talked:

“Wait, wait, wait. Hold on… There’s one thing. At least, I think you owe me that.” He said all of sudden, right before I opened the door, and he said it in a really calmed way; so I remained in front of the door, still holding the doorknob.

Then he started talking:

“Back there on that bridge. When I ran into you… and we both dropped… a whole bunch of money. Of course I saw that. And then you started following me… My question is…”

“Why I did it? I don’t know.” I answered in that moment.

“No, no. What I want to know is… Where did you get all that money?” That question took me by surprise. But then he continued:

“I didn’t count it, but it seemed to be like… what sixty, eighty thousand?” He guessed.

“One hundred and twenty.” I answered, in a dry tone; straight to the amount.

“Wow! …And I’m not impressed actually, because I had a lot more than you. But, how is somepony like you, walking around with all that cash?” He finally asked, which I did not respond right away, but it took me a few seconds to analyze this question.

“And what do you expect me to tell you?” I had no idea of where he wanted to go with all of that. But then he answered me:

“I only want the truth” He said; completely calmed, and with a slight smile on his face.

“Alright. I stole it. You happy?” I answered, in a very impatient way, and a bit arrogant; hoping to fool the criminal, but I only managed to make him angry, because his expression changed in that instant.

“No, I’m not. Because that’s not true.” He said with very cold words, getting quite more serious in that moment. But without noticing that, I kept insisting on my ridiculous story:

“You don’t know that.” I said, sounding like a real smart flank. But then he stood up from the floor, and jumped straight onto me.

“Who the buck you think you’re talking to?! I tell you, that’s a lie!” He exploded in rage all of sudden; and I almost had an embarrassing accident with my bladder.

“Alright, alright! Calm down!” I shouted, at the same time I was curling up on the floor, covering my face with one hoof, and trying to keep him away with the other.

“Then, talk.” He said then, containing his anger notoriously.

I was very nervous after that, but I wasn’t going to take any more risks with this criminal. So I decided, that it would be better if I just told him all the truth and I end this once and for all.

“I… I was… I was going to throw it to the river. I swear it’s the truth!” And after saying this, I stared at the criminal with wide open eyes, sweating in fear from each pore of my body; but he didn’t utter a single word. He just nodded in silence for a moment.

“That… I believe you. But you still didn’t answer my question.”

“I just did!” I yelled, with complete desperation.

“No. You told me what you were planning to do with the money; not where did you get it.”

“And what does it matter to you?” I shouted, really nervous.

“I’m just trying to have a conversation.” He answered, in a very spontaneous and almost civilized way.

“Well, I’m sorry. But that’s none of your business.” I tried to impose to the criminal, but after hearing my answer, he just seemed to have gotten angrier than before, because in that moment, he started walking slowly and threateningly towards me, making me walk backwards.

“Listen to me, pal. I just lost a big score, because of you!” And as he was yelling at me, we both were getting closer to the back part of the train, where the door was still open.

“Remember that it was Me who got you on this train, and if I want to, I can get you off right now.” Now I was dangerously close to the edge, and the train was moving fast… I think he was serious… he was dead serious… I don’t know why I followed him.

“I… I sold my house and all my stuff just yesterday!” I shouted in that moment.

In that instant, the criminal stopped. So I continued:

“…And… and I didn’t had no place to go…! Or where to put all that money! …That’s why I was carrying it!” I finished talking, but my body wouldn’t stop trembling. I think would had never confessed this much about myself if no one would have threatened me. The criminal seemed really surprised. I could see it on his expression. And after a few seconds, he turned around, walked away a few steps, and sat down on one of the seats of the wagon.

I was still quite moved and agitated after that. But in that moment, he didn’t seem to be a threat anymore.

“Can I go now?” I asked him then, with a hoarse voice; breaking the complete silence of that wagon; a silence that was followed by the constant patter of the train, which only made more awkward the next instants in which no one said a word.

“I had no idea…” He babbled, staring at the floor. But I… I just simply tried to ignore him, and reach the door once again.

“I’m leaving now.” I said, as I put my hoof on the doorknob. But in that moment, he suddenly shouted:

“I had no idea… of how crazy you were!” And as soon as I heard that, I stopped.

“I mean. I just robbed a bank. But you… you were about to end yourself.” He said, in a very mocking tone. Then I turned around.

“What?! No, I wasn’t!” I said with anger, and quite indignant.

“Ohh, of course you were. And I can’t believe it; I actually saved you, from yourself!” He shouted with some irony, making me fly off my handle.

“That’s not true! Because you… you are nothing but a psychopath, and I’m walking away from you right now!” I yelled at him with anger, for I had been actually insulted this time.

“You don’t have to thank me.” He said then, in a condescending voice.

So I approached to the door, determined to walk away from him and leave that wagon once and for all, but when I was about to open it; it opened all of the sudden, and suddenly, there was a train employee standing right in front of me.

“Oh! I didn’t know there were any passengers on this car. May I see your tickets please?” The train employee asked to us. But we both remained in silence, and then we looked to each other, with the same dumb expression. And then, the criminal finally started talking to him:

“Sure. Yeah… the tickets… We have them, right… here!” And right after he said that, he jumped through one of the windows, from the moving train; then he hit the ground and then he started rolling on the rocks and bushes on the outside, next to the train track. And right now, I was just as surprised as the train employee next to me; and we both continued astonished, observing through the wagon’s window as the criminal disappeared at the distance, in the middle of a cloud of dust.

Moments later, the train had arrived to its destination, and it only took me one instant to figure out where I was now. It was The Crystal Empire.
> THE EMPIRE
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I started walking along the train station, and my mind was still spinning around this whole situation. I couldn’t believe what just had happened to me today. I had never met such a crazy pony in my life, and I had never been in this much trouble before. But I’m here now, and I think I can fix everything.

There was a crystal guard outside the station; and I thought that, maybe if I could explain him what happened back in Ponyville, the guards of this kingdom could get in touch with the other guards and we could solve everything.

So I was approaching to talk to the guard; but I was a little afraid, because I really needed to choose the right words to explain exactly what…

“How dare you?!”

In that instant, when I heard that voice, both my legs and my thoughts got paralyzed. And then I started looking around, until I finally saw him…

“Why didn’t you jump with me?!”

He was standing right in the middle of the station; and even my eyes were seeing him, I couldn’t believe it… How did he found me? How did that crazy flank criminal found me? Then, he started walking towards me, covered in dirt and scratches.

“What were you thinking?!” He asked me as he approached.

“What do you want from me?!” I shouted then, as a whimper.

“Right now, I want an explanation.” He said, as he started shaking the dust. “How did you get out of that train so easily? Hmm?! Did no pony try to stop you?”

I was still quite stressed at that moment. I really wasn’t expecting his presence at all, but I took a few seconds to calm down; I took a deep breath, and then I talked:

“I paid for my ticket… And I could have paid for yours too. I always hide four bits on my mane for emergencies.” I explained. But as soon as he heard me say that, he didn’t seem too happy at all. But… I didn’t care anymore.

“Ok, now leave me alone!” I said in that moment.

“No way José. We have to keep moving. The guards are still after us.” He said to me, trying to sound discreet.

“What are you talking about? That’s not true! Besides, I didn’t do anything wrong!”

“Oh, of course you did…” And then, he suddenly hit his head against a bakery window on the train station, breaking the glass in the noisiest way possible; then he took one cinnamon bun from the shelf, and then he stuck it suddenly into my mouth.

“…You just stole that.” He said then.

And in that moment, everypony around was staring at us. They were all surprised, just as I was right now; and now, that crystal guard had just seen the whole thing.

“Hey!” The crystal guard yelled. So then I turned to the criminal, when he was already preparing to run away. But before he did, he said to me:

“Now you get to choose again… You can follow me, or you can stay right where you are.”

I tried to talk in that moment, but my mouth was full of bun. And right after that, the criminal started running away, and the crystal guard was now coming after me.

“Stop! Both of you!” The crystal guard yelled.

And now… I couldn’t believe I was doing this again. Because now we were both being chased by the guard of this kingdom, and this nightmare was now taking place among a big crowd on the Crystal Empire; crossing streets, dodging other ponies, and calling a lot of attention towards ourselves. And as I was galloping among dozens of crystal ponies, trying to keep track of the criminal ahead of me, I couldn’t stop blaming myself for the terrible decisions I had made today. But this was a huge kingdom, and in some point, I just lost the criminal out of sight. So I stopped for a moment, and saw a lot of ponies passing by around me, but where did He go? Of course I didn’t have much time to think. The crystal guard was approaching, so I continued running. And now that I was escaping, all by myself, I started to realize that… that’s kind of what I wanted. So while I was still running, I started thinking… Hey, maybe I should turn myself to the authorities, and end all this madness. This whole thing could end right now before it went any further… But before I could make a decision that would affect me for the rest of my life, a hoof appeared out of nowhere, pulling me behind a trashcan; and also blocking my mouth on an unexpected manner. Then, I saw the guard passing by the sidewalk, completely ignoring where I went. Meanwhile, I was trying to scream, but the hoof was still covering my mouth.

“Shut up, he’s gonna hear you.” He whispered. And in that moment, I finally realized that it was the same criminal who was holding me. So, instead of doing what he said, I just pushed him away in that moment.

“Get off me!” I yelled him.

“Shhh!” He tried to shut me up, but I was too angry at that moment.

“No! You “shhh”!” I replied, and he quickly tried to cover my mouth.

“Don’t…!”

And then we started struggling, behind that trashcan on that alley; and it was about to get ugly… until one lady showed up.

“What’s going on here?!” She caught us, strangling each other, so we both stopped in that same moment, staring at her from the ground. A moment that was followed by an awkward silence.

“This isn’t what it looks like.” I said right away, still with my hooves on his neck. And then we both put our hooves down, without stop staring at that angry lady pony.

“What are you doing back here? This is private property, you know?” She yelled at us.

“Oh, I’m sorry. We were just…” I started talking, but the criminal suddenly interrupted me in that a second:

“…About to sing along!”

“What?! I mean… Yes!” I tried to dissimulate, and then I turned to the lady, with a fake smile on my face. But the lady just stared at us, with a notorious suspicious on her eyes. But after a long and stressful moment, she finally reacted:

“Really…? Because I love songs!” And she suddenly seemed very excited.

“Oh, dear!” I said to myself, very nervous. But then the criminal stood up, and started talking:

“The thing is… that… we were going to sing in a… Different language! Yeah.” He explained, seeming like he was making up things while he was speaking; doing it with an apparent ease.

“Ohh, how interesting! Now I really, really want to hear it!” She said to us then, even more excited. But this weird pony next to me seemed to think stuff real fast, because then he outlined a big smile.

“Well, then you will have to move with us; because this is a trip song!” He said, while we both started walking backwards, away from the lady. And before she had time to get suspicious, He discretely hit me with his hoof, so I started singing:

“La donna é mobile!” I sang the first thing that came to my mind. And then he continued:

“La cucaracha! la cucaracha!”

“Qual piuma al vento!”

We sang in the most horrible way, which made other ponies outside the alley to stop and look what was going on.

“Enchilada, blah blah blah…” And without even finishing that verse, the criminal ran away in that moment, leaving me alone with the lady on the alley for a second.

“And… My… Goodbye!” And then I escaped. And I honestly think it was more embarrassing for the lady than it was for us.

THE EVENT

It was getting late; and here we were, still making our way through the alleys so we didn’t get caught by the guards. And at this point, I didn’t know what else to do but follow this dude… for now.

“Where are we going?” I asked him, while he was leading me into another alley.

“It’s late. It’s chilly. We are going to some place warmer…” He answered me, as he looked around a corner, for then to outline a smile. “…and with food.”

At the end of the street there was… what it seemed to be a party. There were lots of ponies gathering around a red carpet on the entrance, all of them trying to look inside, but the security was strong.

“Come on.” Then the criminal told me to follow him. But as we were getting closer to where everypony was gathering, everyone started clapping their hooves on the ground with excitement.

“What’s going on?” I asked to a pony on the crowd.

“Don’t you see? Fancy Pants is here!” She shouted with excitement; and that’s when I saw him. Fancy Pants was coming out a very elegant carriage, next to his much more elegant wife.

“Fancy Pants! Fancy Pants!” The multitude was going crazy; everypony except for the one pony next to me.

“But he’s not wearing any pants.” He said, with some angry sarcasm.

“Oh, my! What I’d give to get inside that party!” Said the excited pony on the crowd.

“Why? Is it that great?” I asked her.

“Are you kidding? Fancy Pants always throws the most exclusive parties all over Equestria!”

“Is that so?” The criminal asked then.

“Absolutely. And not just any pony is invited.” She added.

And in that moment, and without a notice, He grabbed me by the neck and pulled me away from the crowd. And when he stopped, I pushed him away with anger.

“What do you want?!” I shouted.

“We, are going inside that party.” He said to me then, with a great and noticeable confidence on his voice.

“What? Didn’t you hear what she said? They don’t let in just any pony.”

“Oh, but we are not just any ponies, are we?” He said then, with an evil grin on his face.

A NICE PONY

It was dark now; and we were still standing in front of the same red carpet. The multitude was gone, and now we were the only ponies around, except for the security ponies, who wouldn’t stop pointing and mocking at us.

“I’m freezing.” I said.

“Shut up! Me too.” He replied. But then I added:

“And I’m also hungry.”

“At least you ate a cinnamon bun earlier, right?” He said, while still staring at the entrance to the party. And in that moment, I decided it was time to give up and leave. I just couldn’t believe how long it took me to realize it.

“Let’s go now. There is no way they let us in.” I said.

“Could you shut up now? I’m thinking.” He replied, a little more upset this time.

“So you are still planning to get inside? Is this part of your plan to get in?” I asked, impatiently. And when the security guards heard me saying that, they started laughing.

“And what do you call this part of the plan?” I asked sarcastically, but despite that, the criminal didn’t reacted at all.

And then I continued:

“Oh, I know how to call it. Failure!”

“Ohhhhhhh!” The security ponies shouted. But…

“SHUT UP!” The criminal reacted very violently; yelling in such way, that even the security ponies stopped laughing. Now he was dangerously angry, and I didn’t like the way he was looking at me.

“Hey… hey… stay back dude. I warn you.” I said to him, while I started walking backwards, away from him.

“Yeah? And what you gonna do? Eh?” He started walking towards me, while I kept walking backwards. He seemed like he was about to attack me at any second, so I was ready to run and find shelter behind the security ponies; and in that moment, the security ponies were prepared to intervene at any moment. And so, there were a couple of really tense seconds after that… when suddenly, an old lady walked down the red carpet from the inside.

“What is going on here?” She asked.

“It’s Nothing ma’am. Please go back inside. We’ll take care of this.” Said one of the security ponies.

“Take care of what? I’m just going to give him a friendly hug, that’s it.” The criminal said, with a maniac glare on his eyes.

“Oh… isn’t that nice?” The lady said. But then, one of the security guards approached to her.

“Please ma’am. I insist…”

“Oh, it’s ok sweetie. I was leaving anyway.” The lady said, interrupting the guard.

“Very well then. Let us bring you your carriage.” And then, the security pony made a sign to the valet parking, who instantly left, to bring her her vehicle. And on the meantime, the lady approached to the sidewalk, to wait for her carriage in front of the street. Meanwhile, the big security guy stood up between her and us, with an imposing pose, and an unfriendly look on his face. But then, the lady saw us.

“You don’t tell me you have been out here waiting to get into that party.” The lady asked us.

“Ok, we won’t tell you then.” The criminal answered, on a bitter tone; but surprisingly, the lady giggled.

“Well, you don’t have to worry. You are not missing out anything. That must be the most boring party that Fancy Pants has ever thrown.” The lady said then.

“He… he…” I tried to laugh, but I just didn’t have the spirit. The old lady seemed nice; and by the way she was looking at us, standing on the dark and cold, I could tell she felt sorry for us. I just knew it… We were pathetic.

Then she asked us:

“Are you boys’ hungry?”

“Maybe a little.” The criminal said.

“We’re fine.” I said then. But suddenly, the lady added:

“Because, it’s not that late. I could invite you some dinner. What do you say?”

“Absolutely!” The criminal shouted excited. But as soon as he heard that, the security pony immediately opposed.

“Ma’am! I don’t recommend…” But the lady didn’t let him finish.

“Oh, it’s alright darling. They seem to be nice boys.” She said, pointing at us; at the time I sighed and this guy was smiling like an angel.

“See?” She said to the guard.

The security pony was speechless, but before he could say anything, the carriage arrived in that moment. Then the lady got in, and then she invited us inside.

“Come on boys.” She said, from the inside of her carriage.

“Oh, you are too kind!” The criminal shouted while jumping inside the carriage, so then I got inside after him. And then, the lady made a sign to the ponies pulling the vehicle, and in that moment, we started moving.

And while we were leaving, the criminal looked out the window, only to mock at the security guards; meanwhile, on the inside of the carriage, it was more than obvious how unhappy I was in that moment.

“Don’t be sad darling. Fancy Pants events are not that big deal. Seriously, that pony wouldn’t recognize fun even if it was on his cutie mark.” She said, trying to cheer me up. But then the criminal took his head back into the vehicle.

“Dumb guard… Hey, thank you so much for this.” He said to the lady.

“You are very welcome. My name is Carnelian Agate.” The lady introduced herself.

“Well my name is Plumb Bob, and this here is…” But then they both stared at me.

“Oh… My name is JoySpread.” I introduced myself.

“JoySpread?! Really?” He shouted in that moment.

“Yes. Why?” I asked him, not very amused by his tone.

“Nothing, it’s just that… it fits you so well.” He said then, with sarcasm.

“Wait a minute. You two haven’t introduced yet?” Ms. Agate asked us. So he started explaining:

“We haven’t really had the time. The thing is… we’re travelers, and right now we’re on our way to Canterlot.”

Canterlot?! I thought in that moment… I hadn’t realized until now, that that was his plan all along.

“Oh really? I love Canterlot! In fact, I will be moving there in a couple of days.” Ms. Agate said, sounding excited.

“That sounds nice.” The criminal responded.

“Not quite… You see, I’m a jewelry manufacturer, and Fancy Pants is one of my best clients. But he just told me that he needs me to be near his place, so he doesn’t have to travel all the way here to get his new jewelry… So I have no other choice but, move to Canterlot.”

“That doesn’t sound fair. If he wants to buy from you, he should come here every time!” The criminal shouted, sounding pretty upset.

“Oh no, there is no problem at all. It’s just that… I really love the Crystal Empire… It is my home.” And in that moment, Ms. Agate started staring wistfully through the window for a few seconds. Until she finally reacted. “Oh… I’m sorry if I’m boring you, I just love to talk about my job.”

“No… it’s ok.” I said.

“Well, I love to hear about it.” He said.

“Thank you guys. And what about you? What do you do in your travels?” Ms. Agate asked us.

“Well, we…” He was about to start talking, but then I decided to interrupt him:

“I’m glad you ask. Because my great partner here and I are going to Canterlot, where we are going to split; and each one will continue with his life… I mean, career.” I tried to send him a message. Fortunately, Ms. Agate didn’t seem to get it.

“That sounds… interesting.” She said.

“Indeed. And my friend here… uh…”

“Plumb Bob.” He said.

“Plumb Bob! Right! He’s an interior designer; and he has this future project involving gray walls and bars on the doors which he will be doing for a long time.” I explained, with a slightly perverse smile on my face and constantly looking at Plumb Bob with contempt.

“It sounds very interesting.” Ms. Agate said. But Plumb Bob didn’t seem too happy with me in that moment.

“Oh, that’s nothing! When I first met Joy, He was planning to dedicate his entire time on this project about… a small… oblong, wooden bed with a lid on it. And I’m pretty sure he’s going to continue with this “project” as soon as possible.” He said to Ms. Agate, to end up turning to look at me with an unbearable smile. And in that moment we stared at each other, with a fake smile on our faces and a challenge glare on our eyes.

“I don’t know what to say boys. I’m very pleased to have met you today. Maybe you can both help me someday to redesign my new home in Canterlot.”

“Of course.” I said.

“I would love to.” Plumb Bob added; while we kept staring defiantly at each other.

And in that moment, the carriage stopped.

“Here we are.” Ms. Agate said, as she got off the vehicle.

“Come on in.” She invited us to her house; and when we crossed that door, we both were absolutely shocked. This place wasn’t just anything. There were jewels everywhere and on everything; from furniture to chandeliers, and even in other jewels.

“Wow!” We both said at the same time.

“Why thank you boys. Now, let’s talk about dinner, shall we?”

“Oh, boy!” Plumb Bob then ran to the table, very excited, ignoring completely the amazing elegance of the house. Then Ms. Agate went to her fridge and opened it.

“Let’s see… what can I offer you? Oh! There’s some salad! But I also could make you some sandwiches.”

“The salad would be great Ms. Agate.” I said, trying to be polite.

“Yeah, maybe for you! I would like a sandwich please.” He said to Ms. Agate.

“Of course! I’ll make it right away.” She said, and then she took one bowl of salad and put it in front of me on the table.

“Here you go.”

“Thank you Ms. Agate.” I told her; and then she walked back to the kitchen with a smile. But as soon as she turned around, I turned to the pony on the other side of the table.

“What are you doing?” I whispered to Plumb Bob.

“I’m being polite and accepting her offer.” He responded me.

“Don’t you know she’s done enough just by offering dinner to us?! You don’t have to take advantage of that!” I complained, with strong whispers. But he simply answered me:

“Shut up and eat your salad!”

“Is everything ok?” Ms. Agate then asked us from the kitchen.

“Of course Ms. Agate. It’s just that, my friend Joy is a little shy to tell, but he really loves his salads with a lot of mayonnaise and extra onions.” Plumb Bob stated, in a way that was actually credible, to which I didn’t know how to reply.

“What?! I mean… what?” I said then.

“Oh, there’s no shame on the kind of food you like dear… here.” And then she brought me the onions and mayonnaise.

“Oh… I… appreciate it?” I barely articulated those words.

“You’re very welcome.” She said, with great kindness, which meant that now I had to eat this, otherwise it would be disrespectful. But we can both play this game.

“Oh, Ms. Agate. My friend Plumb Bob doesn’t want to bother you, but he really likes his sandwiches with lots of hot sauce.” I told to Ms. Agate, as an evil grin started growing on my face after every word.

“Hey…!” Plumb Bob said then, while staring at me. “…I actually do!” Then he said with excitement… something I was not expecting.

“Well, I guess you are lucky, because I have a new bottle right here.” And then, she served him his hot sauce sandwich, which he started eating with joy. And then he spoke with his mouth full:

“Oh, Ms. Agate; you are the best!”

“Uhhh…” I thought.

So, after what was a strangely delicious dinner, we were ready to go.

“Thanks a lot, Ms. Agate. It was a lovely dinner.” Plumb Bob said.

“You’re welcome boys.”

“I don’t know how we can pay you for this.” I said.

“Oh, don’t worry about anything. It was nice to have met you two today.”

So then, we were about to cross the door out, when she suddenly spoke to us:

“Do you have any place to stay while you are here on the Empire?”

“Well… uh… we…” Plumb Bob was trying to make up something, but then I intervened:

“We’ll find a hotel Ms. Agate… or maybe a trash container.” That last part I whispered to Plumb Bob. But then, Ms. Agate said:

“Would you like to stay here tonight?” And this took us booth by surprise.

“Are you serious Ms. Agate?” I asked.

“Of course! You can use the guest room.” She said to us, with a big smile on her face.

And in that moment I couldn’t believe it. I had wanted to say no, because… she had done too much for us so far. But on the other hoof, I really didn’t want to spend the night on the streets.

“Thank you very much Ms. Agate.” I said.

“Yeah! You are the best!” Plumb Bob shouted then, after which Ms. Agate giggled.

But after that, I’m starting to think I should have thought this twice; because now I had to share the bed with HIM.

“Move! You’re taking all the blanket!” Plumb Bob complained.

“Alright. Then take it!” I said, throwing I threw the entire blanket on him. “Now I would like some peace.” I told him as I turned away on the bed.

Although anyway, I didn’t think I would be able to sleep next to a criminal. So I’ll just try to stay awake and get through the night. Or at least I tried, until He suddenly started speaking to me:

“Ms. Agate is great, isn’t she?” Plumb Bob said.

“What? I’m not talking to you!” I shouted.

“Wow, what a grumpy. I’m just trying to have a conversation.” He said, as if it was me who was acting wrong.

“No. There is not going to be any conversation!” I yelled really hard. But then, Ms. Agate suddenly spoke to us through the wall, from the other room:

“Is everything alright, boys?” She asked.

“It’s nothing Ms. Agate.” We answered at the same time, which made Plumb Bob giggle a little; and right after that, he instantly fell asleep. But I don’t think I can do it as easily as he did… I guess… there is no guilt… on a pony with no conscience…

> PREJUDICE
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was now morning.

I opened my eyes, and there was plenty of light coming from the window, through its white curtains. It was so bright that it took a moment until my vision slowly began to clear; and then I realized… that I was the only one in bed.

“When did I fell asleep?” I thought.

So I got up and went to the living room, where in that moment I found Plumb Bob, sitting in front of the table, with a necklace on his hooves, and several other pieces of jewelry in front of him, which he was staring at with a smile. But then he saw me.

“You’re finally up.” He greet me very casually. But my reaction was very different in that moment:

“Seriously?!” I said, as I started approaching to him: “Ms. Agate took us into her house, and this is how you’re paying her? …Stealing?!” I yelled then. But he only remained sitting there, apparently confused.

“Listen to me now! I’m not gonna let you do it! Even if I end up in jail too, I’m calling the guards, right now!” I threatened him; but he continued speechless, even when I was walking towards the door. But then, Ms. Agate walked into the room.

“Good morning JoySpread!” She said to me, as she approached Plumb Bob, and then she sat next to him.

“Well, what do you think of this one?” He suddenly asked her, showing her the necklace on his hooves.

“It’s great! You’re learning very fast.” She answered.

“Aw, shucks! Thank you Ms. Agate!” He said then, with a weird giggle, that I never thought I would hear from him.

I’m confused.

“What is going on?” I asked then.

“Well, Bob told me that he wanted to learn about my job. And I must tell you, that he’s really good at this.” Ms. Agate explained me, while giving compliments to Plumb Bob.

“Oh, please, Ms. Agate.” He said, showing himself very humble about it. And then they both started laughing.

“I… uhhh…”

I didn’t know what to think about it.

But then she continued talking. “Oh, but don’t worry dear; since you missed breakfast, I made you both a basket of sandwiches for your travel to Canterlot.”

“I… I don’t know what to say.” I said then… and I really didn’t know.

But later after that, we were ready to go this time, and say goodbye to Ms. Agate.

“It’s been a real honor to have stayed here with you Ms. Agate.” Plumb Bob said.

“For me as well. And I have the feeling that we’ll met again In Canterlot.” She said then, to which I replied:

“I hope so.”

“I know so.” Plumb Bob added.

Ms. Agate must be the nicest pony I’ve ever met; that’s why I’m sorry that I really won’t see her again. But after a farewell, we only had walked a couple of blocks when Plumb Bob had already ate half the sandwiches from the basket.

“Why did you ate all the peanut butter ones?” I complained.

“Remember that the guards are still after us…” He spoke with his mouth full. “…And if we have to run, we won’t be able to carry them with us.”

“And filling yourself with them is a better option?”

“Hey, I’m not throwing them away! This isn’t money! …If you know what I mean.”

“Yeah, very funny… Now give me that.” And then I took one sandwich and took a bite. And in that moment I started thinking.

“So… Was it truth, about going to Canterlot?” I asked him in that moment, to which Plumb Bob took a several seconds to respond.

“Absolutely.” He finally answered, with a solid look on his face.

“Then, that was your plan this whole time? Robbing a bank and then escaping to Canterlot?”

“Not exactly. I just decided it.” He said then.

“You just decided it?”

“Yeah, at the moment I told Ms. Agate that we were going.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“I don’t want to lie to her, Joy.”

Is logic seemed absurd to me. But in that moment he seemed to be really calm as he was eating his sandwich, so if there was a time for me to ask him anything, it was now:

“Does it mean I can leave now?” But before I got the answer I wanted, he suddenly stopped, and said.

“Wait…”

He suddenly got very alert, which made me pretty nervous.

“What?” I asked then.

Then he pointed out, and right at the end of the street there were two guards walking toward us. So we quickly hid under a table of an outdoor restaurant.

“They’re coming here.” He whispered.

“So what now? Are you finally turning yourself?” I whispered too, with the slight hope for him to say yes. But Plumb Bob only showed himself very thoughtful for a moment, and then he took the pepper from the table over our heads, and then he took off the lid from it.

“Quick, put this in your mouth!” He suddenly said.

“My mou…?” And without a notice, he simply poured the pepper into my mouth. But then I started sneezing.

“Don’t breath!” He shouted.

“There they are!” The guards then saw us, but then Plumb Bob pushed me from under the table.

“Come on, run! And try not to breathe!”

My mouth was full with pepper, but Plumb Bob started running and the guards started chasing us. No one even gave me a chance to explain what was going on.

“Follow me!” Plumb Bob said.

He led me to a dead end alley, and then the guards arrived, blocking our only escape.

“It’s over criminals!” Said one of the guards.

“Ok, ok, you caught us. But please, let him go to a hospital first.” Plumb Bob then said.

“What are you talking about?” One of the guards asked, but I was confused too.

“My partner is too sick and he can hardly breathe. Please!” He said then, giving a very convincing performance. In that moment, the two guards approached a few steps closer, staring at me closely. My face looked really sick. I can’t take it much longer… I need to breathe!

“Alright; He’s going to the hospital. But after that…”

But in that moment, Plumb Bob hit me behind my head, making me cough, and a bunch of pepper spread all over the guard’s faces; and then they started sneezing uncontrollably.

“Charge!” He yelled as he pounced on the guards.

And when I finally stopped coughing, I realized what just had happened.

“ROYAL” GUARDS

“This is wrong, this is wrong, this is wrong…”

I couldn’t stop repeating, while we both were walking down the main street, wearing the guards’ uniforms.

“…this is wrong, this is wrong…” I kept repeating, until I finally made Plumb Bob angry.

“Could you stop being such a pain in the flank and shut up?! I’m not doing this just for fun! We’re on a mission, to help Ms. Agate.”

“What are you talking about? How is this going to help her?! And help her with what?” I replied.

“Oh, you’ll see…” He answered with a smile.

We were approaching to the same place where Fancy Pants party was last night, and the same security guards were still there, while the other ponies were dismantling everything they used for last night’s party; but as we approached to the place, the security ponies saw us, and they started seeming more and more surprised.

“Hello guys. Do you remember me?” Plumb Bob said to one of the security guards.

“Wait, what?! You two were royal guards all the time?” He shouted.

“Of course we are. We were just out of duty; and we only wanted to have some fun. But, as you didn’t let us enter…”

And in that very instant, one of them started apologizing. “I… I’m sorry. We didn’t know you were…”

“Silence!” Plumb Bob yelled. And now those huge buff ponies seemed very scared.

“That doesn’t matter now. We are on royal business here, and we need your help.” Plumb Bob said.

“We’ll do everything we can, sir.” One of them answered.

“I hope so, ‘cus we’re looking for Fancy Pants, and we need his exact location.”

“I… I’m Sorry, but we don’t know…” But then Plumb Bob interrupted him:

“What was that?”

“I… I’m sorry sir, but I don’t know where he is.” And then Plumb Bob suddenly grabbed his neck threateningly, and stared at him very closely.

“Listen to me, pal. I don’t have the time! So you tell me where he is, or I’ll throw you to the darkest dungeon into the darkest corner of Equestria!”

“No! Please! I… I think he must be on that fancy hotel downtown! Please!” The guard looked terrified. But in that moment Plumb Bob turned at me and winked, and then he turned back to him, with his intimidating expression.

“Alright, we’ll go check. But if we don’t find him, we’ll be back to have a word with you. Is that clear?”

“Y… yes… sir.” The guard stuttered.

Then Plumb Bob simply let him go, then he turned around, and then he walked away. In that moment, the poor guy stared at me, still shaking, and scared. This whole thing is wrong in so many levels that I didn’t have any idea of what to say to him in that moment. So I told him the only thing that came to my mind:

“Thank you for your cooperation.” And after saying that, I walked away, after Plumb Bob, to the fancy hotel downtown.

When we finally arrived, we confirmed what the security pony told us. Fancy Pants was right there, right in front of the hotel. Meanwhile, the hotel employees were taking his dozens of suitcases into his carriage.

“There is our guy.” Plumb Bob said then.

I didn’t know what he was talking about, but it couldn’t be anything good. Then we approached to the entrance of that luxurious place.

“Are you Fancy Pants?” Plumb Bob asked.

“Yes, I am.” He answered, with his typical sarcastic and refined tone.

“Good, we are here for official royal business and we need to speak with you.” Plumb Bob didn’t sound anything like a royal guard, but Fancy Pants didn’t seem to notice the difference.

“Of course. I always have time for the Crystal Empire royal guard.”

“Yeah, yeah… but, we need to talk in private.” In that moment, everypony around stopped what they were doing to look at us in that instant; everypony seeming extremely curious about it. But Fancy Pants didn’t seem even a little surprised at the moment.

“Absolutely.” Fancy Pants said, and then he turned around and walked inside the hotel, and then we walked right after him.

“Now, take all my suitcases into my carriage. I will be back in a moment.” Then he said to the hotel employees while we left the lobby.

That way we arrived to the penthouse upstairs, and right outside the door of the room, his wife was already waiting for him.

“Are we ready to go now darling?” His wife said. But then she saw us and got a little confused.

“Did the Princess sent these guards to escort us?” She asked.

“No, honey. They just need to have a little talk with me. Why don’t you wait for me on the carriage so we can talk in private?” Then she smiled at him and left the floor, but not before Plumb Bob turned to look at her behind while she was walking down the aisle… so disrespectful.

“Shall we?” Fancy Pants said to us, and then he walked into the room, with plenty of confidence, followed by Plumb Bob; but when I tried to walk inside, he stopped me.

“You stay right here and make sure no one comes too close.” Plumb Bob whispered to me.

“What are you gonna do?” I asked him with concerned. But then he outlined an evil grin and said:

“Just talk.”

And then he slowly closed the door.

So I stayed outside, and just a few moments later, I started hearing Plumb Bob’s voice, yelling at Fancy Pants. I was not sure what he was saying, but it sounded pretty bad. Then, full of nerves, I took a look to the aisle to check if no one was around. Meanwhile, I noticed the yelling was getting louder, and more aggressive. I also heard some loud noises; I think I even could hear the frightened whines of Fancy Pants. But after a few minutes of desperation, the door finally opened, and Plumb Bob walked out of the room like nothing happened.

“Come on.” He said to me, as he walks away down the aisle.

I remained static for a moment. I didn’t know what to think right there. But curiosity was eating me inside, so I took a quick peek to the room, and I managed to see Fancy Pants, curled up in a corner, shaking in fear, and surrounded by broken lamps, furniture and stuff. In that moment, it shocked me to see what once was an elegant room; and that pony, who just a moment ago was an elegant and confident stallion. But the damage was already done. So I only walked away quietly, and when I was doing it, I managed to hear a slight sobbing, coming from the room behind me.

Outside the hotel, Plumb Bob was walking down the street acting perfectly normal.

“Alright. Mission… accomplished!” He shouted.

“What are you talking about?! What was that all about?!”

“Like I said. I didn’t do it for fun; I wanted to help Ms. Agate, and I did it. Besides… it was pretty fun.”

“What?! Assaulting one of the most Rich and powerful ponies in all Equestria?! Are you nuts?!” I don’t know why I asked that.

(sigh) “All I did was to convince Mr. “Fancy Pants” to stop making everypony move from their home towns every time he wants something from them. And I also told him that the next time he wants to buy anything, he will have to move his rich and stupid flank to get it…! Now Ms. Agate won’t have to leave the Crystal Empire.” He explained, with a calm smile at the end.

I think I’m gonna get sick.

“Uh… I can’t believe that… I actually cannot believe anything that’s happening.” I said then.

“You better don’t puke on your uniform, Joy. We’re going to need them one more time.”

“What do you mean?” I asked him, still feeling a little dizzy.

“Don’t you see? We’re heading to the Crystal Castle right now.” Then I looked forward and I saw the impressing Crystal Castle, just a few blocks ahead of us. We were approaching to it, and I hadn’t even noticed.

“What? Why?” I asked then.

“Isn’t that obvious?” He answered, and I was about to ask why one more time, but then I started thinking… that maybe we could solve everything up if we got to talk to the Princess in person. Well, at least it might solve everything for me, but I don’t really see much future for Plumb Bob.

“Ok. I get it. But how are we going to get into the castle without being seen?”

And then he answered with a lot of confidence:

“We’re royal guards now, Remember?”

We approached to the entrance of the castle, but there were lots of crystal guards around the place, and especially around the Crystal Heart. And now that we were closer, I started feeling even more nervous.

“Hey, I don’t think this is going to fool anypony.” I said.

“Relax. Just… play your costume.”

And this way we arrived, like two normal guards, passing next to the Crystal Heart, which was being guarded by two strong and intimidating crystal guards; and suddenly, in that moment, they saluted us like soldiers. I was feeling my legs shaking, but we salute them as well, and then we continued our way to the castle. I can’t believe this worked.

We crossed the principal door and then we walked along the corridors of this huge castle. Being here is a lifetime experience, but this is not how I wanted to have it. Ahead of us we saw a large amount of guards next to a giant door. I could only assume that the Princess was inside right now. So then we approached to them, but I kept quiet, hoping Plumb Bob to have any idea of what to say now.

We stopped in front of the line of guards and salute them like we did earlier. Then they saluted us and then Plumb Bob started talking:

“Hello, fellows!”

In that moment I couldn’t help but hoof-face myself.

“Um… Hello?” One of the royal guards said.

“We need to speak with the Princess pronto. It’s important.” Plumb Bob declared.

“I’m sorry soldier, but the Princess is in the middle of an important meeting with a group of visitors from a faraway land; and she must not be disturbed.”

“But we have an important message for her.” I tried to convince them.

“In that case you must give the message to us, and we will give it to the Princess as soon as possible.” The royal guard declared then.

That’s when I got nervous.

“Uh… am… You see…” Everything was falling apart. I think they were perceiving suspicions about us. But in that crucial moment, Plumb Bob stepped ahead, and approached to one of the guards, wrapping one hoof around him with extreme confidence.

“Can I speak to you in private?” Plumb Bob said.

And this was he walked away with the royal guard to talk in private at the other side of the room, leaving me alone, trying to dissimulate in front of the rest of them. But, even I was sweating profusely, and my legs were shaking, somehow… this was working. Meanwhile, at the other side of the place, Plum b Bob was talking with the royal guard:

“Listen. You look like a good soldier, and I think I can trust you with this information…”

Plumb Bob then started whispering something to the royal guard, but I can’t tell what it is. I could only see that the expression on the royal guard’s face was stunning. And finally, after a couple of minutes, they both came back to the door with us. Plumb Bob seemed confident, while the royal guard looked shocked as he walked back to his position.

“So, what do you say, buddy?” He asked to the royal guard.

“I… I don’t know… This… is too much information to handle right now.” The guard seemed to have troubles to articulate the words.

“We only need a few minutes.” Plumb Bob said, but the guard stayed shocked for a moment, looking at me and Plumb Bob with wide open eyes.

“B… But I have direct orders… from the Princess. Y… You have to understand.” The guard finally said, with nervous voice.

(Sigh) “Ok… Don’t worry. I understand. Orders are orders.” Plumb Bob answered.

“Thank you sir. I really wish I could help you. B… but if you need anything else… I can call all the guards who are out of duty to be on your disposition right away.”

“There’s no need. This is an important mission, and the fewer ponies know about it, the better.” Plumb Bob replied.

“Yes sir. I understand.” The royal guard said.

“Well… I think this can wait a couple hours. We’ll be around the castle for the rest of the day. Make sure the Princess knows about our presence.”

“Of course sir! I will take care of that in person.” Then he saluted us when he said that, and then the rest of the guards, so Plumb Bob and I did the same.

“Alright. Keep up with the good job, soldier!” Plumb Bob said.

“Yes sir!” The guard responded.

And just like that, Plumb Bob and I walked away, leaving the castle. And while we did it, I discretely asked Plumb Bob what was that he had told to the royal guard. Which he responded:

“Not much really.”

But the soldiers were as intrigued as me, and they all started whispering as soon as we left.

“Who were they?” “What did he tell you?” All of them were asking to the one who spoke with Plumb Bob. But he was still a little shocked, and he kept refusing to answer their questions, simply saying:

“I… I can’t tell you that… It’s classified.”

Outside the castle; at the entrance.

“Well… I guess we lost our chance.” Plumb Bob said like it was funny.

“What do you mean? We still have to talk to the Princess!” I shouted.

“Take it easy Joy. It wasn’t really that important.”

“No! Of course it is! We have to… wait… wait a minute. Why did you want to meet the Princess on the first place?” I was starting to question what his intentions were.

“Well, I’ve heard that Princess Cadence is very nice, and I just wanted to meet her. That’s it.”

In that moment I stayed completely shocked while he kept walking. But then he stopped and turned back to me.

“What?” He said.

But in that moment, a couple of guards approached to us and saluted us.

“Alright. In this moment it is official the change of guard.” One of the guards said.

“Say what?” Plumb Bob said.

“For the Crystal Heart. Do a great job, soldiers!” He said to us, and then they walked away, leaving me and Plumb Bob alone with the Crystal Heart.

Then we both looked at each other, and then to the magical artifact that was next to us, floating on its crystal-rock thing.

“Well… It’s time to leave.” Plumb Bob then said, with a slight nervousness.

“What? We can’t leave just like that!” I shouted.

“And why not?”

“Who is going to take care of the Crystal Heart?”

“Oh, it will be alright.”

“No! We can’t just leave alone one of the most powerful artifacts in all of Equestria. Now we must stay here; at least until the next change of guard.”

“Ok, I think you’re taking this entire “guard” thing a little too serious. We’re not really real guards, you know?” He said, but I don’t think he understood how important this was.

“We have to protect the Crystal Heart.”

After listening to my words, he stared at me for a moment. I think he finally knew I was serious about this. And suddenly, Plumb Bob started scratching his chin, seeming very awkward about this whole situation.

“Alright. You do that… and I’m going to have lunch. I’m starving.” He said, and then he walked away, just like that.

“What? You’re leaving me alone with this?” I shouted then.

“Oh, relax. How many ponies will it take to keep safe one magic piece of rock? Besides, right now, we are the two most dangerous “criminals” on this entire kingdom. Nothing is going to happen.”

“And now what? You dragged me all the way here just to leave me like this?” I said then, pretty annoyed.

“Oh, don’t you cry like a baby! I’ll be back soon… So, have fun being a crystal guard!” He said, sarcastically.

And then he left. And while I was watching him walking away I started thinking; that I really wish I could leave too. But unlike him, I do have a conscious; and it’s telling me that I have to stay here… I hope I’m making the right choice.

THE CHASING

After a couple of hours, it was getting late. It had been a while since Plumb Bob left; which was actually what I wanted. Now finally I could think in peace… and this, isn’t bad at all! I only have to stand by the Crystal Heart, and every time a guard passes by, I have to salute him like a soldier… this is actually pretty great! I’m actually starting to consider making my life as a royal guard of the Crystal Empire. After all, I really like how I look on this uniform… If only it wasn’t stolen.

“Are you done playing “guard”?” That took me by surprise.

Plumb Bob was standing right there, eating from a bag of chips, and he wasn’t wearing the crystal guard uniform anymore.

“What are you doing here? I thought you were gone.” I asked him then.

“I said I’d be back. And I’m a stallion of my word.”

“Yeah? well… Why don’t you just leave me alone? I’m doing fine since you left, you know?”

“Oh, really? And what’s your plan? Pretending to be a guard for the rest of your life?”

“No. What I’m going to do is that I’m going to wait until Princess Cadence is available, and then I’m going to ask her for indulgence; and after I pay my debt to society, I will try to join the force of guards of Equestria.”

I finished talking, and I could notice Plumb Bob was little surprised.

“Amazing… how you planned your entire life so quickly. Considering that you were trying to end it when I found you.” He commented with sarcasm. And then I kept staring at him with anger.

“Alright, I’ll respect your decision. But I seriously doubt they’ll give you any “indulgence”. Because, just so you know; they are already looking for Two criminals on crystal guard uniforms.”

After these words I stayed shocked for a few seconds, and then I quickly ripped off my uniform, while Plumb Bob seemed like he was about to laugh. But before he could say anything, I looked at him with anger and said:

“Shut up and give me a chip.”

After that, we both walked away from the Crystal Castle. But as we walked away from the area, I was already resigning to having any kind of positive future.

“And what’s next?” I asked to Plumb Bob.

“Canterlot.” He answered me, with his mouth full of chips.

“And what’s next after that?” I asked him then, in a really depressing tone.

“Oh, you really are a case, aren’t you?” He told me.

“Why?” I asked him with my face down.

“Come on! You are on the shiniest empire in all of Equestria! Would it kill you to try to have some fun? Enjoy it, Joy!” He shouted.

But I remained in silence for a moment, which seemed to confuse Plumb Bob a little.

“Would it kill me? …Let me ask you something. If I… were to die, I disappeared, or just gone tomorrow, would anypony feel sorrow, or show love, or would it matter?”

My words seemed to confuse him even more.

“But you know what? I came way too far on this game to turn and walk away and not say that I got to say.”

This alerted Plumb Bob, who then stared at me with a little more serious look on his eyes, and then he asked me in a threatening tone:

“And what do you exactly you mean by that?”

“What the buck you take me for?! A joke?! Do you always act like that?! Before I do that, I beg Celestia to kick me out! To the Moon or Sun, So what?! Yet you’re all steady trying to “enjoy” your life, thinking you’re acting tough. But you ain’t gonna do nothing but piss me off, and only twist me off!”

“That’s not…” He tried to talk in that moment, but I interrupted him:

“Hey JoySpread, you’re gonna let him get away with that? He tried to play you; you can’t let him escape with that! And I fell this trap! This ain’t right! This is crazy the way we act! When we confuse being nuts with being bad! Well, this nonsense has to stop…!

“Wow, wow wow…” Then he interrupted all of sudden.

In that moment I was gasping and sweating and I feel like my blood was boiling.

“You know what? I think I understand you.” Plumb Bob then said, which was weird. I wasn’t even sure of what I just said.

Then he slowly turned around to look up at the Castle; making me wonder what he was thinking.

“What’s wrong now?” I asked him then, still gasping a little.

“Everything! Don’t you see? Just look at us!” And then I did it, but I still wasn’t sure of what he meant. But then he continued:

“This stupid society makes no sense! And it’s not meant for ponies like us! Ponies who live their own lifes! Ponies who don’t care what everypony else cares! And this pisses me off!”

Now I was scared. He was about to explode. But in that moment, he took a big rock from the ground, and threw it against the Crystal Castle.

“Buck the police!”

The rock flied through a window, and instantly, an alarm horn sounded, and group of guards came out to the balcony.

“There they are!” One of the guards yelled.

Then I turned to Plumb Bob, but he already had started running.

“Come on Joy! We’re leaving this kingdom!”

“Wh… What?! But… But…”

“Come on!” He replied, yelling at me from the distance.

Then I looked back to the Castle, and I got terrified. There were dozens of crystal guards gathering at the entrance, and they were all staring at me. Now it wasn’t the time to think, so I started galloping as hard as I could.

Plumb Bob and I made our way through the Empire, crossing streets imprudently, pushing other ponies in our way, and galloping through narrow alleys. But it didn’t matter how far of the Castle we were; there were alarm bells sounding all over the Empire. It was so loud that I couldn’t almost take it… It was destroying my nerves! So right now I could only follow Plumb Bob, because he was the one leading me all over this kingdom.

In some point, we turned around a corner, and started running down an avenue… I was very agitated, but it only got worse when Plumb Bob spoke to me:

“Don’t look back!”

But that was just what I did. And I only managed to scare myself to death, because right behind us there was what it could be the entire royal guard of the Crystal Empire, chasing us down the avenue in battle formation. It was so terrifying that I couldn’t even scream; but Plumb Bob turned to look at me in that moment, and tried to calm me down:

“You better don’t wet yourself! You’ll see we’re getting out of this!”

We approached to the fancy hotel we visited earlier, and outside of the building there were employees working, carrying lots of suitcases to the top of a carriage. And in that moment, when we passed by the hotel, they all quit what they were doing, and stared at both of us. That’s when Plumb Bob spoke to them:

“Hi guys!”

And as soon as we passed, all the employees at the place left what they were doing and started pushing that same carriage from a side. The army of guards was approaching full speed, until they overturned the carriage, a ton of suitcases fell to the ground, completely blocking the entire avenue. This seemed to have taken the crystal guards by surprise, because the avalanche of suitcases stopped them altogether, burying the ones that were on front, while one by one, the ones on the back started crashing against the pile of baggage on the street. Then Plumb Bob looked over his shoulder, with an impish grin on his face.

“Thank you guys!” He shouted then.

Then the hotel employees said goodbye to us, waving their hooves on the air while the many crystal guards were trying to stand up, and rescue their partners from the mountain of baggage. A very peculiar scene, while we were getting away on the distance.

Right outside the Empire, Plumb Bob lead me to a wide open field, where there was a cart parked, with two ponies in front of it. Then he jumped on board, for then to stare at me.

“What are you waiting for?” He asked me, since I was standing in front of the vehicle, staring at it with complete stupefaction.

“I think I need a little more context here.” I told him.

In that moment he was about to yell at me, when one of the ponies pulling the cart spoke:

“Are we ready to go now?”

“Of course. Just a sec.” Then he turned back at me and said: “What? Are you waiting for an invitation?” And then he stared at me.

In that moment I only could look at the vehicle, and the impatient face of Plumb Bob, and since I didn’t have much time to think, I simply sighed in resignation… I guess this was another trip I couldn’t say no to; so I jumped on the cart, and then it finally started moving.

Then, one of the ponies pulling the cart turned back to us and said:

“You are going to have to wear these… if you’re trying to hide or something.” And then he threw us a couple of capes with hoodies. And once we put them on, I stared at Plumb Bob.

“What?” He said.

“You’re gonna have to give me a lot of explanations of what just happened here.” I claimed to Plumb Bob, but he simply smiled, and turned to look at the road ahead.

In that moment, I looked back. I couldn’t believe that this is how we’re leaving the Crystal Empire… leaving the Crystal Empire, in chaos.

> Into the woods
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

INTO THE WOODS

It was night already, and we were in the middle of the woods, on board of a cart, pulled by two completely estranger ponies, heading towards some place I didn’t even know. But I must say, that these ponies seemed to know this path very well, since they were walking on complete darkness. But right now, my stomach was growling. I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast, adding to the fact that I almost had a nervous breakdown today… but despite all of that, I’ve never felt this alive in my entire life.

“And what are you smiling about?” Plumb Bob suddenly asked me, with a slightly bitter tone.

“What?” I said. I didn’t realize I was smiling. When he then added:

“Didn’t you have something to ask me?” But it took me a moment to understand what he was talking about.

“Oh, right. About what happened back there on the Empire.” I said then.

Plumb Bob seemed thoughtful for a moment, but then he started explaining:

“Well, you see… Do you remember those guys from the hotel? Turns out, they were the same ones working for that “Fancy Pants”.” He said his name with sarcasm. “And… it seems like he’s kind of a flank hole, and turns out those guys really loved what I did to him, so… that’s why they helped us.”

“And this vehicle?” I asked then, pointing at the cart we were sitting on.

“Oh, this? I just found some guys and hired them. That’s all.”

“And when did you have time to do all these stuff?” I shouted then.

“You really make a lot of questions, don’t you…? Remember that time when I left you to get lunch? That’s exactly what I did… I walked around the Empire, I had lunch in a nice place, and I met some ponies on my way. That’s how I met those hotel guys, and that’s how I found us transportation. Are you happy now?” He finally said, with a slight tone of anger.

“Alright, alright… And how did you pay for this?” I finally asked him. And in that moment, Plumb Bob started taking his cape off, for then to look at me with a smile.

“I didn’t.” And then he started filling his cape with some hay that was lying on the cart, and then he made me a discreet gesture for me to do the same, so, I simply started doing it. And right after that, we both jumped from the moving cart, and quickly hid among the trees. In that moment, the ponies pulling the cart looked back when they heard a noise, but they couldn’t see anything, except for those capes with hoodies filled with hay, pretending to be us; so they just kept pulling the vehicle and walked away. 

Right now I feel sorry for them, but not too much… poor clueless ponies.

It was pretty late now, and everything was dark; and yet, we were still wandering around the woods… And I was already exhausted, when in that moment, and for my relief, Plumb Bob said exactly what I had in mind, but I was too afraid to ask him:

“We should camp here and continue in the morning.”

“Finally!” And after shouting those words, I fell to the ground, next to a giant tree. And as soon as I did, Plumb Bob started shouting at me:

“Hey! Don’t get so comfy! We need fire… Did you hear me? Fire!” He yelled at me, but I was already almost asleep; and the last thing I got to hear before my eyes were closed, was a slight growling from Plumb Bob.

Inside my dream.

I’m walking down the street with my brother. It’s a hot day here on Manehattan. It must be like ninety degrees at least, I don’t know.

“I think I’m catching a sun burn here.” I said to my brother, but when I turned to look at him, his shirt was off, and he was smiling at me with a hussy grin. In that moment, I realized what his intentions were, so I started running, and he started chasing me down the block; and the entire time he was just laughing at me, and snapping at me with his shirt.

“Cut it out! Brucie!” Y shouted, and then he stopped, and approached to me while still laughing really loud, after which, he slapped me in the back.

“Aahh! You stupid bird!” I yelled.

And then, he finally managed to contain his laughter a little.

“Alright, alright… phew! He, he, he!” And then he put his shirt back on, like it was the perfect weather to wear one.

“I don’t know how you can stand this heat.” I said to him.

“It’s alright to me, lil’ brother.” Brucie answered.

I guess gryphons must have something on their feathers, because right now I’m literally on fire.

“This isn’t that bad. You shouldn’t be complaining. Don’t you remember that summer in Mexicolt?” He said to me then.

“Of course I remember… But now I just wanna go home!” I moaned in a childish tone, and then I continued walking, until… my brother pronounced those words:

“Don’t worry lil’ brother… you’ll be home.”

And in that precise moment, I don’t know what happened to me, but I suddenly panicked. Then I quickly turned around to see him… but he was no longer there.

…Now I’m feeling cold.

“You have to move on, bro.” A familiar voice suddenly said to me.

It was one of my brother’s friends.

I looked up, and I saw all my brother’s friends all around me; because unlike me, he did had other friends on the city. But it was ok. They always had accepted me as one of them, and not just to make a favor to my older brother; and that’s something weird to find in a group of gryphons of Manehattan.

Then he continued talking:

“…It must have been like five years ago.” He said, and then, another one of them continued:

“Yeah bro. We don’t like the way it has changed you. You’re not yourself anymore.” They were talking to me, but I only avoided any eye contact with all of them.

“This isn’t healthy for you. You don’t go outside, you don’t talk to others no more… and you don’t look anybody to the eyes no more.” Another one said, and in that moment, I had to look at him to the eyes.

I think they know me way too much.

“But most of all, you framed your brother’s shirt, just to hang it on the wall… And you’re not getting rid of it, and you don’t even wear it. You’re only hurting yourself with it.”

In that moment, they all stood in front of me, before banishing in the air, with these last words:

“We all have to move on Joy… sooner or later.”

Time passed… and that’s exactly what they did. Some of them moved to Cloudsdale. Some others went to Fillydelphia, and some of them went all the way to Melenajara in Mexicolt… but not me. I stayed, alone here on Manehattan, making myself more miserable each day… always staring at that shirt hanging on my wall.

I’m starting to wake up. I think I hear someone whispering.

“I’m only half the colt that I was. I’ll never last, ‘cos my better half is up there with you…”

Then I opened my eyes a little; just enough to see Plumb Bob, sitting next to the fire, and holding something against his chest, but I couldn’t see what it was.

“…I know we fought like family, something we never should do. We coulda used time spent arguing telling the truth… And you had talent too. I had plans for watching you grow… And I don’t know what hurts more, seeing you leave, or watching you go.”

Now I think I heard too much.

In that moment it seemed like Plumb Bob turned to look at me, so I quickly closed my eyes, pretending to be asleep. But he didn’t make any sound after that moment… and there was only silence.

DRAGONS

The next morning.

I woke up and looked around, but I couldn’t see Plumb Bob anywhere. Until, he suddenly showed up, coming from behind of that giant tree.

(sigh) “Alright! It’s time to move.” He said, as he was stretching. Then I tried to stand up, but I was still a little dizzy.

“Don’t you ever sleep? Besides, what are you talking about? We’re on the middle of the woods. Do you have any idea of where to go?” I asked him.

“There is a road about a quarter mile north. Now, I really think we should move fast. I don’t think you wanna know what I just did behind this tree.” He warned me.

And in that moment, I was astonished.

“What!? That’s! …Eugh!” I shouted, and he simply started laughing at me, while I was running away from there.

“You’re disgusting!” I yelled from the distance, but he just kept laughing. This was simply incredible… Does he have any limits at all?

Now we were walking down some trail in the middle of the woods. This was a beautiful and promising morning. And suddenly, two ponies appeared on the distance; it was an elderly couple, which was pulling a cart packed with fruit. Right now I was really hungry, and I could tell by Plumb Bob’s face, that he was also. But then I started noticing a growing evil grin on his face. So then I turned at him, and slowly said no with my head.

“Don’t even think about it.” I said.

And then he frowned in resignation. When suddenly, something called our attention in that instant. Two dragons came out of nowhere, and started stealing the fruit from above the cart. And as soon as the old ponies saw them, they quickly turned around and turned away from the cart.

“Hey! Stop!” The old pony yelled, but the dragons only looked at them both from above and started making them rude gestures and mocking them. And I suppose it was expected, coming from two teenage dragons. So then, Plumb Bob and I hide among some trees next to the path and approached a little, just to see what was happening. The dragons were taking dives from the sky and maneuvering as they stole each fruit, one by one. And at the same time, the faces of those elder ponies seemed already resigned to losing all of their cargo. The old mare seemed like she was about to cry, and his husband could only hug her to try to comfort her.

So in that moment I turned to look at Plumb Bob.

“We have to do something.” I told him.

“Sorry… Not my problem.” He answered me, while still staring at the scene ahead of us, as if it was some sort of spectacle.

This made me angry, but I already knew it was useless to try to reason with him; so without waiting any longer, I took all courage I could, and I walked out of the trees, ready to confront those dragons.

“H-hey! S-stop what you’re doing, n-now!” I yelled from my position, but the dragons only ignored me, and the old couple simply stared at me, like they were expecting me to do something else. So I took a deep breath, and managed to control the shiver on my legs, for then to exhale another yell:

“If you don’t put that fruit back on the cart, you’re gonna see what’s good!” I shouted once again. But still nothing… those dragons didn’t seem to care about my presence at all, until: “I’m warning you!” I shouted louder, as an ultimatum; and finally, one of the dragons finally noticed my presence, and landed right in front of me.

And maybe he was a teenager, but he was still about five times my size.

Then, the other dragon also landed, and now those two imposing creatures were staring at me. And then, the one that was in front of me took one apple from his pile of stolen fruit on his arms, and then he slowly put it in his mouth, as a way to defy me. And then, he finally swallow the entire apple.

And that, just had been too much… Now I could barely take it.

“You’re getting on my nerves boy.” I said to him, while really trying to contain my anger.

“And what you gonna do about it?” Said the annoying dragon, in a mocking tone. But I really didn’t know what to do… not against one of their kind. And then, in that moment, he opened his mouth and growled savagely, right in front of my face. A sudden action that left me petrified in fear, as I received his smelly breath all over me. But then, in the middle of that intense growl, I heard the voice of Plumb Bob, growing from the distance.

“Aaaaahhhhh!” In that moment, he was charging against the dragon, running at full gallop speed, and then he jumped, straight into his open mouth. And in that instant, me, the elder couple, and even the other dragon were all astonished for what we were observing.

Plumb Bob’s legs and flank are popping out the dragon’s mouth, while the rest of him was stuck halfway down his throat. In that moment, the second dragon started freaking out, as he was watching his friend choking with a pony stuck on his throat.

“Spit it out dude!” The dragon was yelling, as he was hitting him behind the head, until he finally spited Plumb Bob out. And then the dragon started coughing and gasping desperately, while Plumb Bob was standing up, partially covered in drool, for then to look straight at the two dragons, with a defiant glance.

“I ain’t gonna let you steal one apple.” He said, as he raised the apple on his hoof… an apple covered in drool. And the second dragon was really amazed when he saw that.

“Is that the same…?” He said as he turned to his friend, completely astonished. But meanwhile, it seemed like we had really made the first dragon absolutely furious.

“You’re gonna pay for that.” The dragon said, while steam was coming out of his mouth, and his eyes were glowing like fire.

Then Plumb Bob shook the drool off like a dog, and then he adopted a fighting stance. And then, he looked at me, and said:

“Hey, Joy…” So I turned to look at him, while I was completely shaking in fear, when he suddenly said:

“…run”

And he instantly turned around and started running. And I stayed frozen in my position for a couple of seconds, until my legs finally reacted, and I could run as well.

“Get them!” The angry dragon yelled.

And so, the dragons started chasing us, with the little inconvenient that they could fly and we couldn’t. So we got into the woods to try to lose them. But despite our little advantage, I could almost feel their claws on the back of my neck, so I just started running faster and faster. I couldn’t believe that one minute ago I was weak and starving, but now I was galloping like a race horse. And it was that moment when I looked back, just to see the raging dragon, smashing trees and anything on his way as he approached more and more towards us.

“This way!” Plumb Bob took a turn to the left, so I followed him, towards a thick bunch of bushes, which he jumped through, so I do the same right after him, but once we were out of them, Plumb Bob suddenly fell into a hole on the ground, and disappeared right in front of my eyes. But just as he did, I couldn’t react on time, and I fell into the same hole as well. And right after the fall, I opened my eyes, and I saw a family of bunnies that was staring at us with fear, as we had just gotten stuck into their home. But then I saw a shadow, and I looked up. And in that moment, the dragons were passing right above the hole, completely ignoring where we were. And in that same moment, Plumb Bob looked at the family of bunnies, and with his hoof on his mouth he told them to stay quiet.

“Shhh.” Plumb Bob said.

“I think we lost them.” I whispered then.

“Maybe, but let’s better make sure.” And then he looked at one of the bunnies and said: “Hey little dude. Would you mind to take a look outside and tell us if there’s any dragon out there?” But the tiny and scared bunny said no with his head. “Wow, that’s rude… well, then it seems like we’ll have to hide in here for a little longer.” But as soon as he said that, the bigger bunny moved quickly and made his way between our bodies and he got out of the hole, to take a look outside. Then he looked at me from the outside and gave me thumbs up, telling me that it was clear.

“The cost is clear now.” I said to Plumb Bob, and then, with a lot of effort, and also with the help of tiny bunnies pushing us from inside, we managed to get out of that hole.

“Thank you guys… I hope you accept this in exchange for your help.” Plumb Bob said, as he offered them the drool covered apple he had on his hoof. But the family of rabbits showed their repulsion to his offer, and quickly they all ran back to their hole, which Plumb Bob stared at after they left.

“Ok. Then it’s more for me.” Then he cleaned the apple, barely rubbing it against his chest, and then he took a bite. Which almost makes me throw up. And when he saw my reaction of disgust, he said to me: “Oh, excuse me, Mr. Fancy Pants!” He said with sarcasm.

And it was then when we finally continued with our way through the woods.

> The trip
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

THE TRIP

Later. It had been a while, and we were wandering along the woods, trying to find any kind of village, or someplace else; and at the same time, we were trying to avoid any other encounter with any other dragons.

“Hey, thank you for helping me with those dragons. I really thought I couldn’t count on you back there.” I said to Plumb Bob.

“No biggie.” He answered, as he was throwing away the leftovers of his apple. And after that, we both walked in silence for several minutes, until he suddenly spoke to me:

“By the way, you know you shouldn’t pretend to be asleep and spy on other ponies, right?”

And when I heard that, I quickly turned to look at him.

“I… Wha…?” I tried to articulate some words, but…

“Oh, don’t play innocent! I know you were spying on me last night.”

I have no idea how he noticed that, but then I started making up excuses automatically.

“I-It wasn’t my fault! I was asleep! And you woke me up! And… Wait… Who were you talking to, anyway?” But as soon as I asked it, he showed quite awkward. Then he paused for a moment, and started scratching his stubble a little, until he finally explained to me:

“I… often talk around other… ponies while they’re asleep. …It almost… You know… It almost feels like I’m having a real conversation.” He answered, with a practically tangible level awkwardness.

“Oh… well… It did seem like you were taking to another pony. But… Is it right if I ask you, who was it?” I asked him then.

And that question seemed to disturb him in that moment. Now… I’m maybe getting a little too much into this, but pandora’s box was already open, and I was not going to let this go so easily; then maybe I may get to see what’s inside this crazy flank pony’s mind. But nevertheless, he remained silent, during a more than awkwardly long moment. Then I finally understood that this had just been too much conversation, even for him. I seemed like he didn’t want to talk about it anymore.

“It was my sister, alright! You happy?!” He suddenly said.

And now I’m surprised. I wasn’t expecting any answer.

“Y-you were talking… to your sister?” I asked then, still pretty confused.

“I was talking to my sister! My little sister! And you remind me a lot of her, you know?! Always getting into other ponies business, always worrying about other ponies before herself, always showing those useless good manners… and…” But then he simply stopped talking for a moment, and his expression changed drastically in that instant.

“…always telling me what to do… even if I didn’t want to, but at the end, I always ended up doing it. Because… she knew me better, than I knew myself…” Then he suddenly stopped walking. And after a few seconds, he simply said:

“…She was a saint.”

And just like that, he continued walking. His face expression went back to normal, and he kept acting like nothing happened. So I keep walking next to him, with a few more concerns, about his state of mind.

“Ok…?” I said, feeling absolutely confused.

But in that moment, my stomach started growling loudly.

“Uh… I’m starving.” I complained.

“I could eat.” He said.

“You just ate an apple!” I shouted him.

“I’m a big pony, Joy. A really, big, pony. And I need something more than an apple to kill this hunger… something like… that!” He suddenly said, as he was staring and pointing at a squirrel, which was on a bush. And then, he started drooling, while he was approaching to his clueless victim.

“C’mere little squirrel. I’m not going to hurt you.”

But then I stood between him and his prey.

“Hey! What are you doing? Did you completely lose your mind?! Ponies are not supposed to eat other animals!” I shouted him.

“But what if we are? …And what if they are making us think we’re supposed to be vegetarians, when we’re really not?” He answered me.

“And who are “they”, exactly?” I asked him, with sarcasm.

“We’ll never know… but there’s only one way to prove if they’re wrong.” And after saying this, he turned his eyes to the innocent squirrel, already prepared to hunt. But before he could pounce on that tiny creature, she jumped inside the bushes and hid.

“Well done Plumb Bob. You probably just traumatized an innocent creature.”

“And how do you know if she’s innocent? What do you know about squirrels anyway?” He replied to me. But in that moment, the same squirrel jumped out of the bushes, carrying a couple of berries between her little arms, which she then offered to us.

“What is this?” He asked. And then, we both took a berry each one. And Plumb Bob stared at his for a moment, for then to outline a smile. “Wow… I guess I was wrong about you, little buddy.” He then said to the squirrel, to which she smiled and made a tiny reverence, before running away and finally disappearing into the woods. And after that, we both ate the berries, and as soon as we did, we realized there were more of them on that bush… and there were more bushes of the same kind all around us.

“Oh… my… gosh.” I said, until Plumb Bob hit mi on a side, showing himself really excited.

“Now, this IS breakfast.” He said.

And later. We had already eaten almost every berry we found, until we were completely full. And after that banquet, we couldn’t do anything else but lay on the ground with our tummies on the air, just waiting until the moment we could move again.

And a moment later, while we were lying on the ground, I started thinking that… nature can be nice sometimes.

“Nature can be nice sometimes.” I said.

“I miss my sister.” Plumb Bob said all of sudden, which I found a little strange… but… I didn’t care. So I only asked him:

“Were you two close?” I asked him.

“Were we close? …We were closer than Celestia and her sister… whatever her name is.” He said to me.

And in that moment, I’m not sure why, but I suddenly started laughing. And for some reason, Plumb Bob got caught up on my mood, and we both started laughing out loud, like somepony had just told a joke, but we only looked like two lunatics, laughing while lying on the ground in the middle of the woods. And it kept like that, until Plumb Bob started talking, while still laughing:

“I mean… Hahaha! I didn’t send her to the moon for a thousand years and stuff. …Hahaha! But if I had to… I couldn’t do it! Hahaha! …I’m just afraid that if I do it, my hooves will fall off. HAHAHAHA…!” And then he continued laughing hilariously.

But it was in that precise moment, that I stopped laughing. And now I was starting to realize… that I was feeling really dizzy, so I quickly stood up, and I asked Plumb Bob:

“Hey, a-are you feeling dizzy too?”

“I don’t know. I just wanna lie down here.” He said as he rolled on the ground. But then I stopped him, and helped him stand up.

“Come on, This is serious! …Just try to remember, What was the first name of Ms. Agate?” I asked to Plumb Bob, but he only said:

“Uh… I don’t know. But I really miss… her… sandwiches! …She made them with love!” At this point, he was only talking nonsense, and he could barely stand on his hooves.

Oh, my… I… I think something’s wrong.

“Listen to me… You just… Try to remember the names of your parents while I think.” I said to him.

“Nnaahhh…! I never really liked them.” He yelled.

But now I have to figure this out… I-I think I got it!

“The berries! It was the berries!” I shouted then.

“What berries? What are you talking about?” He asked to me, seeming quite disoriented.

“The berries that squirrel gave to us. They were hallucinogenic berries! Don’t you see? That squirrel tricked us!”

“WHAT?! That stupid squirrel! Where is it?! She’s gonna pay for this!” He started yelling, walking from one side to the other, and looking for the creature.

“This is your fault!” I yelled at Plumb Bob in that moment.

“What… did you say?” He asked me, acting even dizzier than before.

“If you hadn’t tried to eat that squirrel, we wouldn’t be on this trouble!”

“Oh! So now is my fault for being hungry?! I’m gonna teach you a lesson, you stupid egghead!”

“My head is not shaped like an egg! …or is it?” I started asking to myself, feeling really confused. “Hey, you know what? Never mind! So now if you’ll excuse me, I have to find a river to turn off this fire on my tail.” I shouted to Plumb Bob, and then I started walking away, looking for… a river?; but then Plumb Bob started following me.

“Oh, I’m going with you… You know nothing about river trolls anyway.”

And as the minutes passed, my mind started leaving me, just like my eyes and ears started tricking me. And before I realize, I was already in fetal position on the ground, and trembling while Plumb Bob was having an argument with a tree:

“Now you shut up tree, I’m talking! You thought I was full of horsebricks and now you bucking worship the ground which I’m walking! …Me against the world, so what?!”

When suddenly, a couple of Pegasus wearing spandex suits showed up on the sky. Then they saw us from above, just at the moment we were acting creasier than ever. And they were so surprised about it, that they decided to descent, and approach towards us.

“Are you guys ok?” Said one boy with blue mane, just as his spandex suit.

“We’re fine, now take off! Don’t you see I’m in the middle of something with this tree?” Plumb Bob said.

Then both Pegasus looked at each other with surprise, and then replied to Plumb Bob:

“Ok, you’re definitely not fine.” Said the pegasus girl with orange mane… and spandex.

Meanwhile, I was curled up on the ground.

“The red princess came and took my baby!” I shouted all of sudden. And then, the pegasus on spandex approached to the other pegasus on spandex and whispered:

“This is the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“I, don’t know… I think I’ve seen this before.” She told him. And that’s when she noticed there were a couple of berries tangled on my mane. Then she approached towards me, and took one to analyze. And she quickly realized what they were.

“I knew it! You see this?” She said, showing the berry to the other Pegasus.

“Eh… Yeah?” He answered, seeming confused.

“These are tripping berries! We used them to make “space cakes” for the noobies at the academy.” She explained.

“Oh, yeah! I remember!” He said then.

“Well, at least until the high command banned them from the academy, and made their use illegal.” She added.

“Yeah… what a bust.”

“But judging by their behavior, these ponies must have eaten lots of berries.” She explained.

“Whoo, wow! These ponies must be flying really high right now!” He expressed, but the other Pegasus didn’t seem amused by his comment.

“Come on! We must take them to a hospital. Which one’s the nearest?” She asked, while she was picking me up from the ground and putting me on her back.

“I, think it’s the Crystal Empire’s hospital.” He answered, as he walked under Plumb Bob’s legs and raised him on the air with his back. But it only took me a moment to react, before they took us back to the Crystal Empire.

“Nooo! …We just came from there! …We need to go to, this… other place.” I shouted with dizzy voice.

“Alright. Then, where are you guys going?” She asked me.

“P. Sherman Wallaby 42 Sidney!” Plumb Bob said in that moment, and then we both instantly started laughing. But the Pegasus lady didn’t seem to share our sense of humor, unlike the other Pegasus boy, whose laughter he could hardly contain. Then I finally managed to control myself. I took a deep breath, and I spoke:

“We’re going to… this place… with really high towers… Uh… I’m not sure…”

“You mean, Manehattan?” The spandex guy asked me.

“Sure, why not?” I said, even I didn’t really know why.

“But that’s like a million miles away from here!” He shouted then.

“Oh, don’t be such a baby! Are you saying you can’t make it?” She said then, with a daring tone on her voice.

“What?! Of course I can!” He answered.

“Even in less than three hours?” She asked.

“Is that a challenge?”

“You know it is.”

“Alright then!” Then, the two pegasus took their positions as in a race, with me and Plumb Bob on their backs.

“Ready?” He said.

“Set!” She continued.

“GOOOOO!” Plumb Bob and I shouted at the same time. And then, both pegasus took off, flying at high speed towards the sky. So much that everything turned blurrier than it already was for me in that moment.

MANEHATTAN

But now, while we were flying at full speed, and everything was absolutely blurry, I think I must have lost the track of time, because suddenly, we were already flying over the city of Manehattan. And then, the two pegasus took us to a hospital; and they explained to the doctor what our situation was, while we were lying on stretchers. And after that, they were already walking towards the exit, when I spoke to them, still distended on my stretcher. So they stopped when I said:

“Hey, thank you guys. I don’t know what we would have done without you.” I told them. And then they both turner to me, and outlined a smile.

“That’s our job.” Said the pegasus girl.

“To protect and serve.” The blue mane pegasus added. Then they turned around, and they were already about to leave… but not before I said something stupid:

“You should marry her… you know? …I think she’s the only one that could tolerate you… you spandex guy.” I said with dizziness in my voice.

After hearing these words, both Pegasus were petrified, and speechless, being unable to even turning to look at me, after what I had just told them.

“Hey… but that’s just… my opinion…” I said, trying to explain myself, even I’m actually not sure why I said that. And then I simply turned around on my stretcher, and my eyes started closing, until I finally fell asleep.

When I woke up, I felt strangely relaxed. I had no idea of what time it was, but there was a window on the emergency room, and I could see the night sky and the stars outside. Besides, on the stretcher next mine there was Plumb Bob, who was playing with what appeared to be an imaginary butterfly on his hooves.

“You’re finally up.” Plumb Bob said to me without stop staring at his hooves.

“Where are those spandex Pegasus?” I asked him.

“I don’t know. I’ve been too busy with this butterfly here.” He answered. But in that moment, I don’t know why, I shouted out loud:

“I knew it was a butterfly!” Then, Plumb Bob suddenly jumped off his stretcher, with too much enthusiasm.

“Of course you did, because we’re both geniuses!” He shouted, with a contagious energy.

“Yeah we are!” I said, and then I jumped out of my stretcher too.

“So what do you say if we go out and find some party?!”

“YEAH!” I yelled really loud, which attracted the attention of everypony on the emergency room. And then the doctor showed up.

“Hey. You’re not supposed to be up yet. The effects of the berries will still last a few more hours.” Said the doctor.

“Oh yeah? Well, go tell that to your MOM!” Plumb Bob shouted, mocking the doctor.

And then, we both left the hospital, galloping as fast as we could, and laughing like a couple of lunatics; while the doctor was coming out of the building right after us, with a sad face, when then a Doctor mare walked out of the hospital and approached to him, putting a hoof on the doctor’s back.

“It’s alright son. Let’s go back inside.” The doctor’s mom said; and then she walked him back to the hospital.

Meanwhile, we were wandering on the streets. This time, not really calling a lot of attention towards ourselves; after all, the night is young… and this is the huge city of Manehattan.

> JoySpread
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

JOYSPREAD

It’s already morning.

I’m not sure what happened last night, but my head was spinning, and the daylight was killing me. But finally, I opened my eyes, my vision cleared, I had the most unpleasant surprise.

I found myself on the top of a huge statue of Celestia, which was holding a balance, and it had her eyes blindfolded.

“What is this?” I asked myself.

Then I looked around, and I saw lots of other ponies lying around on the floor and all over the place; which appeared to be a public building. And each and every pony here were dressing suits, and some of them were even using their briefcases as pillows. It seemed like some really wild party took place in here. There was DJ equipment, light, a stage, and huge amplifiers all over the place… which now was a complete mess. But then, in the middle of the chaos I saw Plumb Bob, sleeping inside a bowl of punch, and hugging a judge’s mallet like it was a teddy bear. Now, I had no idea what was happening, but I managed to climb down the statue, and approach towards Plumb Bob, passing right next to the ponies who were sleeping on the floor.

“Hey… Plumb Bob. Wake up!” I whispered, while I shook him by the shoulders, when he suddenly woke up.

“I’m not guilty your honor!” He shouted then.

But after his sudden outburst, he just rubbed his eyes, and finally came back to his senses.

“What’s up Joy?” He greet me in a very calmed and casual way.

“Listen to me. We need to get out of here. I don’t know what happened, but I feel like we got into much more troubles.” I told him, showing myself pretty hysterical about it. Then Plumb Bob took a look around him, making some curious expressions on his face, and then he sighed, and closed his eyes.

(sigh) “Alright… Come on, help me out of this.” So then I pulled his hooves, trying to get him out of the bowl of punch, but when he did, we both fell to the ground, next to a pony who was sleeping placidly on his briefcase.

“We need to be quiet.” I whispered, and then we began our silent escape towards the door, when out of nowhere, we heard the voice of a pony talking to us:

“See you later guys; I can’t wait ‘till we do this again.”

We stopped as soon we heard this, then we turned around, with a fake a smile, and nodding to this… pony in a suit, who seemed to be a lawyer. And after this, we continued with our way to the exit.

“Hey! If you ever need a lawyer, just call me!” He yelled at us, before we left.

“Of course we will! I have your card right here!” Plumb Bob told the guy, without turning to see him. And finally, we were out on the street again.

“What was all that about?” I asked Plumb Bob, who after a breve pause, and with a reflective expression on his face, he answered me:

“I have no idea.”

And then he checked inside his pocket, and took a tiny presentation card from it.

“Huh… I really did have his card.” He said then, showing a little surprised.

And shortly after that, we walked away from there. But nevertheless, after a couple of blocks, I still couldn’t put all the pieces together… I can’t remember how we ended up like that. So I tried to explain myself everything that happened:

“The only thing I remember is that I was singing karaoke with that guy Discord… or maybe it was a lamp? What do you remember?” I asked Plumb Bob.

“I remember that, we were chasing a giant pink pillow down an alley. Then I remember you were talking Italian or something to a security pony, and he let us in some… kind of place… And that’s it.” He explained.

I can’t believe what I’ve become. This isn’t the kind of stuff I do. I don’t go out to parties to lose my memory on the next day. This isn’t…

“…But who cares? We had a lot of fun… for what I can remember; besides, no one got hurt, and no one got arrested. That’s a winning night to me.” Plumb Bob said in that moment, which made me reconsider about it.

“I guess so…” Maybe he’s right. Maybe one wild party once in a while isn’t all wrong.

In that moment, he interrupted my thoughts.

“So. Aren’t you gonna show me the place?” Plumb Bob said all of sudden.

“Excuse me?” I asked, a little confused.

“You are from Manehattan, aren’t you?” He said.

“How do you know that?”

“You’re a sleep talker, Joy. I heard you saying it when we were on the woods.”

“A-And… What else did you hear?” I asked him then, getting kind of worried.

“That’s not important. What I really want to know is in what kind of neighborhood you grew up.”

“Fine. If you wanna see it, then (sigh) …let’s go see it.” I told him with resignation. It was better to get this over with, so I simply decided to take him to my old neighborhood.

So then we kept walking across the city for a while. And we got to a point where skyscrapers were replaced department buildings; most of them on a pretty bad shape, until we turned around one corner, and finally, we were there.

“Here it is. But there’s nothing special about it.” I said to Plumb Bob. But then he suddenly stopped walking, when he first saw that neighborhood… where the view, suddenly turned a little more grayish.

There were a couple of carriages parked without their wheels; there were also some cracked windows on the buildings, some graffiti on the walls; and finally, there was a dead tree on the sidewalk to crown all that sadness.

Then I took a second look to my old neighborhood, and just by staring at the place, I couldn’t help but let go a sigh.

“Is it that bad?” Bob asked me, by seeing my reaction in that moment. Nevertheless, then I couldn’t help but outline a smile.

“It’s just like I remember.” This surprised Plumb Bob a lot.

“Are you for real?” He asked me.

“No, really! You see these buildings up here? Here’s where me and my brother used to play catch with his friends. Of course, I couldn’t fly like them, but I played from the window… Actually, this one time I fell off, and my brother caught me just before I hit the ground. I ended up with a slight skull fracture and some bruises, and he ended up with one broken rib… he he je! yeah… good times.”

But after remembering those old times, I was smiling and staring at the ground with nostalgia, but Plumb Bob on the other hoof, was staring at me, very confused.

“Oh… my brother was a gryphon, by the way… Well, he wasn’t my blood brother… but we grew up together. You know how it is.” I explained him in that moment.

“Yeah, of course.” He said, but he still seemed confused. Meanwhile, I don’t know why, but I suddenly, started heading to the entrance of the building. And Plumb Bob stared at me while I was doing it.

“Where are you going?” He asked me.

“I… I just… (sigh) I just want to check my old apartment, to see if… I just, want so check it, alright?” And after my odd words, Plumb Bob seemed much more doubtful. But nevertheless he followed me into the building.

He walked with me all the way to the fifth floor, and once we were there, I knocked at my old door… and it felt strange. I almost felt like… like my brother was suddenly going to open that door, and then we were both going to start laughing at all of this. But my thoughts disappeared abruptly, when one stranger mare opened that door.

“Can I help you?” She asked, but I remained in silence… for a long moment. Meanwhile, Plumb Bob and the lady seemed confused, to see me just standing there, without saying anything. I think my emotions needed a minute, before they allowed me to talk.

“Hello?” The lady asked one more time. And that’s when Plumb Bob intervened:

“I’m really sorry, my friend here…”

“Hi. My name is JoySpread…” And I interrupted him: “…I, used to live here a few years ago, and I was wondering, if you have ever seen a shirt, framed between two pieces of glass.”

“Mmm… I’m not sure about any shirt, but I did find a lot of stuff when I first moved in, so I put them on a storage. I can give you the address if you want.” She told me.

“Thank you. That would really help me.” I said.

“Ok. I think I have the key somewhere, let me check.” She went back into the apartment to look for it, and once I had it, I headed straight to the direction of the storage unit that she gave me, where all my stuff were supposed to be. But while I was heading to the place, there was something else that was intriguing me right now; the fact that Plumb Bob was with me at this point. And it’s because at first, I was the one behind him… because I simply didn’t know what else to do. But now, he was the one following me.

But we were finally there.

There was a line of mini storage units in front of us, and I approached to the one that had the same number that was on the key the lady of my apartment gave me. So then I started trying to open the padlock with the key in my mouth.

“You can walk around the city if you want; I’m going to be here for a while.” I said to Plumb Bob, still with the key in my mouth.

“Yeah, right. Like if you could survive on your own.” He responded, but when I was about to come back at him, the lock opened. And then I stood up, to slowly open the metal curtain, revealing in front of me, all my precious memories. There were pile after pile of boxes and furniture at the bottom, all covered on a thick layer of dust, which was the last thing I cared about in those moments; it simply made me so happy, to see all of that again. So I walked in, while Plumb Bob just stayed outside. Then I walked  to the inside of the storage, while Plumb Bob stayed outside. All my furniture, all my pictures, all my clothes… everything was here! But where’s that shirt? I suddenly started looking like crazy, ignoring everything else in that instant. I took a dive into my pile of junk, until I finally found it. The glass and the frame were covered in dust, but it was still the same. It was my brother’s shirt… his favorite one. And after appreciating it for a moment, I put it gently in the ground; and then I carefully slipped the glass out of the wooden frame; and finally, and with even more precaution, I separated the two pieces of glass… Now I couldn’t believe I was holding it once again.

Meanwhile, Plumb Bob was staring at me from the outside like I’m a crazy weirdo; staring at one shirt like it was something. But who cares, this IS something for me! And all of these stuff…! They represent everything good that has ever happened to me! And I think it’s time to let him know. So I walked out of the storage, with my brother’s shirt on my back, and I approached straight towards Plumb Bob.

“Are you done here?” Plumb Bob asked me. But I approached to him, in a very aggressive way.

“I’m done with you.” I shouted then.

“Excuse me?” He seemed confused, but also angry.

“I just realized that I don’t need anything from you. I’m finally home now!” I said as I pointed at the storage unit.

“And now, if you’ll excuse me. I have a lot of clean up to do!” I shouted, without even seeing him to the eyes when I said it, because then I turned around, and I started walking straight to the storage unit. I walked in, and then I closed the curtain with so much strength that I couldn’t even hear if he spoke a word… Now, I was finally alone with all my stuff. Everything in here was once used by me and by my brother. Then I started walking among these boxes, with the shirt still on my back. I sat down on the floor, and opened one of the boxes; and what I found inside started bringing me vivid memories… This is the baseball we were playing with the day I fell off the building; and this is a letter my brother sent me when he went visit to his grandma. The envelope was already opened, so I took out the letter. But the moment I saw it, I remembered… it, was from that time his grandmother died. That was a very difficult time for my brother. He really loved his grandma; but in the middle of his struggle, he found the courage he needed on me… the last pony you could count on to inspire courage on someone.

The letter reads as follows:

“Hey lil’ brother.    I don’t know how long it’s been. I don’t know if it’s been too long, or too little, since that time we first met… I really don’t know. I only remember it was one spring. And I knew since then, that you were some good quality friend when you came to play with me at the sandbox, even when none of the other ponies wanted to play with a gryphon such as me. I’m writing this to tell you that I really appreciate you, lil’ brother; and now that my grandma is gone, you are my only family; and I’m glad about that, and you know why? ‘Cos with you, I have all the family that I’ve ever needed… and that I always will.	I’m really glad to have you around Joy.    P.S. See you at home real soon.”

After reading the letter, I remained static for a long time.

“Dammit…”

I whispered to myself. “Why did I have to open that letter?” Now I look around me, to all these boxes, and I feel like a fool… I… am a fool.

In those moments Plumb Bob was still waiting outside the storage when I opened the metal curtain. And then I approached walking towards him, with my head down, and my tail between my legs. I stood in front of him, while he simply stared at me like asking if I was ready to go, so I just nodded my head in silence. And then we both started walking away from there, leaving the storage unit behind, with the curtain open. But then, something made me stop all of sudden. And when Plumb Bob noticed this, he stopped as well, and turned around.

In that moment I started whispering:

“All of these years, I was stacking up all these stuff…” So Plumb Bob kept staring at me, seeming really intrigued.

“I’m just taking a lot of things and also backing it all up. But in my head there’s a voice in the back and it hollers, after my life lacks of colors; Why do you take so much bothers!”

And at the moment I yelled this, I rushed against the storage unit; and I jumped inside, smashing everything on my way. Meanwhile, Plumb Bob remained outside, only observing me, without saying anything. In those moments, my thoughts and my heart were raging, creating a chaos inside me, even bigger to what I could create with my own hooves. While in my mind, I kept screaming:

This is the ringing in my ears! These are the polyps on the back of my tonsils eating my vocal cords! These are my problems! This is my time being almost up but I hadn’t acknowledged; I shoulda got me water but this pill was just too jagged to swallow!

Then I started breaking my old vinyl discs, and my photo albums, trying not to look at them; only destroy them.

This is all symbolic of me not knowing what I had ‘til was gone! There are no more friends calling my name! And it’s ok! ‘cos it happened the same to all of them! This is the hindsight to say “I told you so!” These foreshadows of all the things that are next to follow! Now this guilt trip is over, and my baggage is hollow!”

And then, I finally walked out the storage unit, towards Plumb Bob; dragging my brother’s old shirt on the ground. And in that moment, I held it against my chest, and I turned around, with my eyes fixed on that storage.

“…And now, that I gathered up all my possessions… if there’s anything left to say, say it. It’s ok… but if not, then let’s finally rest this case.” I said to Plumb Bob, but he didn’t say anything in that moment.

It was over six o’clock. It was getting late. That’s when I put on my brother’s last possession left… and mine. And then, we both remained in silence, standing in front of that line of storage units, staring at the one that was opened… and completely destroyed. When suddenly, Plumb Bob spoke:

“I’m proud of you.”

And those words, completely filled with honesty… made me shudder on the inside. Then, I don’t know why, I simply fell on my knees… and I just started crying… like I hadn’t done in years. Then Plumb Bob put his hoof on my shoulder, while I was falling apart, and moaning it all out. And it was only us there. Two ponies… on the middle of that parking lot… in front of those storage units.