[A/N] Okay, here's my first, longer fanfic that doesn't involve humans meeting fictional characters. I plan to post this onto FIMFiction and, therefore, would really appreciate comments on what you think of the parts I post so that I can make sure it's as good as it possibly can be before I post it on FIMFiction (I really want to get a story featured, so please tear me to shreds in the comments if it'll help, just make sure it's constructive criticism and not just criticism).Anyway, I hope you enjoy and I only own my OC characters.
Everything else is owned by Hasbro
Prologue: A Night at the Bar
It was night and the streets outside the small village's bar were empty. A lone dog ran down the street, barking at some unknown animal that kept darting in and out of the shadows. The bar itself was nothing to look twice at. The windows were covered in filth, the wood was aged considerably, and the smell of alcohol wafted from inside, contaminating the outside of the bar.
Inside the run-down bar was just as bleak as the outside was. A thin, yellow mist lingered in the air; the smell of hot apple cider was concentrated and potent from ponies drinking and smoked the night away.
Closing time was approaching, and the bar nearly empty save for a couple of stragglers that were finishing their drinks so they could "get their bits' worth of drunkenness" before heading out into the chilly autumn night. The bar keep was busy cleaning out some recently-used mugs with a damp old rag, preparing to put them into the washer for the night so they'd be clean in time for the morning rush.
Two such earth ponies sat at the bar, both clearly a bit intoxicated, as the rosy tint to their eyes and the goofy smiles on their faces indicated. One had burlier than the other. He had red-orange fur and a mean-looking face. He leaned against the counter, his eyes staring into the yellow eyes of his thinner friend with an orange-cream colored coat. The thin pony seemed to be a bit more relaxed as he listened to his burly friend ramble on.
"So as I was saying, I got some from work yesterday and I walked in, you know expecting to see my wife's happy, cheerful face greeting me."
"Yeah, I understand that. So what, your wife wasn't there or something?"
"No, I did see my wife, she was standing inside waiting for me to get home, but the happy and cheerful face wasn't."
The thin pony grimaced, "Oh, that's never a good sign, I tell you what."
"Clearly, so at first I thought that…I don't know maybe I forgot to meet her someplace for dinner or I forgot our anniversary or something."
"I forgot our anniversary once."
'Yeah, how'd that work out for ya?"
"With a frying pan across my head and upside my flank." The pony started to laugh his slurred, drunken laugh as his friend joined in. Both of their cheeks were blushing as the alcohol in the cider worked its way into their system. They weren't acting too drunk, as they had a high tolerance for the alcoholic beverage, and their speaking was only slightly slurred. But their bodies gave them away as having a bit to drink, not just in the eyes and cheeks, but the slower reflexes displayed when moving even a little bit.
A couple of stools away from the drunken pair of friends, a stocky, black pegasus sat alone, sipping some cider as he listened to the conversation the duo was having. His hoof tightly clamped around the mug as he took another hit of the drink, grimacing as it made its way down his throat, not completely tolerant to the burning sensation alcohol so often left as it passed down his esophagus and into his waiting stomach.
He wasn't used to drinking and one cider was often enough to satisfy him to the point where he would be more relaxed exiting the bar than he was entering it. Even after all of the pain he went through, even after all of the horrors he's seen, he never once turned to alcohol as a means to drown his sorrow.
As he continued to listen in on the drunken blathering of the two obnoxious ponies as they discussed their first-world relationship woes, he realized exactly why he abstained from drinking even when times were tough. His light-blue mane and tail, borderline white, glistened in the otherwise murky bar. On his back he had a leather saddle-bag. His cutie mark of a circular shield within a gold star stood out even more than the colt's mane and tail.
Once the duo stopped laughing the thinner pony cleared his throat to speak.
"So what happened then? Why was Bristol angry?"
"Apparently she found out I've been seeing this other pony."
"Which one, was it Chrystal Heart?"
"No; not her, she moved to Appleloosa, remember?"
"Oh yeah…Ice Wave?"
"No."
"Pine Breeze?"
"Bingo."
"Dang, that's rough man."
The burly pony let out a sigh; "Yep, tell me about it."
"So how did she find out?" the thin pony took another chug of his drink as his friend answered.
"Pine stopped by my house when I was a work and Bristol was there."
"Wow, that's just bad luck. But wait, why would she stop by your house uninvited? Didn't you tell her that you were married and Bristol was a stay-at-home mare?"
"No I didn't tell her any of that, and now she hates me too."
The thin pony whistled, "Ouch, double loss on that one, eh man?"
"Obviously, so she kicked me out and now I have to stay in a hotel until I find a permanent place to stay."
"Wow, so it's over?"
The burly pony sighed and gave his friend a small nod before looking down at his half-full mug.
The thin pony's jaw dropped, "I'm…I'm sorry man."
The burly pony gave a small, somewhat nonchalant shrug.
"Eh, things weren't working well with Bristol anyway, it was only a matter of time before one of us caught the other sleeping with somepony else."
As the burly pony took another long swig of his drink, the thin pony looked down at his hooves, trying to think about what to say. He clearly was uncomfortable being in the situation of conversation starter, especially given the circumstances. Once his friend had finished swallowing his brew, let out a small belch and wiped his mouth with the back-side of his hoof, the thin colt finally thought of something to say.
"So how is Clover taking it?"
"Don't know, haven't spoken to her since it happened yesterday."
"Think about stopping by to see her? Would Bristol let you?"
"She probably would, but I don't feel like stopping by. Think I'll let her take over Clover for a bit, right now I'm pretty busy."
"Busy?"
"Yeah," the Burly colt ran his hoof through his mane and turned to his friend, flashing him a yellow-toothed smile, "I'm going to see if I can find any other mare to start dating."
Upon hearing this, black pegasus nearly choked on his drink. He was stunned that this colt could be so uncaring about the fate of his family at his own actions. Even if he did cheat on his wife with other mares, it was still surprising to hear him care so little about his daughter. It was like he didn't care at all that he had single hoofedly destroyed his family, something the pegasus could never forgive himself for doing.
Which is why he found himself at a bar in the middle of nowhere with a mug of cider in one hoof and his saddlebag on his back.
"Oh yeah?" The thin pony asked as he took a sip of his drink.
The new bachelor pony grinned and gave his friend a too-friendly nod.
"Yep, now, I've got my hooves untied and I'm going to make the most of it."
"You mean make the most of it by acting like an immature foal that can't commit to anything?"
Both ponies turned towards the black pegasus colt that was sitting alone at the end of the bar, his eyes staring down at his hooves as they rested atop the wooden counter. Slowly, his head turned towards burly pony he was addressing so that his vibrant green eyes landed on the confused pony. The burly pony stared for a moment, not quite sure what to make of the sudden interruption by this mysterious colt that clearly had been eavesdropping on their conversation, and was now staring at him like he personally insulted his mother or some other member of his family. After a few moments, the burly pony's expression of shock changed into a smiling. He chuckled a little, a chuckle that was a blend of both genuine humor and disbelief at the current turn of events.
"I'm sorry; I don't remember asking for your input on the matter."
"Don't need it." The black pegasus snapped back almost immediately, though his voice showed no change in tone. It was still flat, yet stern and accusing. "Not when I hear somepony as stupid and ungrateful as you so ready to abandon his family because you think it's convenient to your wants and your desires which, ironically, is the reason you lost them in the first place."
The burly pony's smile was now gone, replaced by genuine anger. His comrade took a sip of his cider, not once taking his eyes off of the mysterious black pegasus.
"What business is it of yours?"
"I don't know," the black pegasus shrugged as he turned back towards his drink. He started to raise the mug to his waiting lips while he continued to talk, "but I think I know more about taking things for granted than you do."
"And how's that exactly?"
The black pegasus finished taking his sip of cider and gently placed it back down onto the counter, "Because I had a wife and kid once. It was a happier time in my life, no doubt and I often dream about seeing their smiling faces waiting to greet me when I walk in the door, much like how you imagined your wife, but much less selfishly because I just love seeing them happy, while you probably just see a wife greeting you as a sign that you dominate her."
The burly pony growled as the pegasus continued.
"I loved my family. Yet that love couldn't prevent them from being taken from me in the most horrible way imaginable. Every night before I go to bed at night, I pray someday they'll return, that they aren't dead. I do this even after I saw their cold, lifeless bodies laid out in front of my burnt home. "
The pegasus turned to stare into the burly colt's eyes.
"Meanwhile you sit here while they're very much alive and attainable, and yet you could care less. All that matters to you is sipping cider and fantasizing about finding some fresh, young mare you can sleep with one night and never call back. So I apologize for eavesdropping, but when I see somepony as unappreciative and thankless as you, I feel they need a little lesson in humility."
The burly pony was at his breaking point. He stood up and strode over to the mysterious colt, his hoof pointing at him accusingly. "Now look here you arrogant son of a…"
"I wouldn't do that."
The colt stopped moving and looked at his target with confusion, "What?"
"Threatening me, it's not a good idea. Trust me."
The burly colt simply chuckled and shook his head before slowly making his way over, "Okay, listen here buddy. I'm a former, amateur buck-boxer so I know a thing or two about defending my honor against punks like you."
"You're an amateur boxer?" the black pegasus let out a few "tsk" and shook his head, "Dear King of Sutansia that's rich. You couldn't even give me the common courtesy of being an actual boxer; you think being second-rate will save you. Sorry but it won't."
After shaking his head to clear his confusion as to the pegasus using the saying "Dear King of Sutansia" instead of "Dear Princess Celestia", the colt reared his front, right hoof back and brought it forward, expecting to hit the side of the seemingly oblivious pegasus.
What he didn't expect was for the pegasus to quickly stop his hoof from making contact with his own face before slamming the stunned colt down onto the counter. The black pegasus pulled a small blade out of his saddle-bag and pressed it to the defenseless colt's cheek.
"August Breeze!" shouted the thinner colt as he leapt to his feet, ready to charge the black pegasus. Just then, the pegasus placed both of his hooves firmly onto the counter, keeping the burly colt in-between his chest and the counter as he was too dazed to do anything but watch as the pegasus pushed himself up and use both of his rear hooves to buck his thin friend across the bar and into the wall at the other end of the room. The black pegasus stared at what he did, neither a look of joy or guilt on his face. He just looked angry.
"Aprocot Flair!" the burly colt, August Breeze, shouted after re-gaining his composure. His face was then pressed back into the counter by the pegasus, who held a shining, silver blade against his cheek threateningly.
"Apricot Flair and August Breeze, huh? Those are interesting names for a couple of "rough and tumble colts". What's next, you gonna bring out Fruity Pebble or Daisy Sunburst?" The black pegasus mumbled rather humorously for having not the slightest flicker of humor in his voice, rather annoyance and anger.
Then the pegasus slowly lifted the knife away from the trapped colt's cheek and flashed it to him, "You see this?"
August weakly nodded.
"This is a blade used by a Captain of the Sutansia Royal Guard."
"Sutansia?" the colt mumbled only to be silenced as the pegasus pressed his face into the counter, effectively restricting his speech to mumbles and grunts.
"And you know why I have a blade only a Captain of the Royal Guard would have?"
The colt didn't answer, he just kept up his futile attempt at struggling as he watched his thin friend, Apricot Flair, slowly get to his hooves, his eyes narrowed in on the black pegasus that held down his friend. He scraped his back hoof against the wooden floor like an angry bull ready to charge, before he ran at full-speed towards the black pegasus.
Right before Apricot made contact with the black pegasus, his target grabbed his still half-full mug of cider and brought it across Apricot's face, sending him back to the floor, spitting blood and coughing.
August looked at his downed friend in horror as his oppressor leaned in close to his face so their eyes were mere millimeters apart.
"Because I am Captain of the Royal Guard."
With that, the black pegasus released the terrified August from his hold. He stared him down for a minute before he trotted over to the counter, where the bar-tender was standing. His eyes were wide and his mouth hung open at the sight before him; two of his tougher customers effectively beaten down by a single pony, who didn't even seem to break a sweat.
The black pegasus reached out in front of the bar-keep, grabbing the white cloth that was normally used for cleaning up used mugs, and turned to the colt that was still on the ground. Apricot looked up at him, his nose bloody and his eye and cheek swollen a sickening black-and-blue color. The pegasus tossed the colt the rag.
"Here, your face is pretty bloody, might want to clean yourself up," the pegasus then turned to August, "and then ask yourself if a colt that can't remain loyal to his family deserves your loyalty."
Apricot's expression was shock. He kept staring at the pegasus, as did the few ponies still left in the bar whose evening was interrupted by the bizarre turn of events involving the odd bar-room fight. The black pegasus put his dagger back into his saddle-bag, tossed a few bits onto the counter for the bar-keep, and started to make his way to the door.
It was at this point that August mustered enough courage to speak up.
"Who in the hay are you?"
The black pegasus stopped and slightly turned around so he was still facing the exit while he managed to see August in his peripheral vision.
"My name is Black Shield. But since that's most likely too complicated for a dolt like you to remember, you can call me…Blackie."
With that, the pegasus Captain with the odd nickname of "Blackie" walked out, leaving a group of very confused, and two very beaten-up, ponies in his wake. The bar was silent as everypony, especially Apricot and August, tried to make sense of what just happened.