Part I: The Pursuit

Chapter 1

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Emerald Shield fled the apartment he and his father shared for the past 8 years. Although his father was no longer living, Emerald could afford to pay due to the inheritance his father left for him. Nearly 15,000 bits and a huge chest of mixed and very rare gems.

He took one last glance at the room before he shut the door and locked it. He went to the landlord's office downstairs and surrendered the keys to him. The landlord bid him a farewell and Emerald was off. He was barely 20 years old, and he didn't look much different than the next horse. He had a black mane, a white coat, and, most unfortunately, no cutie mark. As a young colt, Emerald was always trying to copy off of his father, who was ex-royalty. He wanted to be a prince or a king. Sapphire Shield, his father, told him that was not his destiny, and that in due time he would get his cutie mark and discover his secret ability. Emerald was intrigued, so most of his adolescent hood, he kept trying to find his purpose, to avoid being made fun of by the other ponies in school. In elementary school, he met a Pegasus with a horn named Black Flame. They ended up defending each other from the same bully, and became friends. Black Flame got his cutie mark in middle school, at a science fair. But Emerald struggled to find his meaning. In high school, Black Flame and Emerald slowly drifted apart. Black wanted to be in a gang called the Down and Outs, and he wanted Emerald to join him, but Emerald was too focused on his own life to want a part of that. After school ended and they both graduated, Black finally convinced Emerald to join his newly formed gang, Manehattan Flares. At first, Emerald found it amusing, but the things his friend and the rest of the gang were doing were wrong in Emeralds eyes, so he went to Black and told him he was leaving the gang. Black grew violently angry and they fought. Emerald and Black became enemies.

And even though Emerald tried his best to avoid Black, he was ambushed and nearly killed. He got away, but not without paying a price. His right wing was damaged to the point that he couldn't fly. This crippled him to an extent, but Emerald was intent on never giving up. A few weeks later, tragedy struck when Sapphire died of blood poisoning. Doctors said he ate a poisonous plant seed, so no foul play was suspected. Forced to live alone, Emerald didn't trust that Black would stay away, and had every reason to believe he would try to kill him again. So Emerald picked out a town from a map and decided to move there on short notice. His hopes were to find friends and meaning for his being, and to avoid Black at all costs.

Now he took the city bus carriage to the train station to leave for Ponyville. It was only six AM, but Emerald wanted to get there by midday so he could walk around town and try to familiarize himself with the essentials.

He got off the bus carriage at the station and seen that it was unusually quiet and empty. Manehattan was huge, so the lack of ponies at the station, even this early in the morning was unnerving.

He sighed and sat down on the bench near the tracks and waited until the train arrived.


"Would you mind helping me Spike?" Twilight Sparkle asked her dragon friend.

He sighed heavily from his bed. "With what? It's seven in the morning!"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "You got up at six yesterday for the food parade downtown."

"Oh yeah." Spike remembered. "But still - for what?"

It was Twilights turn to sigh now." Spike, I already told you," She began reorganizing books on her shelf. "There's gonna be a sleepover tonight. All of our friends."

Spike groaned." Oh no..."

"Cut it out and help me. We've got to hide all my breakables. I'm expecting a wild night."

"Can I sleep for five more minutes?" Spike pleaded.

"How can you sleep for five more minutes?"

Spike rolled over and pulled his blanket over his head." Easy. I'll show you."

A sharp knock came from the front door.

"For crying out loud!" Spike complained, throwing his covers back.

"I wonder who that could be this early in the morning." Twilight wondered and went to find out.

When she opened the door, Pinkie Pie stood eye to eye with her holding her blanket and pillow.

Twilight cocked an eyebrow. "Pinkie Pie, the sleepover isn't until tonight. It's barely eight in the morning."

Pinkie Pie smiled. "I know. I had to get a head start, ya know? On the competition."

"There is no competition Pinkie Pie. Just me and spike."

"Of course there is!" She exclaimed. "The pillow fight!"

"No, no pillow fights - hopefully." Twilight said, her pupils growing small.

"Well," Pinkie Pie started, "I gotta hunker down." She tried to come in.

"Oh no you don't." Twilight stopped her. "I've got a lot cleaning to do."

"Awwww, come on!" She whined. "You're killing me."

"Can you keep it down?" Rainbow Dash called down from her cloud. "I'm trying to sleep!"

"Seconded!" Spike called out.

Twilight frowned.

"I'll be back." Pinkie Pie warned her. Then she took off.

"Already." She grumbled and slammed her door shut.


The train barreled into the station right on schedule. Emerald was fascinated with the way the town looked so simple and small. It's the only city or town outside Manehattan he'd ever seen.

"Everypony, we've arrived at Ponyville. Please find the nearest exit to leave, take all your belongings, and enjoy your stay in Ponyville. Thanks for using Equestria Rails." The conductor said over the intercom.

Emerald got his only bag and got off the train. Ponyville was beautiful. It even smelled better than Manehattan. He couldn't help but smile as he left the station to go find a place to stay.

Today, he would start again.