Dear Friend
The next few days where boringly uneventful. Early on the morning after the gathering at Sweet Apple Acres I found myself on a train speeding back towards Appaloosa. I gazed out of the window at the rolling green hills dotted with trees that whipped by. In the distance I could see Canterlot, perched majestically on the side of a mountain, its gleaming towers shining light all over Equestria. I would've gladly parted with my left hoof to visit there just even once and walk among the rich and famous. Maybe I could even meet Princess Celestia, and ask her why she choose to save me, a question that had burned at the back of my mind ever since that fateful night. When I had asked my parents they didn't have a straight answer.
"The Princess cares for all of her subjects son," My father had said to me one night over dinner.
"But Ah'm not the only pony who's ever been sick, what made me so special?" I asked. My parents exchanged uneasy looks.
"You are special Blaze," My mother said. "Isn't that enough?"
"No, It's not!" I snapped.
"Blaze you should be thankful for what she did!" Father shot back.
"What? Turn me into... A freak?!" I screamed. My eyes had begun to blur with tears.
"You are not a freak," My mother tried to sooth me.
"She should have just let me die!" I cried out, my voice echoing through the house.
"Were those colts at school teasing you again?" My mother asked. I nodded my head slowly and wiped my eyes dry.
"Every day," I sniffled.
"Oh sugar cube," My mom cooed as she reached across the table and placed her hoof on mine. "We don't choose what happens to us, good or bad, but we can choose who we become. That choice is completely ours, no matter what."
"Your mother and Ah don't know why Celestia did what she did, but what I can tell you is that we owe her more than we can ever give, for letting us have a second chance with you," My father placed his hoof on my shoulder.
"But it still doesn't answer why..." I trailed off.
"Maybe you're meant to find that out on your own," Mother smiled.
That was years ago, but I still remembered those words to this very day, we choose who we become. Had a nice ring to it, but as a grew older I found it harder and harder to believe. Unfortunately that talk with my parents didn't stop the bullying at school.
School. A word that brought a very unpleasant taste to my mouth. Many a repressed memory could be traced back to those hallowed halls of learning. The ones that weren't locked in the deep corners of my mind I remembered quite, vividly. One such sticks out in mind, my last day of senior high.
It was a stifling summer afternoon and the dust picked up by the wind blew through the deserted school yard. I cautiously poked my head out from behind the red wood-paneled school-house and surveyed my surroundings. It was friday and most of the other colts and fillies were already on their way home, eager to start their summer vacation. I on the other hand was waiting for my opportunity to escape.
"What're we we lookin' at?" A voice whispered from behind me. I wheeled around to see a yellow pony wearing a brown vest and cowpony hat standing right behind me.
"Braeburn!" I whispered loudly. "Can't you see Ah'm in in-cognitive!"
"You mean, incognito?" He asked.
"Yeah, whatever," I answered. "What're you doin'?"
"You tell me, you're the one sneakin' around all quiet-like," Braeburn quipped.
"Ah'm just pickin' up some extra homework," I motioned to my saddle bag.
"You, extra homework, ya'll sick er' something?" Braeburn raised his eyebrows. Braeburn knew me well, he was my best friend after all.
"No, Ah'm just-," I started.
"Saddleback?" He asked.
"Saddleback," I whispered.
Braeburn sighed. "You can't let him push you around for the rest of your life,"
"It's fine, schools over so I won't see him as much now," I said not sure if I was trying to reassure him or myself.
"You could look at it that way, but will he be completely out of your life?" Braeburn asked. He spoke sense, living in a small town didn't guarantee any distance from my tormentor. "And besides how do you even know he's still here?" he added.
The fact was I didn't. "Maybe you're right," I replied. "Let's get outta here,"
We emerged from behind the school house and where trekking across the empty yard when a rock struck me in the back of the head. We whirled around and my heart sank. Saddleback and two of his large of bulky goons were approaching us.
Saddleback was the son of a wealthy land baron who my family leased our estate from. His family lived on the edge of town in a colossal mansion surrounded by acres and acres of apple trees. As you could probably tell he was spoiled rotten. There was not a thing that his parents would not do to fulfill his wants and desires. They even bought him a 10ft long griffon forged steel lasso when he had asked. His parents didn't know this but there was a rumor going around that he used the lasso to wrangle the younger ponies and choke them out with a, pardon the pun, iron grip. If you were a kid living in Appaloosa you knew about Saddleback and his weapon of choice, hopefully not through personal experience. Born to an earth pony father and a unicorn mother, the golden eyed and red maned saddleback towered over every colt and filly in the school. His well-earned reputation of cruelty and brutality preceded him in the streets. He didn't have a horn but could still do some rudimentary magic, the result of being of a mixed race. Some might have frowned upon his lineage, but if you frowned at Saddleback he would make sure you would never smile again. He ruled the school and his lasso was the law. Disobey him and the law could be very, painful. I still have scars from his "legal education". The first time he used the lasso to hurt ponies it was on me.
Him and his friends tailed me after school and when I was finally alone they attacked. It happened so fast I couldn't tell what was going on. All I felt was the lasso tightening around my ankle and my head smashing on the ground. Stars ringed my vision as I looked up to see the grinning face of Saddleback barring over me.
"Well, looks like I caught me a freak," He sniggered. His thugs followed suit. I was so stunned I could barely speak, all that came out was an incoherent mess of stuttering.
"What's that? They didn't teach you how to speak in that hick house of yours?" He jeered.
"No please," I choked dust.
Saddleback spit on me. What happened next I tried for years to forget. The last image I saw of that pony was one of him raising a rock up and bringing it down on my face. The beating lasted only for a few minutes but then it felt like an eternity. To finish it off Saddleback wrapped the lasso around my neck and began to squeeze. I felt my mind fading into the darkness of unconsciousness, when suddenly I heard a voice yelling at the ponies to back off.
"Until next time my friend," Saddleback whispered in my ear before taking off with his friends, snickering as they ran. I felt a hoof on my chest.
"Still breathing, can you hear me?" A voice asked. I could sense a warm feeling spreading down my back and the iron tang of blood filled my mouth.
"Who are you?" I barely croaked out.
"Braeburn, where do you live?" He asked.
"Up," I spat out the blood. "Up the road,"
"Ah'm gunna be honest with you, you're losing a lot of blood, you might not make it," He said grimly.
"What?" I coughed, his statement adding to my building panic, I couldn't feel my legs, or could I? I tried to move but pain lanced up my limbs. This was it, I thought, this is where I will die.
"Ah'm kidding!" Braeburn laughed. "You'll be right as rain when we get you home,"
I don't remember the specifics of what happened next, all I knew was some how, some way, Braeburn hefted me 2 miles to my house. When we arrived my mom would later tell me that I was drenched in blood. "I could see the life draining from his eyes!" she would say when asked to recount what happened. Then my dad would always chastise her and say, "Honey, really it wasn't that bad,".
When Brea and my dad dragged me into the house I could here my mom in absolute hysterics.
"Who did this!" She cried.
"Saddleback and his boys," Braeburn huffed. I felt myself being laid down on my bed.
"Ivory and Lockheart's son?!" My mom screamed. "That good for nothing-, when I see them again Ah'm gunna-"
"Jade, the last thing we want to do is upset our land lords," My dad tried to settle her.
"When is enough enough?" She demanded. "You let him bully you and now you're going to let his son beat up yours?"
"You know what will happen if I accuse Saddleback," My dad whispered.
"To hell with keeping the farm! We deserve better than this!" She screamed. My mother and father must have taken the argument outside because I could hear their voices fading.
"Hey, you gunna be alright?" Braeburn asked.
"I think so," I wheezed.
"You sure are tougher than you look," He chuckled.
"Thanks, the name is Blaze by the way," I replied.
He shook my hoof. "Mighty fine to meet ya,"
That was how Braeburn and I met. Even though our paths crossed in less than normal circumstances our bond was stronger than any I had with other ponies. But back to more pressing matters. Now Saddleback was walking towards us lasso glinting in the sunlight, his hooves kicking up clouds of dust. I shrank back as the three older ponies closed in. They stood before us, their imposing shadows blotting out the sun. Towering over us all was Saddleback, a savage grin on his lips. Not for the first time it occurred to me that Saddleback might not have been completely sane.
"Whispers from the north say that King Sombra has returned," He said his grin never faltering. "About time someone cleaned up this place,"
It was Braeburn who replied first. "King Sombra is an old mares tale, you can't tell me you believe in it,"
I wondered if anyone would hear us scream in this deserted school yard. My house was a good 6 miles away, I wished I had just left with the other ponies.
"Oh I do Braeburn," Saddleback replied. "In fact, I've been doing a lot of reading on him, what a visionary, a true leader! He knew how to keep ponies in line, He held true power. Not this ditzy "I love Celestia!" bull shit,"
"Sombra isn't real," I chimed in. "And even if he was, the stories say Celestia defeated him eons ago,"
"But you have to read the books they don't give you in school," Saddleback said. "I have, and my eyes have been opened. Now I have a vision,"
"How do you know he's not gone?" I asked
"Something that powerful you can't just, destroy," Saddleback said. "It will live on for eternity,"
Braeburn burst out laughing. "Whoa look out, we got ourselves a mystic here!"
"Shut up!" Saddleback screamed. The lasso flashed and Braeburn yelped in pain. A long gash that ran from his nose all the way up to his eye dripped blood on the ground.
"Hey! Why can't you just leave us alone!?" I shouted.
"Becasue," Saddleback's voice lowered to a deadly whisper. "Poor working class ponies need to be put in their place, especially mutant ones,"
"Ah'm not a mutant!" I defended myself. "Ah was just sick,"
"Regardless, any imperfections must be, taken care of," He said.
I shrunk back, what did that mean? The lasso hung suspended in the air by Saddlebacks magic, coiled like a snake ready to strike.
"Go to hell," Braeburn spat.
"You better watch your mouth," Saddleback growled.
"Let's go Brae," I tugged on Braeburn's mane but he stood his ground. That was always something I envied of him, his bravery and never back down attitude. Both things I didn't posses much of.
"I'd listen to your freak-ass friend," Saddleback sneered.
"He's not a freak!" Braeburn roared.
Before I could hold him back Braeburn charged at the ponies and slammed his hoof into Saddleback's face with a sickening crunch.
"Inbred piece of shit!" Saddleback cried reeling in pain. "Get them!"
Feeling like we had overstayed our welcome Braeburn and I took off into the nearby apple orchard. All I could hear was our hooves pounding against the sun bleached ground and the hooting and hollering of Saddlebacks thugs.
"In here!" Braeburn motioned to an irrigation ditch. Together we flung ourselves into the thin layer of water and mud and ducked our heads down. I slowed my breathing to almost nothing, praying that it wouldn't betray our position. The sound of hoof falls grew closer. Frozen with fear I glanced over at Braeburn, he put a reassuring hoof to his lips.
"I think we lost em'," I heard one of the ponies say, I think his name was Iron Hoof.
"Well, why don't you start looking!" Saddleback screamed. I flinched and tried to sink myself deeper into the mud. "I'll find you Braeburn, you'll pay! You and that freak of yours!"
After a few minutes the voices of Saddleback and his friends faded off into the distance. It was then that I realized I had stopped breathing and let out a long exhaling breath.
"Ah'm sorry about what happened," I said to Braeburn as we walked home. The mud had begun dry up and flake off, the same couldn't be said for the gash on Brea's face.
"Don't worry about it, Ah've had worse," Braeburn sighed and cast a sideways glance at me. We walked on for a while in an awkward silence
"You stood up for me, why?" I asked.
"You're my friend, and Ah know you'd do the same for me," he let out a small smile. Truth was I probably wouldn't have, but I never said that.
"You don't have to keep doing that," I said.
"Blaze you're like a brother to me, the closest thing Ah'll ever have to one, Ah ain't gunna let that low life hurt you," He punched me lightly on the shoulder. I never knew how lucky I was to have a friend like Braeburn. We found ourselves down by the Albermarle river that cut a wide swath through the apple orchards. It rushed quietly along unaware of the plights of the pony world.
"Do you think that it's true, what Saddleback said?" I asked.
Braeburn furrowed his brow. "It's hard to say,"
"Could Sombra really be back?" I mused.
"Well, if he is we can take him together, just you and me, we'll be unstoppable!" He laughed.
"Blaze and Braeburn, the great warriors of Appaloosa!" I joined in. As we stood by the river the sun had begun to set behind the distant mountains.
"To the ends of the earth," Braeburn smiled.
"And back again," I grinned.