Cookie’s leg flared in pain. She twitched and grunted in anger as the ointment stung her. She could see Fluttershy’s ears droop a little as she rubbed her leg as gently as she could. But even the slightest breeze caused her leg irritation. A burning sensation launched throughout her leg. She crunched her teeth together, closing her eyes tightly.

She cringed, trying to hide her pain as best she could, as if she was trying to keep it from Fluttershy. It wasn’t easy. It was only a little while ago that her leg had been badly hurt, trying to escape the ponies hunting her. Cookie had asked about who was chasing her, but Fluttershy’s response was that she didn’t really know. Just some ponies from the military, but that was all her father had told her.

Fluttershy finished up, removing her hooves from Cookie’s leg, and started to wrap the leg in a leaf to help with infections.

“I’m really sorry about all of this,” Fluttershy said, wrapping Cookie’s leg in the leaf.

Cookie simply shook her head. “Forget it, Flyshy.” She rubbed her teeth together as the leaf wrapped around her leg.

Cookie couldn’t fathom what she would do without Fluttershy. Here, in the middle of nowhere, Fluttershy was taking care of her and their assistant, Crumble. She asked nothing in return and constantly waited on her. She fed her, gave her a drink of water, and constantly monitored her leg. She worked herself day and night to make sure that she was alright. Cookie didn’t know what kept her going when anypony else would have given up by then.

There was something special about Fluttershy. Something familiar.

After rewrapping Cookie’s leg, Fluttershy gathered up the canteen of water, giving it to Cookie. She took it and swallowed as much as she could. She couldn’t believe how gravely her mouth was. It was only a short time ago that they had sat in the sun and watched the butterflies migrate. It wasn’t the first choice of fun Cookie had in mind, but it made Fluttershy happy. So really what else mattered?

If anypony deserved to be happy, even if it was only for a few hours, it was Fluttershy. After everything she had gone through, she deserved something.

Fluttershy made her way to the campfire and fed it with the nearby firewood. She looked off into the horizon. “It won’t be long before we get to Las Pegasus.” She looked to the ground and closed her eyes. “I’m afraid of what might happen when we get there.”

Cookie found herself looking at the horizon herself. Fluttershy had been frightened about this whole trip. She was constantly worrying about what would happen if this scientist couldn’t help her with her problem. Her big, green problem.

Not to mention there was the stress of taking care of her and Crumble. Always making sure they had food and water and that the infection in her leg was dying and that her leg was healing properly. Cookie couldn’t understand how Fluttershy was able to do it all.

It was clear Fluttershy was frightened by all this. However, it was also her only chance at a normal life. Cookie knew she had to take it. “Hey, it’ll be fine.” Fluttershy turned and smiled. “Just have a little confidence.”

Fluttershy turned back towards the fire. “Cookie?”

Cookie waited for Fluttershy to continued, but she sat silent for several more moments. “What is it, Flyshy?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “It’s nothing…” Fluttershy turned away, as if she was afraid to ask something.

That was just like her. Fluttershy would avoid confrontation at any cost. It was something that Cookie both admired and found annoying. Of course, she was a mare who spoke her mind, almost the opposite of Fluttershy. Cookie raised her eyebrow. “Flyshy, come on,” Cookie insisted. “What is it?”

Fluttershy gave a glance to Cookie. “How did you grow up?” Cookie tilted her head, as if she wasn’t sure what Fluttershy meant. “What you told me about your… parents? How did you grow up?”

Cookie bit her lip and turned away from Fluttershy. She didn’t want to answer that question. It brought back too many memories that she didn’t want to think about. She sort of wished she hadn’t pushed Fluttershy into asking. She was trying to help Fluttershy with her courage, but it wasn’t easy. Fluttershy was just so… innocent. She didn’t have to go through the things she did. The mistakes she made.

“I’m sorry,” Fluttershy responded. “I shouldn’t have asked.”

Cookie didn’t say anything. Growing up was never easy for her. In fact, it was filled with all kinds of pain. But despite all the pain, there was always one pony who looked after her. One pony who would always be there when she needed somepony. But Cookie never treated her the way she should have. It was always a constant war between fear and freedom. And it was never clear to her what the right choice was until she made the wrong one.

Cookie finally spoke. “There was somepony. Somepony who was like a mother to me.”

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The jerk of the train slowing down and the creaking sound of the breaks awoke Cookie from her slumber. She moaned as she rubbed her eyes, still dazed from her sudden awakening. She looked outside for what seemed to be the millionth time this trip. Down the hill was a town. Her birthplace. Her first home. Mustangia. She hated that city. There were so many memories that she wanted to leave buried and she swore she would never return to it when she left.

But life saw fit to bring her back here, like a moth being drawn to a flame. Cookie cursed Celestia under her breath. An announcement came over the speakers, “We are arriving at the Mustangia station.”

Cookie shook her head and gave a deep sigh. Within a moment, the train made its final stop, allowing Cookie to rise to her feet without the fear of falling. She marched out of the train with its other passengers and then split off from the pack to head to town. As she moved, her stomach roared in pain. It had been days since her last meal and her finances were shot. It had taken everything she had just to get this far.

She knew that if she could get back to her ‘old home’, she would be fine. She would take care of her. She always had, even if Cookie didn’t always deserve it.

Cookie made her way through the town, finding that the once small mining town was changing. There were several stores that weren’t there when Cookie last was here. Houses being built on the land where fields once spanned. The small town of Mustangia was growing, but it still wasn’t a place Cookie could live. Her mind wandered to a single stallion. She wondered how he was coping with the changes to ‘his town’.

That stallion hated change. Actually, he hated a lot of things. Incompetence, whining, laziness, which Cookie had always considered odd because of how lazy he actually was, crying, the mine, his wife. In fact, the only time he ever seemed content was when he was in his lazy chair, watching T.V and drinking beer.

Suddenly, she heard a whisper in her ear. A familiar voice that made her hair stand up on end. The same voice of the stallion. She turned around fast, expecting him to be right behind her. She expected to see the worn out face of the enraged pony. However, when she turned around, there was nothing but an empty street. A car passing by every moment or two, but there was no pony around. She regained control of her rapid breathing, relaxing it to calm, deep breaths.

It was all in her head. Just distant memories that she had repressed for so long, bursting through the surface of her mind and affecting her senses. Cookie shook her head and rubbed her eyes, freeing herself from her memories. She continued on her way to the home where she knew she would be safe.

Despite the changes, Cookie knew exactly where she was. She moved her way to an old little house on the other side of town. It was exactly as she had left it.

The roof was still an ugly dark green; the dark grey colors that made up the walls had its paint peeling off. One of the windows was still boarded up. Cookie wondered if that was still from before she left or a new one made after. She wouldn’t be surprised at either one. Stupid kids in this neighborhood had a habit of doing stupid things. Unsurprisingly, but the stupid thing was usually messing with this house.

Cookie made her way up the driveway seeing the old grey truck in the driveway. She recognized it instantly. She spent many of her days in that truck. She leaned over to it, taking in the smell of cigarettes and perfume. Yep, it’s hers.

Cookie made her way to the door and gently knocked on it. As she waited, she scanned the area around her. There wasn’t much to look at. The garden was just barely starting to sprout. It wouldn’t be long before she would be out here gathering her vegetables. The lawn looked as green as usual. Cookie often wondered how her lawn and garden would receive more attention than the house did.

There wasn’t much of a play area here. Not that she did much playing when she was young. She was too afraid to go outside for a long time. Years, in fact. Why would she? He could have shown up at any moment. Her body began to shake as she started to recall the one time he did come around. She thought somepony was going to die. She wasn’t exactly sure who.

As the memory began to play before her, the sound of the door opening caused Cookie to turn around. She praised Celestia as the creaking of the door distracted her from her own mind. Her eyes met with a pale gold earth mare. At first the mare greeted her with a smile, but then as soon as their eyes met for a moment, the smile vanished. Her light green eyes examined up and down Cookie as her mouth dropped down, as if she couldn’t believe who was in front of her.

Her eyebrow arched their eyes met again. “Cookie?” the mare asked.

Cookie smiled and looked down. “Hi, Aunt Peachbottom.”

With those words, Peachbottom wrapped her hooves around Cookie and gave her a tight hug. Her frown warped into a smile. Cookie was slow to return the hug, but eventually wrapped her hooves around Peachbottom as well.

“I never thought I’d see you again,” Peachbottom said.

Cookie took a deep breath as she didn’t notice tears starting to well up in her eyes. She fought them back with all her might. She didn’t know why she was crying, it seemed to come out of nowhere. “I’m sorry I haven’t made contact in a while.”

The two started to drift as their hug ended. Peachbottom gave Cookie a smile. “Well, are you going to stand out here or are you going to come in?”

She led Cookie inside, opening the door for her. Cookie took a moment to examine the room. It hadn’t changed much since she left. The recliner still sat pompously in front of the T.V to watch Peachbottom’s favorite sport teams. Another recliner sat only a few feet away. Despite another pony not living with Peachbottom, it looked like it had its fair share of use. Not surprising. Peachbottom always had friends over.

Cookie’s mind was then distracted by her stomach. It roared in anticipation of food. Cookie turned to the kitchen and made her way to the fridge. “Do you mind?”

Peachbottom giggled. “Do I ever?”

Cookie smiled. It was the first time she had been guaranteed food in a while. The hospital food was always available, but hardly had a great selection. Fluttershy’s berries were more plentiful, but she could hardly enjoy them due to her injury. She reached inside the fridge and took out a carrot. After chomping into it, she scanned the fridge for something to drink. “You got any beer?” she asked.

Peachbottom shook her head as she sat down at the table. “Kicked that old habit years ago.”

Cookie gave a sigh as she reached for a bottle of water. “Water’s fine then.” She pulled her head out of the fridge as she sat down, next to Peachbottom. She would have given anything for an ice cold beer, but she was thirsty. She wasn’t going to complain. As she sat down, she noticed a box of cigarettes out on the table. She smiled. “I see you haven’t kicked all the old habits.”

Peachbottom chuckled. “One thing at a time.” She looked at Cookie and smiled. “I’ve been smoking for over forty years. Probably not going to quit anytime soon.”

Cookie reached for a cigarette and raised it to her mouth. “Do you mind?”

Peachbottom shook her head. “You’ll owe me.” She reached into the drawer inside the table and pulled out a lighter. She sparked the flame and held it to the cigarette. Cookie let out a puff of smoke as she pulled the cigarette from her mouth.

“That’s what I need to talk to you about.” Cookie lowered her head to the table. “I need a job and a place to stay for a while.”

Peachbottom slipped the lighter back in the drawer and shut it tightly again. “What happened? I thought you were in Hoofington.”

Cookie shifted her gaze to her water bottle as she lifted it to take a drink. As the liquid made its way into Cookie’s throat, she pondered what to tell her aunt. It wasn’t the most believable story. Fluttershy wasn’t exactly the most normal of ponies and yet she was less of a monster than most of the ponies she ever met. But how would she explain that? How could she explain that? It was so bizarre; it needed to be seen to be believed. After a moment, she finally responded to Peachbottom’s question. “I was … helping a friend.”

Peachbottom gave her a glare. Cookie lowered her head. She understood why she might be upset. Cookie hadn’t been the best at choosing wisely when it came to friends, but this time was different. “I had a good reason.”

Peachbottom took a deep breath and turned away. “I hope it was worth it.” Cookie sensed a combination of disappointment and hurt. Not that it surprised her. Aunt Peachbottom didn’t agree with her poor choices. At the time, Cookie thought it was just Aunt Peachbottom being stupid and didn’t understand what she was going through. Now, Cookie just wished she could take back the time they lost.

Cookie could only lower her head even further as she glanced away. Peachbottom, out of all the ponies in the world, would be the one pony who might actually believe her. What could she say to convince Peachbottom that it was for a good cause? Not that she would believe her. She would think she was crazy. And what if, by some Celestia miracle, she did believe her? What if the wrong pony found out she knew about Fluttershy? She would be a target. Peachbottom has been through more shit in her life than she deserved. So, she kept silent.

Peachbottom placed her hoof on Cookie’s and gave a smile. “You can’t continue to make bad choices. They’ll catch up with you like the sun in the desert.”

Cookie sighed. “I know.”

Peachbottom rose to her feet and removing her hoof from Cookie’s and moved it to Cookie’s shoulder. “You can stay in your old room. Let me make some calls about that job you owe me.”

Cookie nodded. Peachbottom walked into the living room, leaving Cookie to finish her meal and cigarette alone. After filling up on another carrot, Cookie made her way upstairs to her old room. It was as she remembered it. The poster of the heavy metal band still hanging over her bed, with the rip in the corner. Cookie tried to remember what she saw in that band. Maybe it was the rebellious stage in her life. She thought about ripping it down, but then laziness set in, causing her to look away. The shelf didn’t have many mementos. Just an old photograph of her and Peachbottom at a carnival.

Peachbottom and she looked like their smiles were going to overtake their faces. The sun was shining brightly and the giant roller coaster’s bright colors in the background only seemed to add to the specialness of that day. She started to remember that day well. They had just won a great battle. A battle that had cost Peachbottom much, but in the end, she would say she gained the greatest thing in the world. Cookie didn’t know it at the time, but so had she. It was the happiest day of her life.

Cookie then looked out the window. At first, she seemed to be staring blankly at the horizon. Then something caught her attention. A little house on the square. The house was exactly as she remembered it. Old with mold growing from the planks of wood that hung upon the walls. Well, the ones that were hanging by a single nail, threatening to fall to the earth if they were not attended to. But he would never attend to it. He would only wish to sit in his chair and watch his damn T.V.

There almost seemed to be an ominous aura that emanated from the building. It caused Cookie to slowly back away from the window. She found herself short of breath as a figure appeared before her. A large stallion seemed to step from the window and gave a sly smile.

“Hello there, little girl,” the stallion greeted.

Cookie backed away in fright as the stallion took a step forward. She wanted to run. She wanted to scream, but nothing came. Nothing, but a silent quivering as the stallion towered over her, looking down.

“Cookie?” she heard her Aunt Peachbottom call out to her. Cookie turned downstairs, listening to the source of the voice. “Is everything alright up there?”

Cookie turned back to face her assailant, but when her eyes pointed back to where the stallion was, he was gone. Cookie shook her head as she took a moment to catch her breath. She looked again to see if it would appear again, but the stallion seemed to be gone forever. She slithered down to her knees, tears swelling in her eyes. She prayed to Celestia, he would stay that way.

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The next day, Cookie made her way down to the kitchen. As she made her way down, her nostrils caught the scent of pancakes. She raised her eyebrows a little. Pancakes were for children. Why would Aunt Peachbottom be making pancakes? She made her way into the kitchen and sure enough, Aunt Peachbottom was over the stove, flipping the flapjack.

As if hearing her arrival, Aunt Peachbottom turned towards Cookie with a smile. “Good morning, sunshine.”

Cookie gave a weak smile. She wished it was a good morning. She was up half the night, trying to sleep. The bed was comfortable to be sure, but her mind kept seeing a shadow in the darkness. The brief image of a stallion. That stallion. The only sleep she did get was interrupted by her nightmares. However, she knew it would only upset Peachbottom if she knew about she was thinking about him. So, she tried to play along.

“Morning, Aunt Peachbottom,” she finally replied. She sat herself in the chair, again taking in a whiff of delightful pancakes in the air. “What the Hades is with the pancakes?”

Aunt Peachbottom gave a giggle. “For you. I haven’t seen you in a while.” She flipped another hotcake, causing it to sizzle ever so slightly. “Thought it might be nice.”

Cookie smiled and stood up. She made her way to the fridge and picked out another bottle of water. She couldn’t believe how thirsty she was. She gulped down the entire bottle within moments, gasping for air at the end.

Aunt Peachbottom shook her head and laughed. “Save some for the fishes.”

Cookie started to laugh as she tossed the bottle in the trash. “Screw the fishes. I’m thirsty.” She let out a yawn as she made her way to the table, passing Aunt Peachbottom.

Aunt Peachbottom started to laugh again as she flipped another flapjack. Cookie couldn’t help but look over her shoulder. The cakes were golden brown, just as they should be. She sat down and anticipated her first bite. If she wasn’t so old, she probably would have started hopping up and down like an excited filly.

After a moment, Aunt Peachbottom placed a large stack of pancakes on the table. They were steaming, but they looked delightful. Aunt Peachbottom sat across from her and gestured her to start eating. Without even a moment of hesitation, Cookie grabbed almost half of the stack and stuck it to her plate. She couldn’t believe how hungry she was. She blamed what she had been through the last few months. But as long as her friend was safe, it was worth it.

She poured the maple syrup over the cakes and started to dig at them with her fork. She ripped into them like an excited child, waking up to her mother’s fresh pancakes. Actually, that’s exactly what was happening. She was just an excited child. Aunt Peachbottom didn’t make breakfast too often, but when she did, it was usually special. She had almost forgotten how good Peachbottom could cook. Living off fast food and snacks was not a healthy or tasty living style, but she didn’t have her aunt’s knack for cooking.

Aunt Peachbottom gave a giggle. “I haven’t seen you this happy in a long time.”

Cookie scarfed down another pancake, not ignoring what Peachbottom said, but minding her manners. It was unusual for her, but for Aunt Peachbottom, she wanted to be a little polite. She swallowed the flapjack whole and smiled. “I’ve forgotten how good you can cook.” She then looked away from her plate as her mind began to wander back to her childhood. Peachbottom used to make breakfast every day for her when she was a filly. As she got older, it became rarer, but it would happen every now and again.

Then a shadowy figure returned to her mind. The same shadow that plagued her last night. She shook her head, violently trying to purge the memories. Aunt Peachbottom raised her eyebrow as she eyed Cookie. “Is something wrong?”

Cookie looked away. “Nothing.” She took another small bite of her pancake, hoping that Peachbottom wouldn’t notice. However, she wasn’t fooling anypony.

Peachbottom put a pancake on her plate. “Are you sure there isn’t anything bothering you? You look like you didn’t rest very well.”

Cookie was a bit surprised that Peachbottom caught on so quickly. She didn’t get a chance to look at herself in the mirror, but if Peachbottom caught on, she probably had bags under her eyes. She didn’t notice herself let out another yawn as she rubbed her eyes. Her mind started to debate with itself. She knew she wouldn’t be able to keep the secret from Peachbottom for long. How would she? She would find out sooner or later. On the other hoof, Peachbottom didn’t like it when Cookie thought about … him.

Regardless, Cookie spoke up. “Does... Is…?” She stammered her words, desperately trying to come up with a way to bring her problem up without upsetting Peachbottom. The truth was, there wasn’t. Not with that stallion.

Cookie finally took a deep breath and spoke. “How has the town affected him?”

Peachbottom stopped in her tracks, letting her fork down. She narrowed her gaze to Cookie, a frown appearing on her face. “I don’t want you to think about him,” Peachbottom replied.

Cookie lowered her head. She knew she shouldn’t have brought him into this, but how could she lie to the only pony she had? Peachbottom got up off her seat and placed her hooves on Cookie’s shoulders. Cookie turned to see Peachbottom’s smiling face. “There is nothing that pony can do to hurt you. Understand?”

Cookie smiled a little. She finally nodded her head and turned her attention back to her breakfast. She wasn’t sure how over him she was, but having Peachbottom around helped. Even a little.

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That afternoon Peachbottom told Cookie about the job she was to have. It wasn’t much, but at least she was doing something she knew how to do. Peachbottom was friends with the owner of an oil changing and vehicle maintenance joint. Peachbottom knew how good she was with cars, so she tried to give her a job that she would at least be good at. But Peachbottom warned her that she wouldn’t like it.

And she was right. Cookie hated her job. Her boss was nice enough. After all, he knew Peachbottom and Peachbottom trusted him. That was good enough for her. But everypony else there was either an asshole or lazy as Tartarus. She sometimes thought her boss was too nice for his own good. He wouldn’t fire those lazy asses or even talk to them about their lack of performance. Instead, Cookie was forced to work twice as hard to pick up their slack.

However, despite all this, Cookie knew it was only temporary. She just needed the job long enough to find a new one. Then she would move out of Peachbottom’s home and back on her own. But even in this town, jobs were hard to come by. Unless you wanted to work in the mine, but Cookie had no intention of stepping hoof into that Hades hole.

Instead, Cookie was forced to be an overworked and underpaid employee of a rundown old place. But if ponies in this town wanted a vehicle maintenance check, they either came there or traveled several miles to the next town. The business there was steady enough, but there were some days where Cookie wasn’t surprised when other ponies wouldn’t come back. Considering the rude, obnoxious ponies she was forced to work with.

One of them almost started a fight with a customer. Fortunately, Cookie had been there, otherwise, the situation, which was just a stupid misunderstanding, would have turned violent fast. They certainly wouldn’t see that pony again. When it came to customer services, her co-workers left something to be desired.

She thought about applying for the grocery store that Peachbottom worked for, but they didn’t hire ponies with a criminal background.

Peachbottom fought long and hard for them to make an exception, but even she could not work miracles. So for the meantime, until something else came up in her life, Cookie was stuck.

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Sapphire couldn’t believe she’d come home after all these years. Cookie had become a fine young mare when Sapphire spotted her. She looked from afar as the earth mare continued to work throughout her day. She was certainly much stronger than she would have thought. Having to leave her with… him.

But it seemed that fortune smiled upon Cookie when she was a child, giving her a good pony to look after her while she dealt with her own business. Sapphire gazed upon Cookie, continuing to eye her from a distance.

“What are you doing?” a deep voice slithered into her ears. Her whole body froze as felt a chilling air touch her skin.

She stammered her words as she attempted to speak. “I was… just-“

She felt a tendril slowly wrapping itself around her neck. She wanted to scream, but she knew it would do no good. She knew that there was nopony in the world, in the cosmos, who could save her from her master. She slowly turned around as the tendril pulled towards the dark alleyway behind her. There, she was met with two yellow eyes. There were no pupils to be found, just shining yellow eyes that seem to be caught ablaze. They flashed a little brighter as the deep voice spoke again.

“You are no longer a part of that life,” her master roared. “You gave that up years ago.” She looked around, hoping to see another pony, but they just wandered on by, as if they couldn’t see nor hear what was going on. She didn’t know why she was looking. Nopony ever saw the master unless he wanted them to.

She slowly lowered her head, glancing away from the eyes. Another tendril appeared from the shadows, tilting Sapphire’s head gently back towards the pair of eyes. “You made the mistake of freeing her from her prison. Need I remind you of your punishment, which you have yet to receive?”

The tendril around her neck started to dig into her flesh, traveling up to her brain. She screeched in agony as if somepony had stuck her brain in a blender while it was still inside her skull. She toppled to the floor, the tendril still stuck in the back of her neck. She squirmed and screamed as the pain continued. She opened her eyes to see the yellow eyes, still glaring. They didn’t look pleased, angry, or spiteful. There was almost no way to tell what those eyes felt. They were like looking into a void. Lifeless and empty.

She felt the pain intensify as she let out another shriek. Finally, the tendril pulled itself out of her skin, leaving no trace that it was ever there in the first place. She gasped as her heavy breathing filled the air. She took a moment and took a look into the alleyway. There were ponies passing by, as if they had heard or seen nothing that had just happened to her. Tears started to envelop her eyes and began to swim down her face. She turned back to the pair of empty eyes. “I am sorry, master. I will not fail you again.” She whimpered.

“Do not think that your punishment is over so quickly,” the voice stated. Sapphire’s eyes widened as she heard those words. “That was just a sample of what is to come.” Sapphire lowered her head, as the tears continued to stream down her face. “Now, it is time for you to earn your keep. And for your failure, the price goes up.”

Sapphire opened her eyes as an object fell into her hooves .She looked down to the object to see a gun. Her master had asked her to do what he had always asked her. She was to earn her life, again. She picked up the gun and placed it into her saddlebag. She knew what she had to do. To keep her life, she needed to take another. She began to wander the streets, keeping her eyes peeled for her next ‘payment’.

Author's Notes:

Hey, guys. Wow, it has been a long time since I updated this. Anyway, if you guys want to leave a comment, be it good or bad, go right ahead. Let me know what you think

Also, a big thank you to Lunar Avenger (I don't know what he calls himself now, he changes his name monthly or so) and Invincible Iron Brony, who, again, helped with the proofreading. Big shout out to those two gentlemen.

I will also be attempting to push a chapter a month. So, hopefully, we will get more updates on this and other stories that I will be working on. Until then take care.