Our story begins in the slums of Sandstone City; captial city of the mighty country of Saddle Arabia, where the young filly, Heavenly Quill, lives. At his current age of five years, Quill was a small horse with a mane as white as the heavens , and a coat colored a faded shade of green. His eyes, from birth to his current age, always looked young, and twinkled with innocence; the baby blue color with milky white pupils playing a major part in it. Sadly, his family were from the poorest of the lower class. Each and every day being a struggle for survival, and every bit they earned; a blessing. Even through their constant struggles, however, they never once let it stop them from living as happily as a family could be.

At the local market, Quill was busy shopping with his mother; a mare named Soft Breeze. Her coat was a light blue color. Almost blending with the early noon sky, and her eyes were light brown, close in resemblance to the color of the sands of the deserts that surrounded the large city. His father, the local blacksmith, was busy at work that day, keeping him from shopping with his beloved family. It was not a pretty job, but to him, it was the best way for him to provide for his family, so he rejoiced in it. Given the other options that would've given him less time to spend with his family.

Young Quill looked to his mother, and gave her a wide smile. Then, while bouncing up and down to get her attention, he asked, “ Mama! Mama! Can we get a bunch of apples today? The merchant said that these ones came from an apple farm in Equestria!" He then gave the apples another look, before turning back to his mother. "And they look sooo good!”

Quill’s mother smiled softly, and giggled at her son's request. “Of course, Quill... but only a few okay? We're... a little tight on bits this month, and still have yet to pay the rent." She then went to the merchant, and checked the prices. "Huh... quite an honest price! Four bits for a whole bag? I'd say this one's the best deal, this time!" Then, after going through her money pouch, she payed him the four bits for the bag of apples.

The merchant cast a glance at the small child who eyed the apples with much anticipation, and chuckled. Then he slowly slid an apple to the hyper child with a wink. Quill looked up at him, and smiled, before thanking him for his generosity; accepting the apple he was offered in the process. With a smile, Quill then started munching down on the apple with full bites.

Soft Breeze gave the merchant a thankful smile before leading Quill along through the marketplace. There, Quill and his mother spent most of the day shopping for food and other assorted pleasantries. Sooner than they expected, Celestia's mighty sun started to lower beyond the horizon, with her moon soon to rise on the opposite direction of the sky.

Eventually, the two had gone home to their small two-bedroom house within the southern half of the slums.

The second they walked through the door, they were greeted by a tall stallion with dark green fur. He stood a whole six feet, two inches high, and the muscles that his arms held gave him an intimidating appearance... that is, until one would see the same innocent blue eyes that his son had.

With a loud, hearty chuckle, he quickly embraced his wife and son in a warm hug, as he spoke, "Ha ha! For once, I've managed to beat both of you home!" He then let them go and, sighed out of exhaustion.

Regaining her composure, Soft Breeze gave a simple laugh at her husband's joyful mood. "I take it you've had a busy day today, Cold Steel?"

With a nod, the father, now known as Cold Steel, replied, "More than that, my dear! In fact, I had to forge a massive sword for some Minotaur who placed the order on express delivery, so I couldn't even take a break for lunch! Plus, it was supposed to be a replica for another one... and let me tell ya... Gryphonian Steel is NOT to be taken lightly when it comes to sturdiness!" Then he stretched his arms, and added, "I think I might have to hit the hay right after dinner tonight, with how exhausted I am!"

Soft Breeze gave him a soft kiss on the cheek, and then chuckled once more. "No worries, my love! At least you're home now... and that's all that matters.

Then she clapped her hands excitedly, before looking back and forth between her son and her husband. Now, then! I'll be starting on dinner now, so you both can have your bonding time!" With that, she hurried off to the small room on the opposite side of the entrance; towards the left of the front door. Though it was the same color as every other room in the house; sandstone bricks for walls, and sandstone slabs for floors, they still called it a kitchen.

Cold Steel turned to his son, and brushed his mane with his left hand. "Well, now! You're getting much bigger now, my son! Pretty soon you'll be taller than your old man!" he stated with a hearty chuckle. Quill smiled at his dad's compliment, and hugged his left leg. "Daddy! One day, when I get older, I want to work with you at the Smithy, so I can be as big and strong as you!” Quill declared to his loving father who, in turn, patted him on the head again with a chuckle.

"I was hoping you’d want to do bigger things than that, but... if thats your dream, then I'd be MORE than happy to teach you everything I know!" Then he rubbed his chin in thought, before snapping his right hand, and pointing up. "Hey! You know what? How about tomorrow, you can come with me to the Smithy, and I can teach you a few things, like how to work the Anvil!"

The young stallion’s eyes lit up at that statement. "R... really? You... you'd allow me to go work with you tomorrow?!"

Cold Steel gave his son a closed-eyed thumbs up with a wide smile. "Sure thing, lad! Hay, I'll even let you keep your first creation! Maybe something you can use to inspire the NEXT generation!" Then he added, "And in no time at all, you'll be working Gryphonian Steel like it was mere Copper!"

Quill stood there speechlessly for a moment, until his slack jaw formed a huge smile. Then, in a single moment, he jumped up to his father's shoulders, and squeezed him in a tight hug. "THANK YOU, DADDY! YOU'RE THE BESTEST FATHER IN THE WORLD!" Then, once they broke from the hug, the two of them sat at the table, while Cold listened to his son talking about his plans for the next day. "Why, it'll be just you and me! I can be working the Anvil, while you can work the forge!” He then let out an excited laugh, as he clapped his hands in anticipation. "Tomorrow will be the BEST day of my life!"

Cold steel gave his son a warm smile, and nodded his head. "And the days will only be getting better! Now, then! Why don't you quickly write down what you have planned, while your mother and I get settled in? Then, we can talk about tomorrow over dinner!" The he winked at his son, and added, "After all... the failure to plan, is a plan to fail!"

With a wide smile, Quill nodded his head and quickly bolted off to his room; anticipating everything he and his father would do the following day. It wasn’t long, however, before his mother and father called him to dinner. With a smile, he turned from his writing desk, and called out, "Coming ,be there in a sec!" With that, he gently closed the notebook, and ran out of the carpet that served as his door. Then he quickly returned to the dining table, and sat back on his seat; across from his mother and father.

Quill smiled when he saw his favorite meal resting in front of him; beckoning his taste buds to allow the amazing source of the fragrance into his system.

There, sitting directly in front of him in a wooden bowl, was a steaming hot carrot stew with one of the apples that they received from the market as a side. He licked his lips and, before anyone else could ask if it was enough to satisfy, started to gobble the entirety of his food at once.

His parents chuckled at his appetite, and were about to join him to quench their own, before a loud knock could be heard from the living room door. Cold steel sighed, and placed his spoon on the table again. "Don't worry, dear. I'll get it this time! You relax and eat with Quill."

She nodded her head, and then replied, "Of course, dear! Hurry back!"

Cold nodded his head, and stepped past the opening between the dining area and the living room. As soon as he entered the living room, however, he sighed, and then muttered beneath his breath, "Why do they ALWAYS come when we're eating?" He shook his head before opening the door.

At that moment, time itself appeared to slow down, as a loud bang was heard throughout the entire slum of a neighborhood. From inside the living room of the small house, a loud thump soon followed. Then, a deep masculine voice was heard... laughing.

Soft breeze quickly turned to Quill, and whispered, "Stay in the kitchen, Quill! Don't move an inch!" Then, in a flash, she ran into the living room, and gasped in horror.

Shortly after her gasp, she let out a loud scream; echoing through the entire house; possibly even through the neighbors' houses. Quill, now struck with sheer terror for his mother, bolted out of the dining area, and into the living room, where his eyes widened and his stomach churned at the sight that lay before him. A behemoth of a Minotaur; standing at at least six foot seven, was there in the doorway; holding with him, a smoking flintlock pistol. On the ground, lying face-down in a pool of blood, was his father, who had a gaping hole that went straight through the center of his forehead.

"FATHER!" Quill screamed at the top of his lungs, before rushing towards his fallen father... or rather, he tried to, before his mother tightly held him back.

"P-please... t-t-take whatever you w-want, but... j-just don’t hurt us!” his mother stuttered; her eyes wet with tears for her now dead husband.

The Minotaur, instead, merely gave them another one of his menacing laughs, before aiming the pistol at the mother, instead. "No..." His pistol pointed towards Quill. "YOU are going to go to bed, little brat," Then he pointed it at Soft Breeze, and added, "and YOU'RE going to give me all of your valuables, or you'll BOTH meet the same fate as THIS dead lump of garbage!" He then kicked Cold Steel’s corpse; rolling it over to allow them to see the surprised and scared look on his lifeless face.

Soft Breeze, fearing for hers and Quill’s life, pulled Quill into her room, and told him to stay where he was. "Don’t leave this spot!" she ordered; showing a little hesitation in her voice. "And don't you worry! No matter what you hear, Mama will be back soon... okay, sweety?" He weakly nodded his head, before she leaned up and kissed him on the forehead. "And never forget... that I love you... and always will." With one last smile, she hurriedly gathered whatever little possessions she and Steel had owned, and ran back to the living room
.

Once she handed it all to the Minotaur, he looked through it, and sighed. "Sorry, lass... THIS isn’t enough to save two lives." Then, with an annoyed expression, he fired two shots into the mare’s chest.

In a blood-gargled; silenced tone, she let out a horrible scream, and fell to the ground beside her husband.

Quill; who worriedly ignored his mother’s words, quickly ran back into the living room, and froze when he saw his mother on the floor; bleeding out. “ M-mama?! Mama! MAMA!” He quickly rushed to her side, only for the Minotaur to grab him by the back of the neck of his shirt before he could even reach her. Then, with a slight grunt of disappointment, he said, "Huh. You aren't even worth killing." In a swift motion, he threw Quill to the ground, while the helpless child gasped for air for his lungs; winded by the impact of the landing. Then he worriedly looked the Minotaur in the eyes; his tears now covering his entire face, with small hints of blood where his face was scratched by the surface of the sandstone floor.

Then the Minotaur smirked, before saying, "Remember the name Black Thorn, kid... 'cause if I see you again, it’ll be the last name you ever hear." With that, the giant Minotaur turned around, and stepped out of the house.

Quill looked to his mother; who weakly placed her hand on his cheek. Then she coughed up blood, but managed to choke out her last words; the most important ones she would ever say. "son... r-remember... remember who y-you... are... and... and remember, that... that I... l-love... you... always..."

As those final words were made, her voice was already beginning to shrink closer to whispers, until the light in her eyes went out. Then the hand she had on Quill's cheeks slowly fell to the floor; causing his eyes to widen in sheer terror. "M-ma? Mama?..." He weakly choked through his tears, before lifting himself up to his knees; hugging the fallen bodies of his parents. For the next hour that night, he relentlessly cried over them, as several neighbors gathered around the small house; shocked at what they found. Finally, the Saddle Arabian guards arrived; one a Unicorn mare, and the other one, a Horse stallion. When the stallion tried to pry Quill from his parents' bodies, he was met with too much resistance. "NO! MAMA! PAPA! WAKE UP! DON'T LET THEM TAKE ME AWAY! MAMA! PAPAAAA!" He screamed through his tears, until he broke free from the stallion's grasp; running towards his parents.

Before he could reach them, however, he felt lighter than before, as he found himself levitated by the magic of the Unicorn, who looked at the Stallion with a saddened look in her eyes. With a nod from the stallion, the Unicorn turned to Quill, and lifted her right pointing over his forehead; engulfing it in a green aura. Then she said, "I'm sorry... it isn't safe for you here, anymore..." With that, she gently placed her finger on his forehead, silencing his cries, before his eyes closed. In the matter of mere seconds, he started breathing heavily in a deep sleep. The mare then picked him up and quickly rushed him out of the house; the stallion remaining there to investigate the scene before him.

Author's Notes:

I'd like to thank Justin Daniels for building the world and giving me the idea to become a writer on him. and I also thank him for proofreading and editing. give his stories a read!