A snippet a day.

Subject: A snippet a day. Sat Aug 10, 2013 8:50 am

Snippet 1: Habits

Ponies were creatures of routine, Elegance knew. Every morning, she followed the same routine of tea, toast, and a piece of fruit, but it went deeper than that.

She knew that she started boiling the water, then she worked on the toast, ate the fruit whilst waiting, ate the toast when it was done, then poured the water into the...

Always the same order, every morning. She could do it in her sleep. Some days, the ones that followed late nights, it felt that she was.

She tried to do something different, once. It ended with burnt toast, cold tea and a forgotten apple. It was true when they said it was easier to make a habit than to break it.

This was something that she used to her advantage. Every evening, before she went to bed, she drew something she saw that day. She had developed a precise magical artistic technique from doing so, the finest among her acquaintances.

But to be fair, that idea was stolen from her older brother who made it a point to write down something he learned that day every day before he went to bed.

Intel wanted to develop the habit of learning.

---

And so, I want to develop a habit of writing. Every day, I shall try to type something down and put it in this thread. It might not have to do with ponies, but I think I'll be using my OCs regularly. If any of you guys want to try the same thing, or just want to post random snippets, go ahead.

After all, this is a place to develop.

Subject: Re: A snippet a day. Sun Aug 11, 2013 5:22 am

Snippet 2: Heroes

Thinking back on it, she didn't really like heroes.

That is to say, though she greatly respected those that went above and beyond the call of duty, doing something that was greatly admirable in dark times...well, that was it wasn't it? The greatest heroes were born in the darkest of times.

The fact that someone like her was being held in such esteem said more about the failings of the world than any of her virtues, of which they were few and far between.

A world of darkness needed heroes to live with itself, she supposed. A hero wasn't one man standing up for good, it was everyone else throwing away decency.

Subject: Re: A snippet a day. Mon Aug 12, 2013 7:55 am

Snippet 3: Abort, retry, fail?

She didn't mean to be facing sunrise, half her face in the dirt. She was too tired, too exhausted to have conciously made any decision that poetic. Reaching into her robes, she pulled her book of reflections, the book that gave her life purpose for so long, and hurled it at the offending sun with the little strength her arm had left.

"I give up," she muttered, then louder, "I GIVE UP!" before turning fully face down on the ground, weeping tears that hadn't been shed for years. She had failed, completely and utterly. Had failed Arinna, Thorn...Risely most of all. Everyone that had put their hope and trust in her, she'd failed.

"But that was the problem, wasn't it?"

The voice was the most beautiful sound Paradise had ever heard, and even though she had never heard it before, Paradise somehow knew who it belonged to. Tilting her head, she blearily looked at a visage that took her breath away. A heavenly figure, with a stature greater than any mortal, hair radiant and features pure. It could have only been a goddess before her, holding the book Paradise had discarded.

"You may stand," she said.

Paradise's limbs were suddenly filled with energy as she scrambled to her feet. When the girl was standing, the goddess held out her book to her.

Paradise didn't take it. "Why? Where were you when Thorn died? Why did he have to die? I trusted you-"

"You did not."

Paradise was shocked at the harsh rebuttal, almost swallowing her tongue. The goddess continued.

"Thorn did not have faith in me, or any of the angels. Instead, he worshipped you. And you let him. You have been letting a lot of people worship you, so much so that you are starting to believe yourself divine."

Paradise flushed with anger. "I am not! I would never-"

"'Angel' is just another word for 'messenger', young one. And you have been a messenger of hope for all of these young men who are dying before their time."

The goddess looked at Paradise with a solemn expression.

"You are a good person, Paradise," she said, "But you must realise that you are only a person. You can't hold the whole world on your shoulders. You can't save everyone."

"But I can try!" Paradise yelled, "I can't not try!"

The goddess looked even more sad.

"Then you must be prepared to be disappointed."

Subject: Re: A snippet a day. Tue Aug 13, 2013 6:08 am

Snippet 4: Being the straight man sucks.

"What."

I heard and understood every word he said. Even the order in which he put them in made perfect grammatical sense. It was just the idea they presented was just so ludicrous that I felt there just had to have been a serious error somewhere.

"We made a bet," Ferdinand repeated, "That I could get a girlfriend before she could get a boyfriend."

My forefinger and thumb pinched the bridge of my nose to alleviate the sudden onslaught of headaches that were assaulting my skull.

"Ignoring the fact that the bet seems to ripped out of some trite and overdone romantic comedy, you do know that it is considerably easier for a girl to get a guy to go out with her than vice versa?"

What I did not say was 'oh why don't you two make out already, you've been at each other's throats for years.'

Ferdinand snorted. "A date hardly equals a steady relationship. Her demanding personality would turn off anybody at first meeting."

"And obviously a romantic soul like you would be able to woo any girl's heart."

"I didn't go to you to be mocked."

"Oh? Who do you usually get?"

"Ha. No. I came to you to help me."

My hand fell to my side as I simply stared at him.

"What."

"Well, you do have experience in these-"

"One relationship. One. That completely collapsed. In flames. Like a trainwreck."

Ferdinand held up his hands in defence. "Well, it lasted longer than most of the relationships at this school."

Subject: Re: A snippet a day. Wed Aug 14, 2013 5:43 am

Snippet 5: True, true friends.

Those that didn't know Elegance well would most likely think that because of her spiky personality, she didn't have any friends beyond the casual acquaintance. This wasn't a bad assumption taking into account the lady's opinion on sentimentality and overly dominant work ethic, but it was wrong all the same.

Young ladies of Canterlot were heavily encouraged to form alliances as they were taught from a very early age that loners did not readily survive in the complex environment of high society. It was in many senses like a coral reef. The inhabitants would likely not survive the open waters or the pounding surf, yet through a mixture of bright colours and subtle poisons could make an outsider very uncomfortable if they happend stray to close. One of the keys of survival? Make friends.

It was a wonder that Twilight Sparkle hadn't known this until Princess Celestia had shoved it down her throat, but being the personal protege of the highest authority in the land led to a sheltered life.

Not having the benefit of a Princess to shield her from the dangers of high society, Elegance had to form friendships, and close ones at that. Those that had made the assumption she didn't have anything of the sort may then wonder what sort of ponies would be up to her undoubtedly high standards. They would probably be surprised a second time if they met them.

Silk was probably the most likely of her friends. The two ladies had bonded over artistic concerns, and were responsible for the great spontaneous decorating of the Design Manor of which they were praised for their sense of aesthetics, but scolded for not telling anyone beforehand. Silk had aspirations for interior design which was a great compliment to Elegance's architectual inclinations.

Patience was a bit more subtle. Maybe it was the fact that one need a lot of her namesake to put up with Elegance's put downs, or maybe it was the fact that she always had a sharp and witty response to disarm any criticism pointed her way. At a glance, she appeared to be a bookworm, nose in a text whereever she went. Her friends knew better, and saw that she was paying a lot more attention to the ones around her than anything that might be in the tome she held.

Flavia was the most surprising of all, especially since it was her that Elegance was closest to. She had neither Silk's eye for beauty, nor Patience's skill at repartee. She was a walking disaster, and no one knew exactly why Elegance was so fond of her, except for the small group.

Subject: Re: A snippet a day. Thu Aug 15, 2013 1:42 am

Snippet 6: Sex

Even worse was the fact it was of those topics, the ones where it was all too easy to offend somepony for one convoluted reason or another and it was these topics you couldn't really talk past the mess that was etiquette

AN: Spoilered for somewhat sensitive matters, especially for some folks on this site. It should be highly noted that the opinions of my characters do not necessarily reflect mine (thankfully, else I'd be somewhat split minded).

Snippet:

Subject: Re: A snippet a day. Fri Aug 16, 2013 2:32 am

Snippet 7: Away

All in all, Paradise felt better than she thought she would. It wasn't exactly painful, rather everything that can be considered actual feeling was slowly retreating from her. Weakly, she pulled the sheets to cover her up more. No doubt she'd feel colder soon.

But not yet, she thought, as she saw the shadowy apparition form next to her bed. Even with her senses dulling rapidly, she recognised who it was.

"Nightblessed," she said, "A pleasure to have your company. I apologise that I am not whole enough to be a gracious host." The venerable Luna snorted in response.

"Should a human as old and frail as you are use so many syllables?" Rosella replied. A lifetime of conversation was enough for the Nightblessed to know that Paradise used as many syllables as she damn pleased.

"I believe that Arinna," the Dayblessed coughed, "Arinna will find it in her heart to forgive me for my speech. The answer's no, by the way."

A pair of eyebrows were raised in response. "I don't think there was a question."

Paradise attempted a chuckle. "Well, the answer's still no. I will not become a Lunae. A child of Arinna I have always been, and a child of Arinna I shall remain. I don't recall you offering this to other Dayblessed."

Because you were the only Dayblessed that would make a good Lunae, Rosella wanted to say. She still remembered hearing about the first time she heard about her, she of the unmerciful feet, managing to outfox a Lunae at night. She remembered being surprised at the news that some ordained maiden of Arinna managed to install herself as Dayblessed in what was still a hostile nation using no force but her will. She remembered when Laska almost fell to pieces and the Dayblessed was one of the only things that was holding it together.

But most of all, she remembered Paradise as a good friend, whose stubborness would lead to her being taken away from this world far too soon.

She said none of this. She said nothing at all, merely smiling and nodding. Paradise looked at her, smile fading a little in concern.

"Withouth death, life is meaningless," the Dayblessed said, "'ella, this is the way I want to go. In my bed, on my terms. If I was Lunae, the only way I can die is if someone rips life from me. I don't want that." The bedridden avatar of Arinna reached out to her shadowy counterpart and clasped her hand.

"Your life is still worth so much more than this," the Nightblessed whispered.

"Maybe. How did that song go? 'Sunrise doesn't last all morning, a cloudburst doesn't last all day."

"All things must pass," Rosella said, smiling to keep back the tears.

Paradise closed her eyes. "All things must fade-"

Subject: Re: A snippet a day. Sat Aug 17, 2013 6:45 am

Snippet 8: For God is on our side.

"So Paradise," the stern voice said, "Why are we marching?"

The young girl was startled out of her reverie, and blinked at her mentor. Another Risely test. As if she wasn't tired enough from walking all day.

"We're trying to retake the holy city, aren't we?" Paradise attempted, knowing that Risely would probably want more from her.

The priest clicked his tongue, confirming Paradise's suspicions. She drew breath.

"We're trying to reinstall a Dayblessed-"

"The Dayblessed, young one."

"The Dayblessed in the City of Sunrise. Ever since the Alheims executed the last one 100 years ago."

Risely sighed. "That will have to do."

Ergh, not sober enough to write something of decent length. Weekends, man. Bleargh.

Subject: Re: A snippet a day. Sun Aug 18, 2013 7:38 am

Snippet 9...9...9...9...9

"No," Patience said patiently, "I wanted a rebuttal, not a thesis on what you think the answer to life, the universe and everything is."

Elegance flushed with anger. "I think it's just important to point out-"

"I'm sorry, were you still going?" Patience smirked, "Seriously, Ellie. This isn't some opera or play, this is conversation. Monologues just make you seem pretentious. Any point you had was lost after the first minute of your speech."

It was always a bit of a problem with arty types like Elegance. Get them talking on a topic that interested them and they would gasbag on it for minutes on end. Come to think of it, it was the same with science types, too. Sadly, the idea that brevity is wit was something that was lost on many a pony.

Patience had to live up to her namesake whenever one of her friends decided to chatter so on one of the things that interested them. Ellie was especially bad, packing so much meaning into every little detail that most of it would not be even considered. And for those that would consider it? They'd probably come up with their own outlandish theory that Elegance wouldn't have even dreamed of. And those theories would say more about the ponies who made them rather than the thing they examined.

Subject: Re: A snippet a day. Mon Aug 19, 2013 5:54 am

Snippet 10: Fear of Dragons

The key to dragon slaying was patience.

Sure, the image of the brave knight engaging the big scaly things in firey combat was a popular one, but attemping such a feat usually ended in a firey death. What you had to do was out wait them.

Given that these were centuries old beasts you were talking about, you needed a lot of patience. The sheer amount of waiting that was involved in dragon slaying made it an incredibly boring affair, so much so that some would be dragon slayers simply gave up and risked being eaten just to get it over with.

Dragon slaying was not a popular job, and it had become a dead art with both laws treating it as murder and the much more rewarding vocation of hoard stealing (still illegal, but very profitable). Dragons nowadays slumbered freely in the knowledge that if anypony had objection that the response would be to wake them up and ask them to move.

Loyal was not a pony that did the whole 'ask to move' business. She was also a mare that had lots of time on her hooves. The dragon initially thought of her as a hoard robber, albeit a bad one, and simply scared her off. A week later, the dragon had decided that she made up for utter inability not to disturb a sleeping dragon with bloody persistence.

It was a knife that almost pierced her throat that changed the dragon's mind.

Subject: Re: A snippet a day. Tue Aug 20, 2013 2:48 am

Snippet 11: Something Loyal

Having someone like Loyal as a role model was a dangerous action to take, but Samantha had little choice. Oh, her adoptive mother loved her as much as a blood parent would, if not more. It was simply the fact that Loyal was not a good person. In fact, it would not be lying to call her evil.

To put it simply, she was a professional murderer.

Other than the required disregard for the sanctity of life her mother needed to do her job, their relationship was similar to any relationship between child and working single parent. Samantha was trusted to be responsible when her mother was otherwise preoccupied, and the girl tried her best to live up to that trust. On other hand, she was pretty sure that the various misadventures sneaking about and breaking into places that she shouldn't enter needn't be retold. Samantha had the sneaking suspicion that Loyal already knew of them, and was secretly approving. If Samantha confessed to them, then her mother would almost be forced to disapprove, like any responsible parent. But no responsible parent would leave lockpicks and blackjacks lying about where a certain curious girl could lay her hands on and put to use. Certainly, no responsible parent would idly remark about where to go if a person of smaller stature wanted to learn how to put down anyone they choose for a bargain price.

But even Loyal refused to let her work enter Samantha's life. Her daughter could balance on the line of the law as much as she wished, but she was not going into those dark alleyways.

Subject: Re: A snippet a day. Wed Aug 21, 2013 4:04 am

Snippet 12: Alternate power source.

If there was a guide to dealing with the Research Department of Canterlot, Princess Celestia would think the phrase, 'at this point, just smile and nod', or something similar would appear repeatedly. It was an action she had mastered when dealing with the rants of particularly uptight nobles, though the ponies of the research department were just so blindedly enthusiastic about what they did, it was a little bit of a pity she couldn't share this enthusiasm.

The topic for today was energy. Last time this was the topic, the research department had talked about providing all of Canterlot's electrical needs. For free.

"No cost at all?" the Princess had asked warily, trying to prod out any traps of this seemingly great deal.

"Oh, yes," was the reply, "You see, our Intel Magical Dampeners have stored up so much excess magical energy from our tests, we need somewhere to use it up. Keeping too much magical energy is very dangerous, you see."

And that had been that. Celestia was thankful that her research department had both no malicious intent and the political savvy of a goldfish. If it weren't for the fact that the Department was intrinsically linked to the School of Gifted Unicorns and thus the schooling of the nobles, the Department would have been ripped apart and hung to dry. But that was better than a department that played around with the fabric of reality as if it were a foal's toy getting political ambitions.

When Celestia tried to remind them of their place by idly bringing up the fact that she controlled the sun, the department had responded, with no malice at all, "About that! We were thinking about emulating that..."

Political savvy of a goldfish. A particularly inept goldfish.

Today, they were talking about emotional power. "You know how love and friendship can generate magical energy?" the representative was excitedly babbling, "The Parapsychological Department was thinking of a device that can harness other emotions too..."

Smile and nod. Don't show your concern over the possible threats wielding an entire emotional spectrum can present.

"And here's what we came up with!" With a flourish, a strange device was revealed on a table before her. Princess Celestia frowned at it.

"It's a lantern."

"Yes."

"It's lime green."

"A bit of an oddity, I admit, but I assure you we are working on different colours. Yellow, perhaps."

Subject: Re: A snippet a day. Thu Aug 22, 2013 7:20 am

Snippet 13: Argh, damn, damn, damn!

This might have been the first day I didn't write. I'm not in the right mind at the moment, and I'm feeling slightly terrible. Do not expect quality.

In fact, as I type this, I feel like giving up.

Typical. My handler can't even keep up a decent routine.

Huh?

Now, friend Elegance, be nice. He has a bit of a day, after all.

Bah. My handler should be made of sterner stuff than that. He's just being lazy.

Ooh! Please you don't call me lazy/ cause you are dada crazy~

Who let the crazy toymaker in here? And what in the world is she singing?

Like hell am I going to type out Warm's rants.

Oh, thank Celestia. Wait. You're just using this as a-

And that's enough from you, young lady.

I have restrained Lady Elegance, handler, is there anything else?

No, thank you Nameless. That'll be fine.

Subject: Re: A snippet a day. Sat Aug 24, 2013 6:31 am

Snippet 14

I am thinking of an Empire, like so many of its kind, being the bastion and exemplar of civilisation, slowly dying to both its own corruption and the wilderness outside.

The Empire consists of seven kingdoms, three Elf, three Drow, and one Man, and seven kings. The Emperor of the State is elected, but only from the Elf and Drow kingdoms (as they refuse to ruled by an inferior race). Dwarves do not care for petty politics, instead making factories and trade ports. Instead of Kingdoms, dwarves have corporations. Halflings are a nomad race, travelling all over in caravans and trading with all those who don't fear retribution from the Elves and Drow who view them as vermin. Orcs are definitely vermin, though and they are to be killed on sight.

However, things are about to go terribly, terribly wrong.

Subject: Re: A snippet a day. Sun Aug 25, 2013 6:23 am

Snippet 15: A Game of Civ

The following is a game of Civ 4. I chose 4 as it is the one I am most familiar with, even today.

Intelligent has founded Research Site 1!

Elegance has founded Canterlot!

Paradise has founded Orient!

Something has founded Roam!

Warm has founded Ankh-Morpork!

Warm has founded Del!

Paradise has founded Buddhism!

Paradise converts to Buddhism!

Elegance has completed Stonehenge!

Intelligent has founded Research Site 2!

Something has founded Antium!

Elegance has founded Hinduism!

Elegance converts to Hinduism!

Elegance adopts Slavery!

Something adopts Slavery!

Elegance has completed the Pyramids!

Elegance has completed the Oracle!

Intelligent has founded Confucianism!

Intelligent converts to Confucianism!

Paradise has founded Judaism!

Paradise adopts Organised Religion!

Something has declared war on Warm!

Del has been captured by Something!

Elegance has built the Hanging Gardens!

Elegance has built the Colossus of Rhodes!

...

Warm has been destroyed by Something!

Paradise has built the Apostolic Palace!

Ele: Nooo!

Elegance has thrown a hissy fit over not getting a wonder!

Intelligent has progressed to the modern era!

Intel: Man, you guys are behind.

Ele: How did you get that far? It's only 50 AD

Intelligent has completed the Manehatten Project!

Elegance has declared war on Intelligent!

Something has declared war on Intelligent!

Intel: Uh oh.

Intelligent has been destroyed!

Ele: That's a very big army you have, Something.

Loyal: All the better to destroy you with, my dear.

Ele: OH, F-

Something has declared war on Elegance!

Paradise has won a Religious Victory!

Paradise: gg

Subject: Re: A snippet a day. Mon Aug 26, 2013 3:20 am

Snippet 16: What is love?

Love is both the greatest and most terrible of emotions, the motivator of all things under the sun.

Love is a harlot, dancing with a million, whoring herself to so many interpretations.

Love is a confusing emotion, blurring thought and distracting logic.

Love?

Team Coordinator Posts : 2471 Join date : 2011-11-21

I just want to post here to say that this is very interesting and I look forward to seeing more. I may contribute as well. We shall see!

Team Coordinator Posts : 2471 Join date : 2011-11-21

Snippet 1: Shala

Shala stared at the quill before her. The letter still drying. It was all written out. Everything about her emotions and the situation she was in to her begging and pleas for help. He said he would come for her. He said he would help her. She knew he would. She knew that he hurt, and that any hurt she felt would be aided. That somehow it would be penance for his crime.

She knew that if she really wanted to, she could go to him, live out her days getting into the same trouble he did. He probably wouldn't like that. It was dangerous. But something inside her told her it was best to part ways. That part of her got on the train and rode to Ponyville and made friends. That part of her took the letter and threw it into the trash, crumbled into a ball.

Her eyes stared at the crumpled ruins, a war raging in her mind. It was a wonder how she could tolerate herself so much for so long and maintain such a high sense of self preservation. Other than alcohol that is.

You idiot! We could be so much better off! You say I'm bad when you are the one setting us up to fail!

"No. That's not the kind of pony we are...We need to deal with it ourselves. I can't...use crutches anymore. Mother would-"

Mother is dead! Auugh! Stop that! That damn ticking! Get out of my head and let me drink somethign!

"And what? Drown me out some more? Stop making such a fuss about-"

ITS NOT A FUSS! I got us out of that room alive didn't I? We survived on the streets and with the lowlifes because of me. You couldn't do any of that. You wanted to go back. You wanted to stay and die.

"...We could have saved her....But now we are slowly dying....Its time..."

Time for- Oh, very funny. What now? You going to make me 'dissapear'?

"..I still need you...But you need to stop taking control.....Its time we saw Intel..."

Pfft...Like he is going to help us anymore. You know that he has trouble about him. He is going to hurt you in the end. Especially with that sister of hers.

"I have to try...I have to. I love him. And he has a brilliance to him....He might know something about..."

...So you are trying to get rid of me aren't you?

"....We both have something to gain by learning about our talent more thoroughly."

Cute. But you know your only going to screw things up even more. And I am not going to let you just whisk me away. You think you can simply undo your little time collision you had at your mothers death? You think you can just make me go away into whatever place you stole me from? After the YEARS you already wasted?

"....For all I know you could still be some psychological disturbance in me trying to justify your existence. You are everything I never wanted to be...."

"I'm alive. And you are a miserable wreck that needs to respect the pony that saved your life."

We could be so much better than this....Please. Let's try something different. Let's-

"Go make friends? Heh. Yeah right. That ended well." Shala opened a drawer and took out her vodka stash. "Oh good, you didn't throw it away."

Please...Lets go to Intel at least...We have to try something. At least for closure.

"Hmm...Fine. But I get to smack talk that sister of his if she is there."

And with that, she chugged down and drown out Ticky. After her sizable drink, she sauntered over to the trash, looking down at the letter she wrote. "Hmm...Maybe I'll hold off a bit longer. You are a bit of a stiff for an old outlaw pegasus." Shrugging, she threw herself onto her couch and promptly began to drown her brain in more ethanol.

Subject: Re: A snippet a day. Fri Aug 30, 2013 11:21 pm

Hello, friends.

As you have probably guessed, my name is Paradise Blossom, and it is a pleasure to meet you all. As my handler has not written a snippet for a while (he's been busy, or so he says) he's left today's snippet to me.

My handler, as you may not know, is atheist. I have no real problem with that. What I have a problem is with his belief that faith is a bad thing. And it is a belief, ironically.

The problem with his evidence above all views is that in this wild and complex world of ours we can't know everything and that our minds are limited on what we can see. If one only allows what is proven to be so to enter one's mind, then one's mind would be very empty indeed. There are things that can't be proven that we need to believe.

'Can not your eyes be tricked, and your ears fooled? Does not your senses lie to you? What, then, do we actually know about the world, if this is so?' Because of this we need to believe, we need to have faith, otherwise we truly are nothing.

My Faith is in goodness. Now, my handler would scoff at something that cannot be directly measured, something that isn't well defined and studied, but that is a tragic fault he possesses, for this goodness transcends us all.

Subject: Re: A snippet a day. Tue Oct 22, 2013 11:06 am

Snippet 19 Busy
https://soundcloud.com/dontpressenter/busy1

Subject: Re: A snippet a day. Fri Aug 15, 2014 8:14 am

Snippet 20: Immortality

She was old enough to know that nothing lasted forever. Not just by hearsay and conjecture, but to the extent that she felt the transience of everything she saw, heard and touched. Constantly.

Even with those that shared an angel's blood, she had no peer. And though many had expressed their intentions to match her longevity, she had never met one that could match action to word. She doubted that she would meet any that would.

Living as long as she, it wasn't matter of good health of body and mind. She had lost both multiple times, yet she still lived. And that was the rub. Most were either, she was neither. She a being not confined by physicality, psychology, she was more of an abstract concept, an idea.

And those took a long time to die.

Subject: Re: A snippet a day. Sun Feb 01, 2015 12:17 am

Snippet 21: Persistence

"Again."

Elegance grit her teeth, picked up her quill and started writing the passage in swift, careful strokes. Celestia herself had retired from her duties, and the scene was illuminated by a candle that was struggling to keep hold of its blackened dirty yellow life. Not that it mattered. There were plenty more where that candle came from.

"Again."

Fatigue battered the back of her eyes, as she fought what seemed to be a hopeless battle to concentrate on the words she was writing. The letters had become meaningless shapes, a sequence of quill strokes never ending. She had to succeed. The price of failure was a pitiless look of scorn, and cold, emotionless...

"Again."

How long has she been doing this? How many times had she written the verses of this poem lamenting on the fragility of life and the transience of everything?

"Again."

She didn't know.

"Again."

Finally, Elegance's captor, torturer, mother, held up the parchment that Elegance had written, and compared it with the passage in her book.

"Very well, Elegance. We are done for the day."

The filly welcomed sleep with open hooves.

Subject: Re: A snippet a day. Wed Jul 08, 2015 2:36 am

Snippet 22: A girl named Nameless

There were no clocks in her bedroom, but she knew she had woken far too late by the brightness of the streaks of sunlight that mocked her from the ceiling. Unlike the usual sort of bully, they derived no pleasure from a reaction, so ignoring them was pointless. Sad conclusion reached, she slid out of bed, only making a token effort to make it after her. Outside, she heard the faint sounds of a television. She really was late. Late enough not to even try to make up for it.

Loyal barely reacted to her entering the living room, her attention focused on the various tools she used for profession that were laid out on the kitchen table. Late as it was, it was still far too early in the morning for either of them to waste their breath on words they already knew. You're late. I'm not going to school today. I called the school telling them you were sick. I'm going out to the town. Keep safe for today, but you are definitely going to school for the rest of the week, and all next week.Toast was consumed, as was orange juice, then she retreated back into the bathroom.

Subject: Re: A snippet a day. Thu Jul 09, 2015 12:33 pm

Snippet 23: Threat Display

He looked over her and sighed. "There's a difference between there and here. That look you've got? Yeah, that'd work in the badlands. You've got 'I'm gonna kill you and all of your family' written all over. That's not going to work in Manehattan. If you want to work here, your mark really shouldn't even notice you're a threat until you've killed. He shouldn't even notice you exist."

Loyal tilted her head at him, not saying that it didn't matter what she did, if they were gonna die, they were gonna die. Her death sight had never failed her before.

He murmured in thought. "Have you ever thought of being a maid?"

"What?"

"No one ever pays attention to maids."

Subject: Re: A snippet a day. Sun Jul 12, 2015 12:42 pm

Snippet 24: Sugarcane

"Baby ballerina, hiding somewhere in the corner..."

"Loyal?"

The young woman's head snapped up, then gave a smirk to the frown of her companion. "Ye-es?"

"I asked about if you remembered your parents, then you just...faded out." He waved his hands. "Then started muttering. Singing, almost."

Loyal blinked. "Ah."

Turing away, she said. "All I remember is a lullaby," she said softly, then started singing again.

So grow tall, sugarcane,
Eat the soil, drink the rain,
But know they'll chase you if you play their little games,
So run, run fast, sugarcane...