As I woke up it felt as if there were a fog lifting over my head. My eyes sluggishly opened to the sight of a faded grey ceiling. I turned to the sight of the other foals of the orphanage sleeping peacefully. My forelegs felt like lead as I clambered out of bed. Stumbling through the hall of the orphanage I could sense the air of despair and hopelessness along with the scent of cleaners. As the ice cold air bit at my coat, I could see the haunting shadows down the long hallway I was walking through. Turning to look out a nearby window I saw that the stars of the night seemed livelier than ever before somehow.
How ironic, considering everything I had come to love died yesterday.
Breaking out of my stupor of negative thoughts I kept walking as I neared the bathroom. Silently opening the door I walked into the pungent odor of urine and trash. Funny how clean they keep the rest of the orphanage compared to the bathroom. Using my wing to grab a toothbrush and toothpaste from an old beaten up cabinet I wrinkled my nose at the thought that I had to share a toothbrush. Oh well, I guess I’ll come to get used to it. I turned on the faucet, dipped the toothbrush into the water then inserted it into my mouth and started brushing my teeth.
I stared at my reflection in the cracked dusty mirror. Wow I look nothing like I used to. My once shining royal purple coat was faded; my blue eyes once full of happiness were empty. The biggest change of all is that my mane which used to be long and flowing had a jagged short cut. It is still hard to believe that all of these changes happened in twenty-four hours. Finishing brushing my teeth I put away the toothbrush and toothpaste back into the cabinet. I gave the mirror one last glance before I walked out of the bathroom and walked the short journey to the cafeteria.
Huh I guessed I must have spent a lot longer staring at my reflection than I thought. The cafeteria is full to the brim. I scan over the mass of orphans looking for a spot where I can sit without being interrupted. I spot a secluded spot next to some potted plants in the left corner of the cafeteria, I start to trot over there when,
“Hey crybaby! Missing your parents already?”
An earth pony colt walks into my field of vision and blocks my route. I took time to scan over his features, his amber eyes are cruel and mean, but I can see deep pain in them. His coat is matted and looks like it used to be a sky blue before it faded to a bluish grey. He looks to be about 15 years old, roughly two years older than me. Fear starts to set in as I notice he is fairly muscular and could easily overpower me. I am weighing my options of escape when he yells,
“Are you not listening blank flank? I asked you a bucking question! Do. You. Miss. Your. Sniveling. Parents.” I stare at him before responding “No, they’re dead. That was a past life and an old me.”
His eyes widened before they fell back into their cruel gaze. “I don’t buy it little filly. Just yesterday I saw you bawling your eyes out yelling ‘Mommy, daddy please oh please come back, waaaaah’.” I winced at his mocking tone, looks like playing it tough was not the way to go. My eyes water for a brief moment when I saw him sneer at the crack in my emotional wall.
“Well, well looks like I’ve got a liar, how long are you going to deny how weak you are?” I let out a gasp as he shoved me to the ground. “Fess up little blank flank, or I’ll do a lot more than push you.”
I shot him a nasty glare and spit in his face. He flinched, wiped the spit off of his face, examined it for a second then laughed. “Oh that was classic, I didn’t think you had the guts in ya crybaby.”
My eyes widened and my mouth dropped open. Composing myself I picked my aching side off the floor and snorted, “What? Did you think every little filly here was going to be the same emotional wreck on their first day here?” His sneer fell and he looked at me with a wistful gaze.
“You wouldn’t believe how many foals I’ve seen break down here, you included.” Brushing some dust off my coat I gave him a look of indifference, “Yeah, well the waterworks ended there.” He gave me an odd look that I couldn’t explain and muttered, “I meant it when I said you were lying.”
I pretended not to hear that as trotted over to the cook and grabbed breakfast from a weathered old looking grey stallion who licked his lips when he saw me and looked at me like I was a piece of meat. Trotting away from that creep I scurried behind the potted plant, let my rump fall to the floor and sighed. “What the hay have I gotten myself into?”
Taking a bite out of my daisy sandwich I looked for the colt I just encountered. Apparently he was talking to some other orphans and they seemed pretty impressed. I wondered what they were talking about until the grey blue colt pointed at me and mentioned for me to come over. I froze; 'Crap crap crap crap crap' went through my head over and over again.
The walk towards this mysterious colt’s table seemed to last a lifetime. Every instinct in my body was yelling at me to get the buck away from here as fast as possible. When I reached the group they all stayed silent judging my reaction. 'Well,' I thought 'Let’s bucking wing it.'
“So you guys afraid to speak or what?” There was a brief period of silence before the entire table erupted with laughter. The colt from earlier was the first to stop laughing enough to get a response. “Hahah, man you’re a trip little filly, I’m Rough Callus. I never got your name earlier, care to share?”
Of course I did something stupid, I started laughing, “Rough Callus? That’s your name? Oh Celestia that’s bucking hilarious!” The table went silent. I coughed “Uh I mean, I’m StormSurfer nice to meet ya.” I gave a grin I hoped passed off as nonchalant, luckily the table burst into laughter and ‘Oh man did you see that? That was awesome!’
Callus sat next to me and exclaimed “Yo Storm, I thought you were just a little blank flank crybaby, I couldn’t have been more wrong!” I laughed “Hah! You bet, I guess I caught ya off guard.” Callus and I conversed as I thought 'Maybe this isn’t too bad' I couldn't have been more wrong when Callus leaned in and whispered.
“Just you wait ‘till you meet the rest of my group, we’re planning on breakin’ outta this hell hole."
