I sigh as I look at my text-book. This class was so boring. The teacher was droning on and on, as always.
I shifted as I tried to get my wings to stay still. I was aching to fly. Since they cancelled recesses, my wings had gotten no excessive exercise.
"Teacher! Dawn won't sit still!!" a whining voice called.
I turned around sharply to see my nemesis glaring at me from three seats down. She was the typical nemesis: The bully, the popular girl, the one that got on my nerves the most
Her name was Crystal Blossom and she was waving her hoof at the teacher, who looked back at her with mild concern.
She seemed too depressed to care to much, and it showed.
Most of the adults in the Empire looked depressed, and I have no idea why—its kind of scary.
"Dawn, will you please stop squirming and learn all about our great King's rule?" Ms. Sapphire asked.
I nodded meekly and she nodded and turned back to her lesson. I sighed as I got back to stretching my wings, more discreetly this time.
I didn't need a detention. I've already been busted three times this week, for stupid things naturally.
Ms. Sapphire sighed and looked at the clock, it looked like she was bored like the rest of us. I knew we all missed our old lessons, how to make crystal berry pies or how to tie crystals into things. Those were better days.
Things change. I know this from experience.
Even though I'm only nine and I don't have a cutie mark, I'm pretty mature for my age I guess. Ponies say it's because I'm adopted; but I don't care I think my family is the best in all of Equestria!
I sat quietly for the next thirty minutes. In that time I learned that the Empire didn't fall; It was saved; saved by King Sombra. I wonder how many times they're gonna drill that story into us before we all believe it, because I don't think it's working.
Ponies are talking of rebellion, at least they are where I live. We were was kicked out of our old, nice home and forced to live in the 'slums'. Well, the slums in the Empire aren't that bad, we have running water and plenty of food it's just when the old ruler ruled us, we had much better jobs and more freedom.
"Well... We're done for the day, class. Please hand in your text books and leave in an orderly fashion, one at a time." Ms. Sapphire droned as the bell rang.
I jumped—I had no idea it was time to leave. Usually I'm looking at the clock all day, waiting for something interesting to happen. Huh, weird how I didn't notice.
"Oh, and Dawn?"Ms. Sapphire asked, crossing my path as I tried to leave.
I smiled at her. She was very pretty, if her coat was her regular shine She was a unicorn, and her coat was now a dull blue-gray when it used to be bright baby blue.
Her mane is a gray color, now. It used to be pure white.
"Yes?" I replied, smiling up at her. She sighed as she tried to smile back.
"Try to not cause any more problems going home today, okay?" She replied with a sigh.
Wow, Ms. Sapphire was sighing a lot today.
Okay thatwas weird. Not that I don't cause trouble—I do. I guess she saw me steal that one berry from the berry stall last Monday. In my defense I didn't have anything for lunch and I was starving.
Yeah, that's a lame excuse.
It's not like I steal anything more than a berry. I'm not stupid: if I stole anything bigger than a shoe, I'd be caught and thrown in jail. I'm pretty fast though, so nopony sees me. At least I thought they didn't.
So I smiled innocently at her while she waited for a response. I shrugged and laughed nervously.
"Well.. You know how I love to eat healthy, right?" I misdirected.
Ms. Sapphire sighed and nodded for me to leave.
School seems to last forever. I leave the school gratefully and flap my wings freely. They are so stiff I could almost hear a crack.
I really want to fly right now, but I can't. I can only fly near my house or ponies will see me and report me.
Then I'll be in trouble. Wow, I'm getting into a lot of trouble lately.
I smile as my only friend walks out of the school. Her name is Cheery Flame and we've been friends since the first grade. She smiles at me when she sees me and trots over.
"Hey, Dawn!" Cheery calls as we hoof bump.
"Hey! Want to walk home with me again? It'll be fun!" I entice her.
Cheery seems to think about it for a while and she gives me a curious look.
"What're we gonna do?"
Cheery's a great friend, but sometimes she can be such a worry-wort. She nods, she mostly agrees with my adventurous attitude as long as she doesn't get into trouble.
"Nothing, I promise!" I say with a smile.
Cheery just sighs and nods. Cheery and I walk towards my street and she smiles at me.
Cheery is really nice, but sometimes she doesn't like to talk.
"So how did your day go?" Cheery asks, knowing my mom probably doesn't care. None of the adults do now.
"Oh, same old same old." I reply with a small grin.
It's nice that they put me in the same grade with such a great friend.
"Did you see Diamond's new saddlebag?" I start gossiping, trying to fill the now awkward silence.
Cheery just rolls her eyes, she's not fond of gossip like I am.
"What are they like?" She asks anyway.
"Bright blue with diamonds on them,duh." I reply, Cheery smiles at this—she knows I'm trying to be funny.
Cheery and I sigh as we finish laughing together, we're always laughing even when our world seems too dark to even crack a smile.
"So, how's your mom dealing with... you know," Cheery asks with a pitying look.
I sigh. She's talking about my dad being captured. Again. Mom says he deserved it: he broke the law. How he did this, I have no clue, and nopony will tell me.
"I think she's just mad about it now, I'm with her: we shouldn't be imprisoned!" I say with a triumphant smile.
I've been thinking of saying something like that for the past week, I just needed somepony to bring the topic up, this was perfect.
"Ssh!!! Will you keep your voice down! Sompony's gonna hear you!" Cheery hissed at me.
I smiled meekly again as we continued our walk.
Actually, behind my cocky attitude I'm afraid. Afraid for my dad and afraid that I'll get caught too. My mom says that if I don't shape up, they'll come after me next, but I think she's afraid of them too.
So I just smile bravely as we pass a few inspectors. They wear a drab gray uniform with scary looking spikes on their uniforms, mostly on their vests and hats. I'm not afraid of them, but I'm afraid of the King.
Some say that the King will punish you if you do anything happy, that's not true. Mostly what we get in trouble for is breaking the law and being too rowdy, since most crystal ponies like me love to party.
But that all stopped when he arrived and enslaved all the grown-ups.
I smile as I keep walking through the slums. The slums of the Empire was like my second home.
I know every inch of it. The graffiti sprayed allies, the dead flies on the window of the apple cart. You name it, I'll take you there.
Cheery's not from here though, she lives in a good neighborhood because her family is connected and they don't break the law, like mine.
I sigh with relief as a couple of inspectors pass us. There are a lot stationed here because this is where most of the crime happens.
I should know—I do some of it.
"Why d-do you think there were ) so many guards out today?" Cheery asks me nervously as we start to move again.
She's right, usually there's only a couple of the patrols around but today there was were like twenty of them. That couldn't be good.
"I'm not sure, but I should get home soon or my mom'll be worried," I say, and as we pick up the pace.
Cherry sighed with relief as we finally reach my crappy little house. It's only one floor, where hers is about three.
My house is a dull brown painted mess. It even has a stray cat wandering around my backyard.
My mom thinks it has rabies, so I'm not allowed outside at night.
"Well, here's you're chateau, madame!" Cheery said as she raised her hoof dramatically.
I laugh, Cheery always tries to make me feel better about my house by using fancy words.
"Why thank you darling!" I reply as I flip my short purple mane in her direction.
She laughed as she gets a face full. "You really need a mane-cut." She nags as she blinks the hair out of her eyes.
I smile at this as I walk into my house
My mom isn't in the living room and this worries me. Usually she's there sitting on the couch or sipping apple-juice in the kitchen. I frown and try to see where she could be, checking her usual places.
"My mom's not here." I say to Cheery who looks at me surprised.
"She usually is though, right?" Cheery replies with a hint of worry, she knows my mom can be a little spacey. Sometimes she'd be gone for a whole night, with us not knowing where she is.
"Yeah, usually.. Hold on I have an idea." I reply with a small smile. I have an idea, its a long shot, but it might be where she is.
My parents' old bedroom
See, here's the thing about my mom, she's been a little off lately. She's just upset because her husband was put in jail by an evil King. Wouldn't you be upset? Sometimes though she can act a little goofy and get angry for no reason, but it's all good. I know why she does it.
"Mom, are you in here?" I ask as I knock lightly on her door. I don't hear anything for a while and start to feel worried, but my worry vanishes when I hear her familiar sniffle.
"D-Dawn? Is that you?" She asks. I sigh with relief as I open the door.
The room looked normal, it didn't smell normal. Something about it seemed off but I wasn't sure what the smell was.
"Mom, are you okay?" I ask as she walks over to me and smiles.
She's really changed. Her bright purple coat is darker and her mane is actually spotted with ugly black spots.
I hug her and lead her sniffling form out to our small living room, where Cheery is waiting anxiously.
"Don't worry, I found her!" I say proudly as I pull my mother towards Cheery.
Cheery smiles at my mom nervously and my mom smiles back, they stare at each other for a little and it starts to feel awkward. For some reason, my mom doesn't seem to recognize Cheery.
"Why are you in my house, dear? Are you lost?" My mom asks, she seems to be having one of her episodes again.
I smile and push my mom towards the couch and somehow get her to sit.
"It's okay mom, It's just Cheery. She's my friend, remember?" I ask trying to jog her memory.
A spark of realization appeared in my mom's eyes and she seemed to calm down, I sigh with relief. I had successfully dodged a crises.
"Oh, yes. Cheery Flame. I remember you now. I remember meeting your mother.. She's a nice pony.." My mom replied with a small smile.
I looked at Cheery with a smile, it seemed like everything was fine but Cheery still looked anxious. I tried to cheer her up by patting my mom's shoulder.
"She's fine! Why are you so worried?" I ask. Cheery just smiles at my mom and gives me a look.
"Can I talk to you in the kitchen?" She asks, pointing to our tiny kitchen.
"Sure thing." I reply as I let go of my mom who still seemed happy.
I walk with Cheery in silence into the orange and brown kitchen, this room always hurt my eyes when I starred at the walls too long. I hated it.
"So, what's up?" I ask with a smile. Cheery sighs and pokes me in the chest with her hoof.
"What's wrong with your mom now?! You told me she was okay!" She replied, she seemed worried.. More worried than usual I mean.
"She's fine! She just had a small episode you know how she gets. It's the trauma." I replied with a proud look.
I'm actually glad I pay attention in some classes.
"I don't think it's episodes, Dawn. She only does this on Fridays. Today's Friday." Cheery replied, I hated the way she acted like she knew everything.
"I know, I know. I just don't really know what to do about it. I mean, she's my mom." I reply with an injured tone. Cheery just sighs and puts a hoof around me.
"Do you wanna come over to my house again this weekend?" She asks. I just smile and nod.
The trek to Cheery's house is a long and dangerous one. One that I'm so used to taking I could go by myself, but Cheery is
there right by my side, as always.
As always there's tons of guards near my house but towards the better side of the Empire, there's a lot less, like ten to one less.
I sigh as I think how much calmer and more or less free-er they are here. Cheery smiled at me, she knows how much I wish to be back here.
"My mom and dad are probably home, so I'll explain what happened, okay?" Cheery said. I just nodded briskly.
Cheery's parents don't like me much, they think I'm a bad influence. They're probably right.
I look up at Cheery's house with a bittersweet happiness, it looked like the house I used to have. At five rooms, two bed and bathrooms and two floors. This house was like a mansion compared to mine.
"Hi, mom! I'm home!" Cheery called as we entered her living room.
This room always impresses me, it was so nice. The walls were a bright cheerful yellow and the floors were smooth oak boards. They even had a large fireplace on wall near the back.
I smile as I look at the many pictures on the walls. Cheery had such a big family, it was hard to tell where it actually started.
"Tell your dirty street friend to wipe her hooves on the mat before she walks in here!! I don't wanna clean up after her again!"
That was Cheery's dad. He's always grumpy, especially towards me, he doesn't really like me.
Cheery looked at me apologetically, her parents always embarrassed her. I didn't really care too much, I was used to getting flank from grown-ups.
"Daddy, I've told you before she's not dirty. Just, not as rich as us." Cheery said with a sad smile towards me.
I sigh, that didn't help.
"Well she smells like shit! Did yeah roll around in it today or something?" Her father replied angrily.
Cheery cringes with embarrassment, her father swore a lot. It always made these visits more than a little awkward.
i smiled at her and I try and change the subject.
"I like your mane today, Mr.Flame. Did you get a hair-cut?" I ask sweetly. Mr. Flame just starred at me and walked away, muttering something that sounded like 'street-rat'.
"I'm so sorry about that. He's been on edge lately." Cheery apologizes with a small smile.
I'm used to her father by now, so I just shrug it off. "He said I smelled like manure last week so how's this diffrent?" I ask with a smile.
"That's true.. But I still don't like how he treats you." She replies as we walk up her stairs.
I'm still envious at the fact that she has two floors. I long for the day when my family can get a nice house like this one, I'm afraid that will never happen though.
We enter her bedroom, it's pretty big. I'm always astounded that she has room for three bookshelves and two beds. I've slept in her spare bed more times than I can count. It's super comfy, just like my old one.
"So, what do we do about your mom?" Cherry asks while she unpacks her saddlebags.
I just smiled and shake my head. "Nothing, you know she's like that sometimes." I say with a smile, I know my mom will turn around she always does.
Cherry sighs. "Well, what if she doesn't?" She asks.
I haven't thought of that option in a long time, I don't like thinking about the what-ifs. I'm usually in the moment, but sometimes those worries cross my mind.
I don't want to worry Cheery anymore though, so I just smile.
"Well, I'm sure she can pick herself up. I'm just gonna call her okay? Tell her I'm here." I say with a nervous glance at the phone, I hope Cherry didn't notice, but she does. As always.
"Oh, okay sure." She replies with a small smile. She always feels awkward when I'm nervous, like she doesn't know how to deal with other pony's nerves.
"Don't worry about me so much, you'll get gray hair!" I say, my mom always used to tell me that. Before my dad got taken away. Now she's the worried one.
"I don't worry all the time you know.." Cheery defended lamely, she's lying but I just laugh.
I take a deep breath as I pick up the phone with my hoof. I dial the number and my mom picks up almost instantly.
"Hello? Who's this?" She asks me. I sigh and smile into the phone.
"Hey mom, it's me.. Dawn." I say, remembering she might not realize who 'me' is.
"Oh, Dawn! Are you at Cheery's?" She asks.
"Yeah I am, is that okay? I just wanted you to have some space, so you don't have to worry about me okay?" I reply with a smile.
My mom's voice starts to waver a bit and I worry, It's not like her to be so upset.
"T-that's fine.." She replies.
"I can come home if you w-"
"No, it's fine sweetie you can stay as long as you like. Just don't bug her parents okay?" My mom says quickly, cutting me off.
"Oh.. Okay." I reply with a small sigh. I'm not sure why, but my mom seems relived to have me gone. It might just be me though.
"I love you, mom." I say with a smile. My mom takes a while to respond, like she's actually questioning if she loves me back. This is weird, even for my mom.
"I love you too, honey." My mom replies after way to long a pause.
I frown as I put down the phone, Cheery is looking at me with a curious expression. "So? Is she okay?" She asks.
I just sigh in response, I actually have no idea if she's fine or not. But I lie.
"Yeah, she just fine. I think she's actually glad she's alone for once." I say with a small smile. The last part wasn't a lie.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Cheery apologizes, she's probably noticing the sadness in my voice. Damn, I thought I hid that.
"I'm fine, really!" I lie. Cheery just sighs and walks over to me.
In a minute I find my arms around Cheery, hugging her tightly.
[h/]
Night in the Empire is really cold, but I'm snug and warm in Cherry's extra bed. She's given me some extra blankets because she knows I'm always complaining about being cold.
I sigh as I try and sleep. It's not coming tonight, for some reason. I try and make myself more comfortable, but my wings are making that tricky. My wings are a constant pain, but one I have to live with. I sigh louder as I try to tuck them into bed, but they keep flapping uncontrollably.
"What are you doing?" Cheery hisses at me from her own bed.
I just sigh and smile up at her. "It's just my wings. No biggie."
She sighs and shakes her head. "I'm serious, if my dad wakes up we're both dead!" She whispers frantically.
This only happens once in a while, and I'm always the one who's being rowdy. My wings sometimes cause me more problems than I cause myself.
"It's okay.. I just need to tuck.. There!" I whisper to her, with my wings now tucked firmly into bed. I'm really good at getting out of these kind of awkward situations.
"You're so lucky.." Cheery says, falling back to sleep.
I just laugh softly back.
I love mornings, I love how the sun rises slowly in the sky. I know Princess Celestia raises the sun every morning, we learned that before we were enslaved. What a job that must be! I could never be in her position, I'd probably break under the pressure.
Cheery however, does not like mornings. She'll sleep until noon if I let her. She's still in bed and I hear her mumbling something about chocolate in her sleep. She loves chocolate.
I smile to myself as I walk over to her bed. I laugh evilly as I grab a feather quill from Cheery's writing desk, another thing I'm jealous because I love writing fantasy stories about the Princesses, I'm now at the edge of Cheery's bed and her unsuspecting body lies there, still fast asleep.
I turn the quill upside down, the tip now dangling down, tempting me. I smile bigger as I push the feather towards Cheery's nose. I'm pretty sure this will wake her up!
I slide the feather down her nose and tickle the end of it with the very tip of the feather. My plan works, she starts sniffling uncontrollably.
I laugh as the prank works. She sneezes very, very loudly.
Cheery simply glares at me after her sneeze, I look back at her innocently.
"I can't believe I fell for that again!" She gripes as she wipes her nose delicately with a tissue.
I smile widely. "I can't believe it either, that's like what the third time this week?" I reply.
"Jeez, your terrible." Cheery said, half angry at me and half exasperated with all my pranks.
"Yeah, I know. But you still love me." I reply with an elbow to her shoulder. She just smiles at me and sighs.
"Sometimes I wonder why."
I race down the stairs with Cheery, we always do on Saturdays. I win, as usual. Cheery pants as we reach the landing.
"Oh, come on!! I thought I was faster that time." She complains, still breathing hard. Cheery's not very fit, unlike me.
"You were.. I'm just faster." I brag with a grin. Cheery gives me a look as we make our way to the kitchen.
"Hey girls!" Cheery's mom greets us. She's cooking something that smells really good, I hope it's her apple pancakes they're my favorite.
"Hey Mrs. Flame, something smells good!" I reply as we take our seats.
Cheery sits next to me and her mom smiles at the two of us.
"Well, I heard you girls come in last night and I thought I'd make something special. Since you like them so much." Cheery's mom replied as she flipped a pancake.
Yes! Just as I hoped.
"Wow, thanks mom!" Cheery replied. I nodded and walked over to their fridge, they always had good stuff and her mom didn't mind if I took things.
I looked into the fridge and smiled when I finally found what I was looking for, a apple juice box! I grabbed it and smiled as I put the straw in and began sucking. It was really good.
I walk back to the table and continue to drink, I get really thirsty in the mornings for some reason.
"Well, someone's thirsty!" Cheery's mom notices as I gulp down the last of the juice with a satisfied sigh.
I smile at her while she puts out the plates. I like Cheery's mom, she's always so nice and calm. Not like my mom but I still love her. She took me in after all.
"Do you want any help?" I ask with a smile. Cheery's mom shakes her head.
"Oh, no dear. I can handle feeding two fillies." She replied with a smile.
I know she can, I've been coming here on the weekends for as long as I remember. I still like to ask though.
After breakfast, I ask if we can play outside. We always get to. At my house, my mom only lets us play inside, she's worried that I'll cause more trouble. She's probably right though.
"What do you wanna do today?" I ask Cheery like I always do. Cheery smiles and shows me her flank, I show her mine. I know where this is going.
"Cutie marks?" She asks. I smile.
"Cutie marks!" I reply as we hoof bump.
