I have been alone all my life. That is, until today....
"Run, kid, RUN!" I yelled, my voice hoarse.
"They're gaining!" Screamed a small filly running by my side. She was a small Pegasus filly with midnight blue fur and a black and yellow mane. I looked to my left to see a bright yellow unicorn colt with an orange and black mane, moving as swiftly as I was. As we dashed around a corner, my "sight" went blurry. I smelled the air and listened, while still sprinting. My senses soon gathered enough information about my surroundings to form a moving picture in my mind of the corridor. After all, you're always the fastest when you're running for your life. I looked back up to-Oh no.
My heart sank as I saw nothing but a wall ahead of us. No doors, no buttons, no protection, no escape. As we came to a stop, the blue filly looked at me with pleading eyes, and asked, "Miss Crystal, what's going to happen to us?" My eyes watered, but before a tear could escape, I put on a brave face and told her,
"I'm going to protect you guys, that's what's going to happen."
Then, Death came around the corner. Two burly ponies dressed in black marched up, then separated to let their leader through. I glared at him with clear turquoise eyes, hoping lasers would emit from them and fry him to a crisp. He was a light brown stallion dressed snazzily up in black, with a dark stick thing in one of his hooves. It smelled like death. "Crystal, dear, why do you run away from me? You know you want me," He said, and threw his head back in laughter. Then it snapped back down with a stony expression.
"You dare break in to MY headquarters, steal MY property," He pointed to the yellow colt, who cringed and ducked behind me. "And then you think you have any choice of escape!"
"You call a foal YOUR property!" I spat back at him. "You're sick." With a grin, he extended his arm to show me the black stick.
"Do you like it?" He purred. "I blackmailed a famous inventor to make it for me. I call it... A Gun. And you are going to be the first test subject."
The gun clicked, and a roar echoed through the room. Suddenly, there was a searing pain in my chest. I looked down to see a small hole in my skin, blood dripping from it. Right then, I knew I was going to die. I looked back at the two foals staring at me with scared eyes. I couldn't let him take them. Then, I heard a roaring in my ears. My horn glowed pure white, and I felt myself being lifted into the air. I spoke softly, but it sounded like the thundering of a thousand storms. "I will not let you take these children," I said. "If you want them, you will have to go through me." He stumbled back with fear in his eyes.
"Run away, Shadow. Run away, and never return." He shrieked, and skittered down the hallway, away from us. The light faded from my horn, and the darkness enveloped everything.
23 years before present day. Location: Manehattan.
It was a dark and cold night. The city of Manehattan was silent, as if holding its breath in anticipation. Then, movement in the darkness. Two figures trotted down the empty road, stopping in front of a red brick building. Stepping into the light, two ponies became seeable. One was a Zebra mare, who was hugging a deep purple unicorn stallion. Their cutie marks could not be seen. The zebra looked back at the stallion, who nodded. She then walked up to the building, checking the plaque above the door. 'Manehattan Orphanage'. Wiping away a tear, she took a bundle from her back, placing it on the ground. The mare knocked on the door loudly, a whispered "Goodbye." given to the bundle. She retreated to her husband, and they vanished into the night.
The orphanage door opened, revealing a chestnut colored unicorn mare who, seeing no pony, started to close the door. "Waaah!" A cry pierced the silence. The mare looked down only to see a foal, wrapped up in a blanket, crying. The foal was a zebra, but with a white horn that of a unicorn pony's. The mare gasped. Then, a glint of silver caught her eye. Pulling out a silver necklace with a heart shaped ruby, she read the words engraved on it.
"Crystal Clear." Smiling, the chestnut pony picked up the squalling foal in her forelegs. The foal immediately quieted in the mare's embrace. Chuckling, the mare brought her inside and shut the door.
6 years later.......
A Zebricorn filly, only six years old, was sitting with a cross look on her bed. An old chestnut unicorn mare sat beside her. "Now Crystal, what did I tell you about throwing food at other foals?" She asked the filly.
"But Ms. Chestnut, Golden Ladle was making fun of me!" Crystal protested. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "He said I was weird and useless." Ms.Chestnut frowned.
"Don't you ever listen to that bully, Crystal. You're a special filly, unique, like a snowflake." She looked down to see Crystal fast asleep on her lap. Smiling at the sight of the peaceful filly, she tucked the Zebricorn in. Suddenly, she gave a small cry, clutching her chest. As the pain passed, she stumbled off to bed.
The next morning Crystal Clear woke up bright and early. She felt around the bed for Ms.Chestnut, who usually woke her up in the morning to guide her down to breakfast. Not hearing or feeling her, Crystal decided to try the spell Ms.Chestnut had been teaching her. "Okay. I can do this." Her face squinched up in absolute concentration as her horn started glowing with a white aura. Suddenly Crystal felt her senses (besides sight, of course.) become heightened until they were so powerful, Crystal saw an image appear in her mind, showing the large bedroom she shared with other foals. There was one thing missing- no matter where she looked, her sight was devoid of color. "Yess!" She celebrated quietly, then went to find Ms.Chestnut to tell her of her achievement.
Walking down the hallway, she soon came to her beloved mentor's room. She knocked on the door, and hearing no answer, went inside. Looking around, she soon identified the lump on her teacher's bed to be Ms.Chestnut. She quietly went over to the bed, and gently shook her. No answer or movement came from the mare. She shook harder. Nothing. "Ms.Chestnut? Wake up Miss Chestnut! Wake up!" Crystal became more panicked with every shake, every cry. Was she sick? Was she- "Oh no."
The answer loomed over her, and with tears streaming down her face, Crystal ran back to the bedroom. "Everypony! Every pony wake up!" She shouted to the sleepy foals. "There's something wrong with Ms.Chestnut! I think she's sick!" But Crystal knew her only friend was not sick. Deep in her heart, Crystal knew her only friend, her "mother"....was dead.
"Well if it isn't Crystal Smear." A snide voice spoke out. A golden colt walked up to her with a mean grin. "Crying for you DEAD mommy, you FREAK? You don't belong here- Ms. Chestnut died just to get away from YOU." Golden Ladle threw insult after insult at her, scoring deep wounds in her metaphorical skin. "Run away Zebra Freak- and don't come BACK!" Crystal, crying rivers now, obeyed. Grabbing her locket, her only possession, Crystal ran. Away from Golden Ladle. Away from Ms. Chestnut. Away from the orphanage. Crystal Clear ran.
Crystal was shivering from the cold. After running halfway across the city, she had found an abandoned alley with a lone dumpster and some cardboard boxes littering around in it. Setting a box up against the dumpster, Crystal shook with wrenching sobs, cradling her necklace in her hooves. Most of the day was spent crying until her eyes were red. Finally around dinner time, her stomach growled loudly in protest of her not eating anything. Wiping her eyes dry, she rummaged through the dumpster, but always came up empty hooved. Then, a delicious smell graced her nostrils. Looking out of the alley, she spotted a pony sitting on a bench reading the newspaper. Right next to him on the bench was a dandelion sandwich, just sitting there.
'Go on. Take it. You know you want to.' A voice in her head told her.
"But...but that would be stealing!"
'Stealing shmealing. That pony probably has hundreds of sandwiches at home. C'mon! You're fast enough to just slip over there and swipe it. He'll never see you.' Succumbing to her hunger, Crystal gave in to the pull. Creeping over to the bench quick as a fiddle, she reached out for the sandwich, fully expecting the pony to catch her. To her surprise, her hoof touched spongy bread. Grabbing the sandwich, she ran quietly back to the alley and hid. A few seconds later, an angry shout was heard and the pony raced by the alley, not bothering to look there. Crystal dug in to her prize, and after finishing, exhausted by the busy day, she fell into a deep sleep.
