The Purpose of Slate

Idea I’ve been knocking around. Dunno where it might lead, but we shall see. This is a humanized version. There’s still unicorns and Pegasus, but the wings are invisible and so is the horn. People just know what others are. I know, it’s a huge plot hole but I’m sure I’ll find a way to fill it later.

“OHHH CELESTIA’S PIERCED NIPPLES, WHY DID WE DO THIS AGAIN?!” the lady screamed out in agony as she held her husband’s hand. “O-ow…well we wanted children, dear,” the man pointed out, his deadpan humor not helping the situation any as she grabbed his hand harder. “Seed Wheat, if I make it through this…I’m gonna slap the shit out of you.” Seed Wheat, the expecting father, smiled a little at his wife. “One more big push, Sunflower, the baby’s almost here!” One push and stream of swears including something about Luna’s sexuality later, the baby came into the world, screaming. “It’s a boy Pegasus!” “Just like his daddy!” Seed Wheat exclaimed in bliss, snipping the cord.

As they got the woman situated into the bedroom, the nurse brought the baby boy in. “Awww, Seed, he has your eyes…actually, he looks a lot like you.” “Sunflower, dear, he’s got a full head of hair with no teeth, he looks more like my dad,” Seed Wheat pointed out, getting a harsh scowl from his wife. “What shall we call him?” Sunflower looked over him. “Well, his hair is like a charcoal…” “Veto,” the mother said, her swiftness surprising the father. “I was going to say Slate…” “Slate…I like that. Welcome to the family, little Slate,” Sunflower said while gushing over the baby, nuzzling noses as the kid giggled.

Hello, my name is Slate. I’m 13 years old, and I attend Appleoosa Middle School. My parents are Sunflower and Seed Wheat. They own a farm on the outskirts of town, where we grow mainly grains, such as wheat and milo, with the occasional alfalfa. I’m average for your 13 year old, I guess. I am a little taller than normal, but that’s it. I keep my hair short because of the hot weather we have down here. Cute mark? Nope. Nothing yet. Probably going to end up like one of my parents. Oh, I forgot to mention my sister, Raven. She’s 9, and loves to sleep in.

*WHAMWHAMWHAM* “Raven, get up!” I yelled through the door. “You’re going to be late for school!” I pulled on my shirt as I made my way upstairs, where my mom was making a packed lunch for us. It was probably the same thing…peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with some wheat chips and pudding, and apple juice. I don’t know where Sweet Apple Acres is, but they make a darn good apple juice. “Morning sweety!” “Morning mom,” I muttered, trying to ignore my mom’s overly-sweet morning disposition. In came Raven. Her hair was black and streaked with purple. She was a unicorn, like mom. They said the night she was born a raven landed beside the window on the tree, and it made her start to send sparks from her hands. Thus, Raven.

“Buhhh.” “Morning to you too, sunshine,” I said, dodging a poorly aimed swipe from my sister’s hand. “Come on kids, eat up. I made omelets.” I grabbed a fork and dug in quickly, savoring the sweet taste of the pork. Oh yeah, we eat meat. Why? Sometimes that’s all we had. One winter our provisions went out, and all we had to survive on was hamburger meat. You can only make hamburger so many ways before it gets old. It’s the norm to be a vegetarian, which I have no problem with.

“Come on,” I said, grabbing my bag. My sister grabbed hers. “Don’t forget your sunglasses, dear!” I sighed, turning back and grabbing them. Astigmatism is a jerk. I still don’t get it. It’s not like my eyes would burst into flames if I took them off for a second. We made our way to the school, where it started like normal. The teacher, Miss Sundance, was cool. Also, my raging hormones didn’t help my attention span any. I could sometimes see her…leaning against my desk.

“Slaaaate…” I smiled, sighing softly. “Slate!” I jumped, blinking a few times as the classroom laughed. I suddenly realized we had moved on to mathematics. “Can you solve the problem on the board?” I squinted at the numbers. Division…crap. “Um…4?” “It’s 7…” I smiled sheepishly, chuckling a little. “Moving on…”

We broke out after lunch for recess. Again, I had to make sure my sunglasses were on. I usually make it a chore to find Raven and chill with her, as our school was so small it had all the years in one building. 100 kids total, kindergarten through 12th grade. I stepped out, enjoying the nice autumn breeze when I heard a ruckus. I calmly walked around, seeing three kids beating up on a kid. “You owe me lunch money!” I gritted my teeth. I hated those kids, with a passion. Hey, leave him alone,” I said, stepping up. I then realized how stupid it was of me, seeing as they were all bigger. “Look, little kid wants to play hero,” one said, chuckling. “I said…shove off, Fire Spin. Ya’ll are just bullies…pick on someone your own size!” I said, feeling confident.

“And what are you going to do about it?” the bigger one in the middle, Rock Crusher, asked. I then got a boost of confidence I didn’t know I had. “Just walk away, and no one is going to get hurt.” They all looked at each other and laughed. I blinked, watching them slap their knees. “Good one, Slag…” “Slate!” “Whatever. You don’t have the balls,” he commented. “We’ll see about th-OMPH!” I was caught off guard when Rock’s fist collided with my face. I hit the ground, hearing nothing but laughter. My nose started to bleed, feeling that my sunglasses had left my face. Just then, something happened I never expected to happen. My eyes started to burn…painfully. “Ahhh…AHHHH!” I screamed as I felt them burn, pushing my palms into my eyes. I stood up, pulling my hands away as they all gasped. “Wh-what the…hell…” My eyes stopped hurting, but my vision was red.

I jumped into the air, flying over them and kicking Rock in the head, hard. He slid to the side as I landed gracefully. Fire Spin went to punch me, but I saw it before it could happen. I reached out and grabbed his hand, kicking his side hard and punching him in the jaw. He went down with a groan. That left the third guy, Slam Dunk. He was a jock, so naturally a dick. He reached out to grab me but again I could see it coming a mile away. Through my red vision I slapped his hands away. Jumping in the air, I grabbed his head and spun forward, throwing him over me and into the tetherball pole, where he wrapped around it and sank to the ground with a thud.

The kid, my age, saw the whole thing. “Slate…your eyes, they’re red!” I quickly grabbed for my sunglasses, putting them on as my vision returned to normal. I saw the three bodies of the bullies on the ground, blood slowly trickling from their mouths and noses. “Oh Celestia…the teachers are gonna kill me…” “No, I’ll vouch for you man…” the boy said, slapping my shoulder. “After all, you saved my skin.” “Thanks, Braeburn.”

What happened after that? There was a tingling sensation on my right arm. I lifted it up, watching in awe and glee as my cute mark appeared finally. It was a black shield with a red eye in the middle of it. What was that supposed to mean…did I get it from my red eyes? Was it from protecting Braeburn? I had so many questions, but they came to a screeching halt as I saw the principle running out towards us. “Uh oh.”