Raindrops on Roses
I used to be named Raindrops, before that was taken from me along with everything else. I must admit, I was surprised by how much there was to take; I never considered myself a rich pony, in any respect. I had few friends, or bits, my house was pretty small, I wasn't blessed with godlike powers to bend the world to my whim, at least none that I'm aware of, I couldn't even sing. Yet, they took so much away from me. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.
A good place for this story to begin is the events leading up to me acquiring my cutie mark; yes, that's where I saw then first, I'm sure of it. It was November eighth, eight years ago; I was trotting home from school when it began to rain. I must admit I never liked the rain; that day though, that day I thought it would be okay. I was trotting on my way home, jumping into the growing puddles on the ground, when I heard a noise; it was a peculiar kind of noise, so I decided to see what made it. I was, and still am, quite the curious thing. The rain grew heavier, great sheets of liquid, drenching everypony in its path of carnage and chilling them to their very core.
I lived in Ponyville at that time with my father: an old Pegasus by the name of Structure, Lewis Structure. He worked at the rainbow factory, manufacturing spectra. He didn't talk much about his job but it paid pretty well and we were hardly living in the ditch. I never knew my mother, though, judging from the stories my father told, she was quite the filly; she was a Unicorn, so my father said, with a coat like velvet and eyes like polished marble. Sometimes I wonder if things would have been different if she hadn't left but, truth be told, I don't think it would have made a difference either way.
I have quite the remarkable memory, at the time, I wondered if I would have a cutie mark about memory; in a sense, I do. The scream only happened for a few moments but I could follow approximately where it came from. After trotting a few steps I slipped on the muddy road, rolling down a hill and hitting my head on a lamppost. I felt a little concussed but I shook the injury off and got back to my hooves. Needless to say, I was very disoriented. I was blinking several times to get the mud and water out of my eyes, unsuccessfully, when I heard another sound, through the galloping rain. The sound was somepony tripping over a waste bin, barely five meters to my left. The rain had washed some of the mud out of my eyes so I stumbled forward a few steps to see whatever pony was out in the pouring rain.
When I was near enough I saw that it was Avogadro, from my father's work. He was wiping something from his eyes so he hadn't seen me yet. I was going to call out to him but a thought, like a piece of thread, caught the words and pulled them back into my mouth.
Don't... Please.
I don't know why, but I listened to that thought; I kept quiet. Avogadro trotted away without seeing me and I felt a pang of regret, berating myself for not being polite. The rain started to let up so I decided to see what Avogadro was doing in the alleyway before he tripped over the waste bin. Trotting forward, I have the unmistakable taste of iron in my mouth. I slow down my trot forward and come to a halt. A slithering noise near my hooves caused me to look down; a snake, as wide as my hoof slithered by me. I loosed a cry of terror but, looking down, the snake was not alone as there were perhaps a dozen snakes slithering towards the drain; I looked down again to see something floating in the water beside me: it was a piece of a pony, the top part of a capital 'N' looked up at me with two black spots on top of it; this was my father's cutie mark. More pieces of my father were strewn around the alleyway; bits of stomach lining hung onto windowsills while an eye or a tongue floated towards a drain. Streaks of blood covered the walls though it was quickly cleaned by the rain, and I stood hoof deep in my father’s blood. Saying that I was paralyzed would be an understatement; I wasn't paralyzed, I was floating in the endless void, unable to breath, move, or think, I could do nothing as the cold rain bit into my flesh and the blood dyed my yellow coat an amber color. I didn't exist. Then, I screamed. After a while, ponies could hear my screams. They came running to see me with bits of legs and hooves around me and blood soaked into me, crying over my father's gory shell of a corpse, and that's how I got my cutie mark: a single drop of water, a raindrop and a teardrop, to represent this horrible memory. That is how they took my father.
After that, I was sent off to a psychiatric ward for a few years and a boarding school for a few years more. The investigation for my father's death was labeled a non-equuside, and Avogadro disappeared. That was the end of that, until July twenty eight, three years ago. I was out of the funny farm and taking a summer break from school. I've never been too good at singing, especially not making up lyrics perfectly in sync on the spot like some ponies do, but I am fond of music. So, I hum. During my break I decided to travel the countryside. After a while, people started calling me Hummingbird and that became my name. I was in the area of Appleloosa when it rained; I hate the rain. I took shelter in a natural cave made with the wind and sand erosion in that area when I hear a sound; it was definitely not the sound I followed before, it was akin to a torch being lit. What an odd thing to hear in a cave, I thought at the time. I trotted further into the cave but, curiously enough, I saw no light that wasn't from outside. Trotting ahead a little more gave me a view of a pony with a white coat and, a little disheveled, pale yellow mane. This pony was the exact image of Prince Blueblood, nephew to the crown. Why would he be here? I thought. Inching forward, my hoofsteps caught his attention and he looked up at me. His blue eyes shimmered with an emotion I couldn't quite catch; now I know it to be mirth. He extends a hoof and I take it and I helped him up. "Thank you, you wouldn't believe what happened to me but, suffice it to say, we really need to get out of here." I hadn't heard the prince speak before then, but something seemed off about his voice; it sent shivers down my spine and tail. Hesitantly, I trotted next to him to the entrance of the cave. His nose wrinkles up in disgust at the falling rain. "Perhaps it would be best if we stayed here until the rain lessens." He says with something like a scared undertone. I furrow my brows at the sound but shrug off any thoughts I had about it. I lead the way a little further into the cave with Blueblood following. After a while of sitting in the cave, next to each other to ward off some of the cold, Blueblood seemed much happier. The rain abated and I stood up to leave; Blueblood's smile decreased slightly in size but he stood also. He gestured for me to lead the way and, in that moment, I saw something few ponies have the chance to see, much to their favor: I saw a deep, dark, honest cruelty. I trot forward a few steps, listening as hard as I can while I desperately hope I hear nothing. I hear the water from outside the cave, his and my hoofsteps on the cold cave floor, and a crackling sound like electricity.
Celestia damn it.
I thought, sadly. I duck under his arced bolt of magic and flew as fast as I could out of the cave, until I landed on the roof of a house in Appleloosa. Somepony just tried to kill me. A single tear slipped down my cheek and landed on a shingle on the roof. I didn't trust or care for anypony after that. A second drop appeared on my side, just like the first: a raindrop, a teardrop. That is how they took my trust.
My third and final encounter with them came a year later. I was in Canterlot during a regularly scheduled thunderstorm. I really hate the rain. I was moving very slowly through the heavy rain because I could barely see a meter in front of me when I saw Princess Mi'amore Cadenza. I had heard a lot about her on my travels and we even exchanged a few pleasantries at one time. She seemed like a nice enough pony when I talked to her so I started trotting a little faster to catch up with her when suddenly I saw a very familiar face: Avogadro. He hailed the Princess and said that he wanted to talk to her about some important business related to her wedding. A fleeting question of who she was marrying flitted through my mind before all of my thoughts were swallowed by terror and incomprehension. Then, for a moment, I saw everything as it really is: that is the same pony that killed my father but not Avogadro, she is the Princess and she is in danger. I have to help. How? I wondered. I'll tell Celestia, I thought. When, turning to tell Celestia, the not-Avogadro dropped a book that glowed with a silver brilliance. The moment passed and I returned to how I normally see things. The Princess walked into the building that not-Avogadro indicated and I was alone in the rain. I turn to tell Celestia but, before I do, I galloped forward, grabbed the book in my teeth, and slid it into my saddlebag, where I hold the few things of any personal significance to me.
I ran at a gallop through the rain, I felt a pair of cold eyes burning into my skin and, left with very few options to comfort myself, I hummed. Finally, I made it to the palace. They knew who I am and they knew I was a problem. Galloping to the gates, two Pegasus guards blocked my path. "What is your business to the Princesses?" One of them demanded. I skidded to a halt on the muddy ground and groaned. "I have an urgent message to deliver to Princess Celestia, you have to let me through, we're wasting time," I pleaded to the guards. They briefly considered it then, nodding, one of them led me to the throne room. I looked up at Princess Celestia in awe. Bowing quickly, I recounted that something was threatening Canterlot and that Princess Mi'Amore Cadenza was in danger. I just finished telling this to Celestia, an understanding look on her face throughout, when the door opened and in trotted Princess Mi'Amore Cadenza. I bowed again, my mouth agape. "Princess, you're alright!" The Princess looked at me with a completely level face, yet I still see that deep seated malice I saw in Blueblood. I took a step back. "No..." I galloped away again, into the swirling force of the rain. Damn the rain. I run blindly through the streets of Canterlot until I gallop head first into a pony. My head hurt from the collision and I couldn't see straight. I took the hoof the pony I ran into offers me and I stand up. I looked up at the pony, my eyes coming into focus again; the pony whose hoof I grasped was none other than Princess Mi'Amore Cadenza, and she was severely displeased. I tried to run but she had my hoof in an iron grip. Fire runs down her hoof and engulfs our bodies, sinking us into the ground.
When I awoke, I lay on a bed of cold crystal. The crystals were giving off some kind of energy, I don't know how I knew that, I just did. Princess Mi'Amore Cadenza stepped out from behind a crystal with my saddlebags in her magic. She removed the book that Avogadro dropped which I got to see clearly with the light from the crystals; it was a pretty book, obviously old, with a design of three stars and a swirl connecting them, the book was positively rippling with energy. "You shouldn't take things that don't belong to you." She said, throwing my saddlebag on the floor; a Christmas ornament with a capital 'N' fell out of the bag onto the hard crystal floor, shattering into glittering shards. I glared at the impostor. "You can't kill Princess Cadence, you know; she's an Alicorn." The creature laughed, harshly. "I don't need to. I just need to keep her here long enough. You, however, I can kill quite freely." I gulped, causing her to laugh again. I flapped my wings to fly but I felt the burning heat of her magic grip me and hold me fast. She bent down slowly, took my right wing in her teeth, and tore hard. I screamed in agony, tears flowed freely from my eyes as my brain shut down. The creature stomped on the other wing, shattering the tiny bones inside. "No flying," she said with a grin. "I'll see you when you're dead, featherhead." She used her magic to teleport away. I had gained the final part of my cutie mark: a third tear, below the other two. These creatures can take the form of anything they wish. I can only assume one of them has taken over my life, now. I've lost everything. I'm cold, I hurt, and I'm alone. Then, I hum.
Author's Note
Well, that was very hard for me to write. I have no idea how it came out so by all means praise and/or criticize me in the comments below. Thanks for reading.