Painful Origins

I walked around Cloudsdale that day. All day. I looked for anywhere that I could stay, but I had no idea where to go. All I knew was that I couldn't stay in the upper end. It was such a beautiful place with all the houses on separate clouds, the playgrounds and parks were ideal, and the Cloudsdale stadium and amphitheater were both close by. There were museums and schools of the highest prestige, and the Young Wonderbolts Academy of Flight was where the best young fliers in town went. Lots of the most well known pegasus ponies in Equestria lived in the upper end. Any pegasus who was any pegasus worth talking about lived there, so of course I didn't belong there. That's what Uncle Sun Streak always said. And he was right, I wasn't anypony worth noticing, and I didn't really mind it. In fact I would just prefer that nopony notice me. I was glad to be away from there. I was nervous when I looked up and saw the house. I was afraid that as soon as they were up they'd come find me and bring me back for a beating. I couldn't let that happen, not anymore. I started my trek across Cloudsdale before the sun was even up.

I made my way out of the upper end and into the suburbs that surrounded the Cloudsdale industrial park, but I was too shy to talk to anypony, and far too shy to even think about knocking on anypony's door to ask if I could stay, so I just walked around for several hours until some of the ponies from school noticed me walking around. I recognized them. They were my cousin Vapor Trail's friends.

“Oh, hey 'Fluttershy'!” They called to me with the same contempt in my name that my uncle had. “Vapor Trail told us about your little 'secret'!” Neither of them could contain themselves as they both burst into laughter pointing their hooves at me and calling me the worst names. I couldn't take it, and I ran off fighting the tears that were welling in my eyes, but they followed. They circled me overhead as I ran just trying to find some place to hide away from all the names. I ran through streets and alleyways until I finally found a place to hide in the industrial park. I heard them laughing, still taunting me as they flew off in some direction that they thought I'd gone.

By this point I was thoroughly lost. I had no idea where I'd come from or where I should go next and I was terrified. All the sounds of the machinery and ponies yelling and the carriages were everywhere – it was the most terrible place I've ever been in, and I was lost and scared. Suddenly a vat of molten rainbow spilled over far above me and nearly landed right on top of me. It scared me so much that I ran right out into the middle of a busy street screaming. I didn't notice the carriage coming, and by the time I did it was too late. I stopped dead in my tracks as it was headed down its path. Then, out of nowhere one of the worker ponies swooped in and scooped me up out of the way just in time. We landed out of the way of traffic as he put me down.

“What in Equestria are you doing out here!? This ain't no playground, kiddie! You could've just been killed!”

“I-I'm s-sorry, mister, b-but I'm lost...” I whimpered, scared by his yelling and scolding.

“What!?” He yelled, unable to hear me over the noise as I instinctively covered myself and hid on the ground. “Listen kid, just get out of here before ya get hurt, kay!?” I couldn't do anything but lay on the ground whimpering as he flew away. I was so lost, and in a dangerous place, and I knew I had to get out of there before I ran into anymore worker ponies, so I picked myself up and forced myself forward in the direction that I thought was right. I walked for miles through the confusing winding streets occasionally having to dodge some careening object or moving out of the way of the carriages. I must've been stopped by three other workers that all said the same thing, "Get out!" That was all I wanted to do. I desperately just wanted to hide myself away somewhere where nopony would find me. The heat was unbearable. All the steam and the twilight sun culminated into heat that could match the flames of Tartarus. I was about to give up when finally I found it.

I'd found my way out of the industrial district and into Cloudsdale's south end, all the way on the other side of town. I'd walked all day and it was starting to get dark. If I didn't find somewhere to stay soon I'd have to find somewhere to hide myself away for the night. The south end wasn't as fancy as the upper end or the suburbs, but it was a cozy place. The local flight school was nearby and several of the residents worked small jobs around town. All the houses were small and bright with what appeared to be nice little families and other little ponies running around outside playing. I again was too shy to ask for a place to stay, and I didn't want to impose on any families as they had enough to deal with, so I walked looking for shelter from the dark.

The sun was just about to set when I found a place to stay. It was an abandoned building on the southernmost tip of Cloudsdale. It was kind of scary with its busted windows and lopsided orientation, but I had to stay somewhere, so I found a place to climb in the window around the back where there were a few trashcans stacked together. When I got inside it was almost too dark to see. Luckily one of the things I packed in my saddlebag was a little wind up light that played Momma's lullaby when you let it go. I remember using it on several occasions when it was dark and scary in the attic at my Uncle's house. I walked around the old building, and the quiet was almost deafening. I found my way to a small room with no windows so nopony would know I was there, and I wound up my light so it would stay on for a while. I had walked several miles that day, and I was only beginning to notice how fatigued I was. I was starving and thirsty and only had a small piece of the cupcake from my last birthday and a single box of apple juice left with me. I'd been keeping them in my room at my Uncle's in case I got hungry at night, but now they were going to be supper for the night.

I sat in silence as I ate my little cake and drank my juice, hoping that tomorrow would be better. I sat there deep in thought, assessing my situation, and I started to sob softly. I was an orphaned little filly, with no home, nowhere to go, and not a single person that cared about me – not one person that loved me. I curled up under my little green blanket and Snuggled with Ms. Cottontail as I cried in silence until I fell asleep.