Author's Note

So I wrote this in a completely different format compared to what I would normally write. Don't hate it too much. I am just testing the waters.

Chapter 1

Your name is Anon, and you are the only human in Equestia. When you first arrived in this land, you were amazed at the sights of magic and flying ponies. You were also only around ten years old. The ponies looked really friendly and seemed to value love and tolerance.

You were so young and naive. They treated you like a monster. A thing that should be feared and chased. A thing that parents told their foal in order to keep them in line. A thing.

This was your new life, and you hated it. You started to resent them for treating you that way. What gave them the right to treat you that way? You were able to convince them that you were not a monster by doing a few good deeds. They still resented you, but at least they didn't chase you anymore. You were actually allowed into their capital city.

You received a letter about a place to live and a job that paid well. Only to find out you would be featured in a circus. Your stubborn childish pride made you turn them away. You now live in an alleyway, living off the trash. It wasn't so bad, you learned where had the best food and where to get a new box after a storm. Still, you wished for a better life. Little did you know, you would eventually get your chance.

Today was just another day where you were down in the dumps.

Literally.

You were dumpster diving, looking for anything to improve you current condition. You would kill for a decent amount of cloth or a knife to cut it. You were interrupted by a series of giggles. Even if ponies would no longer hunt you down, you were still scared of ponies. You pushed even farther in the dumpster. There was some cardboard sitting on the top. You thanked whatever deity that decided to smile on you that day. You took the cardboard and wrapped it around yourself, blending into the rest of the trash.

The giggles got closer and closer. You were hoping that the pony would turn around or run right past the dumpster. Unfortunately, your luck ended with the cardboard. You could hear the sound of hooves scraping metal, and the sound of the lid opening and closing. That and the constant giggling. You can hear the creaking of the lid as it is raised once again.

The filly, you guessed by the sound of the giggles, was trying to repress her giggles. When she succeeded, silence fell across the alleyway. You tried to quiet your breathing. You didn't want to scare the filly. It would just be a good excuse to throw you in the dungeon. You rather be free and live in dirt than be a prisoner and live in dirt.

The sounds of hooves in the alley causes you to stiffen. You were a bit relieved at the sound of another filly instead of a grown pony.

"Tiaaaaa! Tiaaaaa! Where art thou Tia!?" The voice gets closer to the dumpster.

"Tia! Mother wishes thou to return to the castle! Supper will be served soon!" Oh fuck. This is just what you need: to be accused of kidnapping someone from the royal family. You can hear the hooves stop in front of the dumpster.

This is it. The life or death moment. If she finds you, you can kiss your life goodbye.

You sit in that filth for what felt like hours. The sound of the filly's hooves starts to fade away from the dumpster. You breath a sigh of relief and remove the cardboard camouflage. You turn around and your heart stopped. You forgot about the other filly.

She was small and white with a pink mane. You could see a crown on her head, but more importantly, she is staring right at you.

You're dead. You are so fucking dead.

Here you are, in a dumpster, in a random alley, with someone from the royal line. All she needs to do now is scream and the royal guards throw you in the stockade. You start to slowly backpedal, getting as far away as you can without startling her. Her eyes are wide and unblinking. She is staring into your soul.

Your hand starts to make its way towards the lid. If you're lucky you think you could get a head start and out run her. Just as you are about to touch the lid, she speaks up.

"Who-What are you." You can feel your heart trying to beat its way out of your chest. You are paralyzed with fear. Your mind goes blank and your instincts take over.

You push up the lid and jump out of the dumpster. All you have to do now is make it back to your alleyway and hide in your box You make a break for it. Behind you, you hear the lid fly open and a young voice telling you to wait. You know better. Ponies only lie and use you. They have always hated you, and you learned that the hard way.

You find yourself in your alley. Home. The sound of rapid hooves made your blood run cold. She followed you. You ran and curled up in your box. You were on the verge of crying. You are just a kid. You didn't want to go to jail.

You heard the hooves stop at the entrance to your alley. The hooves started to walk down the alley, taking their time. She was looking for you. You curl up tighter. You just wanted her to leave you alone. Her hooves can be seen out of your box. One of her hooves raised the top flap, exposing your hiding spot. You turn away, burying your face in your makeshift ball.

"Hey, hey. Don't be scared." You don't respond. You are too scared to do anything but shiver in fear. She reaches out to touch you. You flinch away. There is only one way this is going to play out, and it means the end for you.

"Come on. I'm not going to hurt you." She is lying, just like all the other ponies. She probably wants to parade you around as an exotic pet.

"You kinda look like a monkey. Do you want a banana?" You are a little angry for being called a monkey, but your fear is far greater than your anger.

"Here." You risk a look out of your safety ball to see what the filly was talking about. In her hoof she was holding out a fresh, yellow banana. You are a little peeved about the monkey stereotype. Still you take the banana like the hungry boy you are. She giggles at your display.

"Come here. Come here." She taps her legs, trying to coo you out like a wild animal.

"I'm not a dog." She stops tapping her legs, her jaw opens, and her eyes go wide.

"Y-You can talk?" You feel like she is insulting your intelligence.

"Yes I can talk. Now, leave me alone." You peel back the banana, savoring the aroma. You take your first bite of fresh food you have had in months. My god! This was the best thing you have ever tasted. There were no preservatives or chemicals, just the magic of the earth ponies.

"Mmmmmmmm" You look back at the broken filly. With a huff, you turn your back to her.

"W-What are you?" You really don't like this filly being around you. You may be only ten, but you didn't like colts or fillies along with the rest of the pony race.

"Why do you care?" You could hear her gasp.

"I care for all my subjects." You roll your eyes. Time to lay down the facts. You turn back to face the filly.

"Alright, let's get things straight. First, I am not your subject. No pony even likes that I am here. Second, I don't care all that much for ponies either. And finally, I just want to be left alone." Her eyes start to water and her bottom lip starts to quiver. You really don't want to deal with this right now.

"W-Why are you s-so mean." A few stray tears roll down her cheek. You may hate ponies, but this little filly reminded you of yourself when you were first shunned by pony kind.

"Hey, c'mon. Stop crying." It doesn't look like you half ass attempt to get her to stop didn't work. You don't know if your heart can take it if you let her release the flood gates.

"Ok ok, I'm sorry. Just please don't cry." You feel yourself start tearing up. You remember all the things the ponies did to you. All the things they said to you. 'Oh look there is the monster! Run!' 'This is an orphanage not a zoo! Beat it!' 'Hey, I bet if we beat up that thing, those fillies will totally want us.' They never thought once about how you might feel. You feel stray tears running down your face.

The filly was able to recover enough from her pain to notice yours. She remembered what her mother would do when she felt bad. She got closer to you and pulled you into a hug. You wouldn't normally let a pony touch you, but right now you was hurting too much to care. You wrap own arms around her and cried. You two just sat there in the alley way, bawling your eyes out.

It was a few minutes before either of you calmed down. You were both reduced to sniffles and red eyes. She let go of you and you wiped your nose.

"T-Thank you."

"You're welcome." An awkward silence made its way between the two of you "So what are you." You took a big breath.

"I'm a human." She looked confused.

"I have never heard of a human before." You shuffle uncomfortably. This is something you had to learn to cope with, even if it still hurt.

"That because... I'm the only one." The filly doesn't quite understand the magnitude of being truly alone. She has always had friends, her parents, her sister... Her eyes widen as she starts to realize what you are going through.

"You mean you don't have a mom or dad?" You shake your head.

"And nopony wants to be friends with you?" You shake your head again.

"T-That... That's awful!" You nod. She stomped her hoof in anger.

"Well that stops today mister?..." She could tell you were a male by the sound of your voice, but that is all she knew about your biology.

"Anon. Just call me... Anon" She gives a smile. Her mother always said a good start for a friendship, is with your name. She held out her hoof.

"My name is Princess Solaris Celestia. But all my friends just call me Tia. So, call me Tia." You reach out your arm and meet her hoof with your fist. Before you could say anything else, a familiar voice booms from the entrance to the alleyway.

"Tiaaaaaaaaa! We are not amu-" Standing in the alleyway was a blue filly with her own crown on her head. Her eyes went wide as she saw you hoofbumping Tia. The next thing you heard shook you to your very core. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Help! A monster has foalnapped our sister!"

There was that word. Monster. Everyone was always so quick to judge you for just being different. All the happy feelings that you were able to gain from Tia were gone with that word.

You scramble out of your box and run down the alleyway. You never did get a chance to tell Tia goodbye. Fear was coursing through your body. You had to get away. Every inch of your being told you to run and hide. You hear shouting behind you. It sounds like Royal Guards. They are on your trail.

You weave through the maze of alleys, trying to lose them. When you turn your last corner, you are met with a sight that made you give up all hope.

You were standing right up against the castle wall. They had herded you towards their destination like a wild beast. The guards at the top had you in their cross-hairs while the others closed off you escape with sharp spears. Even if you were grown up, you doubted that would would be able to get out of this mess.

"Give up creature! We have you surrounded!" You don't know where the shout came from. You didn't care. Your life is over. All it took was one screaming filly to cry out monster. You saw the unicorns try and hold you down by magic. Things were about to get a whole lot worse.

"I-I can't hold it down!"

"My magic is not working!"

"It is an abomination! Kill it!"

You look around and see some earth ponies moving towards you with spears at the ready. You fall to the ground and curl into a ball. It's over. They aren't going to take you to jail. They are just going to kill you instead.

The guards get closer ready to strike. They raise their spears and...

"STOP!" The guards look around confused. Tia comes running out of a pack of guards. A few guards try to catch her, but she is already throwing herself over you. She is using her body to protect you.

"Princess! Get away from that thing!" She tightens her grip around you.

"I won't let you hurt him. He is my friend!" The guards take a step back. They could not understand why she is defending you.

"But princess, didn't that thing foalnap you?" She closes her eyes and shakes her head. She is still a little ashamed about what her sister started.

"No. I found him. He is all alone and scared." She turns back to the guards. Her eyes are starting to tear up.

"He said he was the only human in Equestia. He doesn't have a family or friends. Ponies just treat him like trash. And that is where I found him. In a dumpster. Looking for his next meal. Do you have any idea on how that makes me feel? Knowing ponies could be so heartless." A look of shame spreads over the guards. They all had families and friends. They never had to go and look for food. The spears were lowered and the ponies on the wall discard their crossbows.

"I... I want to take him to the castle." The guards look at the filly with confused faces.

"But princess, what about the king and queen?" She starts to pet your head. It feel good to be comforted.

"I will talk with mom and dad. I just want him to have a home." She gives you another squeeze. She leans in a whispers in your ear.

"It's ok Anon. They aren't going to hurt you anymore. You're safe now." Safe. You never thought you would never be in that position, but here was this princess vouching for you. Maybe things are starting to look up after all.

You look up at the castle gate. It is huge, and surrounded by dozens of guards. They are still not sure if they should let you in, but at least they aren't shoving their weapons in your face. You make sure and stick close to Tia. She is probably the only thing keeping you alive.

You pass through the gate and head to the doors of the castle. The castle is a bit intimidating. When you reach the door, it takes a orange hue and opens. You are greeted by a large and very open room. At the far end of the room, you see two regal alicorns sitting on their thrones. You lean over to Tia.

"Are you sure about this?" You were too nervous to even sweat. They might throw you out for staining the floor.

"Don't worry. I am sure they will let you stay here." You aren't so sure. You could blame it on your history with ponies... but you haven't been wrong yet.

You are now at the foot of the thrones. The queen looks like a bigger version of Tia. Her mane reminds you of the sun flowing in the non-existent breeze.

The king, on the other hand, is a few shades darker than the filly that ratted you out. His mane reminds you of the night sky. You swear that you can see stars twinkling. The queen jumps out of her seat and runs towards Tia.

"Solaris! We were so worried!" She pushed past you and hugged the little filly.

"Mom stop. You're embarrassing me." You take a few steps back. You want them to have their moment. The queen set down Tia and gave her a stern glare.

"Where have you been young filly." Tia doesn't seem phased by the queen. You, however, are about to wet yourself.

"I have been making friends with Anon." The king is now off his throne and is beside his wife.

"Who is Anon?" The sound of his voice makes you want to curl back into your safety ball. Tia is now pointing right out you.

"He is."

The royals follow Tia's hoof right to you. You swear you peed a little. The king walks up to you. He is eyeing you with a critical eye.

"What is this... thing?" At least he didn't call you a monster. Tia however gives a loud huff.

"He isn't a thing Daddy. He is a human. The only human." The king is now walking around you. You can already tell that he doesn't like you. You don't know whether it is because you are a human... or a male. The queen's face brightens.

"Oh! So you want him as an exotic pet." You are really getting tired of ponies thinking you are nothing but an animal. Tia seems a bit upset at it too.

"What? No! He is my friend and I want to give him a place to stay." The queen looks your way. She doesn't believe you are intelligent.

"Sweetie... how do you know that this..." Tia gives her mother a glare. "Human..." Tia smiles. "...is intelligent?"

"Because he talked to me." The king gives a laugh.

"Just because he can make a noise doesn't mean he is intelligent. Think of it this way. If a dog barks, does that make it smart?" Tia struggles at the answer.

"Well no. But..."

"Exactly, so why don't you run along and get ready for bed while we return this... human to its home." You would speak up, but you were still frozen with fear. You didn't know if you would be attacked if you said anything. As much as you hated not helping out Tia, and yourself at that, you stood their silent as a mute.

"Wait! I can prove it." Her parents didn't listen.

"Guards. Escort the human to the gate." A series of 'yes sirs' were sounded before you were being pushed towards the door.

"Anon! Say something! Please!" You just couldn't You were too afraid of the unknown. The last thing you heard before the door shut was Tia screaming your name.

"Anon!"

Once the door shut a guard grabbed you by the collar and threw you out the gate. They wasted no time shutting the gate behind you. You look back and give a sad sigh.

That might have been your only chance to actually have a home. And you blew it. All you had to do was speak up. Well, at least you can still go back to your box.

You lower your head and trudge back to your alleyway. No one stopped you on the way.

In your alley, you see nothing has changed. The trash still stunk. You box was starting to droop. You're going to have to get another one soon. There is a banana peel sitting in the middle of your box. You pick up the peel, thinking of everything you just gave up.

You were weak. You were stupid. You could have had everything. But you chose nothing.

You throw the peel down the alley. You were angry at yourself for being so scared. Climbing into your box, you curl up and try to fall asleep.