Life is an amazing vessel that all of us living things ride. We all hang on as tightly as it will allow and we carry on and strive to be the best that we can be. However, like all good things, not everyone can afford or be subjected to such luxuries. The short end of the stick, the bottom ten percent, the poor and unlucky. All these phrases describe the same group of ponies, who for every minute of every hour of their lives, beg and suffer on the streets of cities all over Equestria. They are the ones who, no matter how hard they try, can never catch the slightest break. They are the individuals who have never known love or wealth. they are the ones who starve and weep for a single ounce of love, a single crumb of bread. These individuals were once my family, my kin, my home. They were what I called mom and dad, brother and sister. No longer. For I have been saved! A beautiful dawn of shining silver rays has taken me from my dark, dreary prison and shown me light. It has saved me from the evil and corrupt masses of those who wish to look down on us. The light as proven to me that life itself truly is an amazing thing. It's proven that miracles really do exist.
I was born, well I say born but in reality I was basically dumped, the in wealthy and prosperous city of Canterlot almost two decades ago. Now, contrary to what everypony will say, growing up in Canterlot is not all sunshine and rainbows. No pun intended. Poverty is a major epidemic that the high class ponies call an ever growing and spreading disease that has plagued the city. The incompetence and Idiotic arrogance of the corrupted mind of the so called 'higher class' is insulting and revolting. They complain to the Royal Court daily about how we do nothing to further ourselves in society. That all we do is beg and cry because we are to lazy to work for ourselves. They complain that we stink up their streets with our filth and they say we have infested their city much like rats infest sewers. This ignorance is far from any plausible and believable truth. We look day in and day out for jobs to feed our families, for shelter to keep us dry, a feeling that we actually have a purpose in this miserable existence that we call life. They have the gull to complain about us not having jobs and yet they take one look at us in their work place and turn us down. I went as far to say that if those stuck up, good for nothing ponies had the chance they would certainly vote each and everyone one of us out of the city. They know nothing of our struggle, our suffering and yet they do nothing but complain and exile us for being poorer than them. They don't even bother to stop and think about us. If we aren't lining their pockets then we become nothing but expendable liabilities that have no purpose but to die and advance their own financial gains.
Anywho, back to my introduction! I was born a cute bundle of dark blue maned, black furred, science loving, joy who had all the innocence in the world. My father was a nameless nopony who tried his hardest each and every day to provide for his family. He loved us every much and even to this day I cannot even remember his face. My mother was a street begger. She was the parent who actually could have made a decent living. She graduated after six long years at Canterlot University but she never made an attempt to make it in life. She had the biggest job interview of a life time and she got denied. Her mind imploded afterward with failure and self pity. By the time I was born she was no saner than a squirrel locked in a small room. She stayed alive long enough to push me out but she didn't live to see my face or hold me in her hooves. Her name was Midnight Shadow and she had always dreamed of having a colt. So in honor of my late mother the doctors had named me Shadowbane.
Since I didn't have any parents to take care of me anymore I was immediately sent to a foster foals home in the central district of Canterlot. The Central District, also known as the Slums, was and still is today the most disgusting and horrible place in the entire city. Some could even say that the entire area is governed by rats and ponies are just the minority species. Even as foals me and the other unwanted children learned that it was safer to be surrounded by crumbling, mold infested walls of cheep plywood and rusted sheet metal than surrounded by the dominant rats that would swarm the streets at night. Each pack lead by a fat and dirty leader as they moved unafraid through the night and into ponies homes and beds. The stench and putrid rotting appearance of area was revolting and absolutely infuriating to each and everyone of us. We kicked, we screamed, we cried, we wept, we did all we could to try and get just an ounce of attention and love so we could feel like actual ponies and not just exiled creatures that no one likes. We wanted to feel like we were apart of something that could eventually get better but, alas our hopes were in vain. Everyday the rats got fatter and the swarms got larger. The walls got moldier and the roofs hung lower. Each and everyday of my young life was filled with this disgusting images and for years I had to put up with it. To me it seemed that there was no end in sight.
And thus my journey through this world had begun. Little did I know that I would have the hardest and most amazingly dangerous life ahead of me. My life ahead filled with crime, starvation, and sadness that would never ever seem to end no matter how hard I try. It was a life that would be filled with discrimination and hate as every high class pony I passed on the street spat on me and beat me for being poor. It was a life that would almost drive me to the breaking point and make me think of any way out of the noose of life. But it also would lead to the greatest and happiest moment of my entire existence. It would truly prove to me that life is most certainly worth living.
"Shadow, get that fence cut quick! If they see us we're dead!" Midnight Moon whispered harshly. I rolled my eyes as I continued to saw at the chain link fence in front of me with the rusty saw we picked up on the tracks. It was my seventeenth birthday today and I had learned of an amazing birthday cake the rich bakery on the other side of town had made for her daughter. My stomach growled in anticipation as I managed to saw through another layer of fence.
"Moon I swear to Discord, if you tell me to hurry up again and I'll start pretending your hooves are part of this fence. Now shut up and let me work!" I scolded as I spoke through the rusty saw in my mouth. I grunted and forced the saw through the layer of chain and then started to work on the last row.
"Well maybe if you weren't such a baby and just decided to climb over the fence like I had originally planed I wouldn't be complaining now would I?" With a loud sigh she plopped down onto her flank and looked up into the starry and full moon lit night sky. "Shadow, baby, do you ever think that one day we will finally be able to live normal lives?" she asked rather suddenly. I stopped sawing and released the rusty hacksaw from my mouth and spat out the dirt and rust.
"Midnight why would you ask me such a silly question?" I asked with a worried tone as I sat next to the purple maned, silver eyed mare next to me. "Of course I do. I would love the opportunity to just pack up and leave this Discord forsaken city and start a new life. I dream of it day and night." I let out a soft sigh as I kicked a small rock resting next to my hoof. "Besides, you know as much as I do that I would love to move away with you." I said softly as I leaned in and kissed the mare on the cheek. She smiled softly as her head moved and her eyes shifted to stare into my own. The soft shine of the moon light reflecting off the silver orbs, making her eyes look like glowing spheres of light.
"Yeah, I know Shadow. I'm just so sick of living here. I'm sick of having to run away from swarms of rats every night and living in a house of mold. I hate it here! I can't stand the disgusting sight of what I'm forced to call my home. I just want to run away with you and live a new life in a quiet town where no one pony gets judged for being different than the rest. I just want to be with you and start a fa-" Her sentence was cut off as the sharp cracking sound of a magically spell whipped past us. Midnight screamed as the glowing aura of her invisibility spell dissipated and left us out in the open. I stood up and instantly flared out my wings as I stood in front of her in a defensive stance.
"Hey! Who in the name of Discord do you think you are you good for nothing money sucker?!" I shouted into the dark abyss of the street in front of us. My eyes scanned for any movement, any sign of another pony trying to hurt us from within the shadows.
"Who are you calling a money sucker you rat dweller?" I hear from my left. I turned toward the sound and narrowed my eyes and lowered my back in a more threatening stance. "Maybe you would like to explain to me what a rat dweller like you is doing next to a hole in the fence next to the Shopping District!" The snooty, high classed Canterlot accented pony demanded.
"What we are doing is none of your business money choker. Don't you have money to go wank on or something? Maybe a family to ruin while you laugh in their face." I snorted and spat in the direction of the voice. "You money suckers are all the same! Just because something is different doesn't give you the right to treat them like vermin!'
"No it doesn't. However, when good for nothing and lazy ponies like yourselves try to steal my business and stink up my streets then we take action!" another crack filled the air as a purple bolt of magic hurled toward me. My eyes widened as I braced for the impact. I waited two seconds, three, four. I opened my eyes and looked around and saw nothing. I was still standing, my limbs were all in tact, my mane untouched. I let out a long sigh of relief as I turned around to face Midnight. "Hey Moon are you ok?" I asked before noticing she was gone. "Moon? Mooooooon? Did you run away again?" I called into the night.
"Sh-shadow..." a weak voice behind me whimpered. I snapped around and gasped as I ran toward the tan furred mare laying on the ground.
"Midnight! Moonie are you ok?!" I shouted as I finally reached her. Faint sparks of purple energy cracked and fizzled around her fur and mane as she lay there. Her silver eyes looked up at me as I dropped down in front of her. "H-hold on Moonie, ok? y-you're gonna be alright." I said as I attempted to pick her up. She let out a blood curdling scream forcing me to drop her and gasp.
"Shadow...I-I can't...move. It hurts so b-bad." she whimpered out as a tear flowed its way down her cheek. She took a shuddering breath and gulped. "I-I love you Shadow. I love you so much a-and... I'm sorry for all the bad...things I said to you over the y-years." She finally got out, her voice slowly becoming a whisper as her eyes closed. Her heaving, panting sides slowly fell as she went limp.
"M-moonie?! Midnight Moon?! No no no no no! Baby no please!" I shouted as I gently took her limp head into my hooves and pressed my forehead against hers. "P-please don't leave me alone Moonie..."
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Years Later
"...And then I stayed with her. I didn't leave her side for at least three days. The rain and cold finally forced me to get up and call the authorities." I let out a sigh as I rubbed the bridge of my muzzle. "They buried her next to her three sisters at the Canterlot Cemetery and gave her family a compensation check that got them out of the Slums. Her mother didn't even bat an eyelash when she passed Moonie's casket. By Discord did I want to just buck her face in... My only hope and life line was gone and I was alone in a world of darkness and brutality. I just didn't want to live anymore." I finished as tears started to slowly flow down my face, the subtle pitter of them hitting the floor making my heart shatter.
"W-what did you do after her death?" She asked me. I looked up into her eyes as I suppressed a small, quiet sob
"I decided enough was enough. The Royal Court needed to know how poorly we were being treated and they needed to know as soon as possible. I couldn't sit by any longer and let the segregation of the rich and the poor continue and ruin so many ponies lives. They needed to be told the truth and I didn't care who wanted to stop me."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Earlier
With burning determination and purpose, I stormed up the stairs of the Royal Palace in the Sun District and stomped my way through the large, marble made halls of the capitol building of Canterlot. Apon reaching the doors to the Royal Court I was stopped by the Solar Guard stationed outside.
"Hold there! Citizen you stand before the entry way to the Royal Court of Equestria. By why rights or reasons do you stand before me?" A nasally voiced guard said stepping forward and planting his glowing spear of magic into the ground in front of him.
"My name is Shadowbane. I demand to see the Princesses of Equestria in full Royal Court on behalf of everypony living in the Slums in the center of this twisted city." I started as my wings flared out and my head held high.
"Yes...another pony from the so called 'Slums'... very well Mr. Bane you ma-"
"The name is Shadowbane. Nothing more nothing less you got me?" I growled as I stepped forward.
"Very well Shadowbane. You may enter the Royal Court as soon as the princesses of Equestria are summoned. Please take a seat over there and wait please." With an angry look I huffed and sat on the rug of a waiting room like area. I opened my left wing and closed my eyes as I started to preen out the damaged feathers in my wings, my head just ripping out the broken ones and throwing them onto the floor. If anypony was allowed to be prideful of one thing in their life then mine would be my wings. I kept every feather in strict order and made sure they were always straight. The fight or flight situation happened almost everyday in the Slums and one broken or misplaced feather could be the difference maker between life and death. More times than I could count I had to rely on my wings to carry me to safety.
"Ehem! Shadowbane, the Royal Princesses of Equestria will see you now in the courtroom." The nasally guard said apon reentering the room.
"Good... it's about time I get to be heard by someone of significant authority." I snorted as I approached the doors
"Yes...quite. The Royal Court will now come into session for a citizen concern. Everypony bow before your Supreme Leaders! The princesses may enter!"
