Blood. That's all I can see. It's all around me, all over my hands, my body. Even some on my face... Blood mixed with tears. I stare at the stallion walking towards me slowly, and back away as quickly as I can. The bodies of my parents lay behind him, blood oozing from the gashes all over their bodies. I whimper and cry as I back away, fear filling my body as he grins wickedly and holds the bloodied knife towards me in a threatening manner.

"You didn't think I'd let anyone survive this, did ya? Little girl?" he asks me in what I can only percieve as the voice of a maniac in my six-year-old brain. "You think just cause you're a little filly that I'd take sympathy on ya?"

I whimper as my back hits the counter, and a fork falls off and lands next to me. I look at it with my eyes and then quickly grab it, holding in front of me defensively. "St-stay away!" I yell out, but he just laughs and keeps coming.

This is it... I think. I'm gonna die here. I don't want to die! He stands right in front of me, and I squint my crying eyes shut, preparing for the worst. But then... Sirens. I open my eyes and see the red and blue flashing lights pouring through the windows, and the door is thrown open by a pair of police officers as they come in with guns raised. The killer looks at them and laughs, then crashes through the window above the sink as he flies off.

Once he's gone, I quickly crawl to my mother's bleeding body, and I can hear shallow and ragged breathing.

"M-mommy...?" I squeak out, and keep my wings at my side as I look at her face, blood oozing from the corner of her mouth. Before long, her breathing stops, and she stares blankly at the ceiling as I sob into her chest. One of the officers comes over and gently picks me up, and I don't resist as he carries me outside, my head on his shoulder as he pets my back gently.

Three Days Later...

I stand before the ruler of Equestria herself, Princess Celestia, as the officers explain what happened. It's all I can do to keep myself from bursting into tears for the fifth time today.

"She's orphaned, Princess... What should we do?" He asks her, and she looks at me with a half smile to try and cheer me up.

"Find a good home for her, and tell no one of the incident. We don't want to cause a panic," she says.

"Yes, princess," he says as he bows, then turns to me.

He walks over and picks me up again, carrying me outside in his arms as we start flying back to Cloudsdale. I don't know if I'll ever be able to look at my home the same way again, but I don't have much of a choice. He flies around town with me, looking for anyone who would take me in. No one would. Apparently a lot of them already had enough mouths to feed without throwing in some orphan.

I let out a heavy sigh as we go to the tenth house today, and see a light purple stallion with a blue mane and bright green eyes open the door.

"Oh, hello officer. What can I do for you?" he asks, and looks at the snivelling wreck that is me.

"I was wondering if you'd be kind enough to give this little filly a home. She's orphaned and I can't find anyone to take her... We've been looking all day," he explains, and the stallion nods, not taking his eyes off of me as he comes closer and gives me a small smile.

"Hey little one," he says, holding his hand out. "Do you wanna stay with me?"

"So you'll take her?"

"Only if she wants to," he says, and I slowly reach out and wrap my stubby, six-year-old fingers around one of his, and he smiles. "I think that's a yes."

I nod and the officer sets me down, patting me on the head gently. "Be strong, kid," he smiles, and walks off. The other then crouches down and looks at me.

"So, what's your name?" he asks me.

"N-night Rain..." I say quietly, and he smiles.

"That's a beautiful name," he says. "I think I knew your father."

"Really?" My ears perk up a little.

"Yeah, I worked with him in the lab," he thinks for a moment. "Star Shade, wasn't it?"

I nod, remembering his face as the stallion barged in and yelled at him for whatever money he had. When he tried to resist, the stallion simply sliced his throat open. I can still remember the blood spraying from his neck as he choked on it.

I shake my head, trying to get the memory away, and the stallion gently puts a hand on my shoulder. "I'm so sorry about what happened... I can't imagine what you must be going through," he says, and I wipe a few tears from my face. He gently picks me up and carries me inside, stroking my back gently. "You're okay," he says as he takes me to a room and gently sets me on a bed. I lay down, wrapping myself in the blankets as he strokes my head gently.

"It's okay, you're safe now. No one's gonna hurt you," he says soothingly, and I nod weakly in response. I don't know why, but I have a bad feeling about all of this. Like it's not over.

Of course, that could just be all in my head... Right?

Author's Note

Well, this is the start of something that's been rotting my mind forever now. Hope yall enjoy! Oh, and the mature tag IS there for very good reason, reasons I'll get to in later chapters. See ya's!

-Devs