Prologue - The Night My Life Began
Prologue - The Night My Life Began
The Memories and Life of a Lilly
Prologue
The Night My Life Began
Throughout my life, I’ve always lived by a saying. Something bad always happens when it rains. Sometimes that bad thing happens to you. Other times, it will happen to someone else. But I always know that when it rains, something bad will happen.
Now, this could be just a superstition. But never once have I seen it rain, and nothing bad happened. Believe that or not, it is true to me.
And for me, it was raining on the day my whole life changed. Now, was this change for the better, or worse? I can never tell. But my life changed on my ninth birthday. And the main thing I remember, is that it was raining.
I was in the kitchen, helping my mom clean up. All my friends had left already. There was some cake still on the table, streamers and wrapping paper on the floor, and balloons still hanging from the chairs. There was a banner hanging above the door separating the living room from the kitchen that read “Happy Birthday Nightshade”
I smiled and brought another dirty plate to my mom on the top of my head. “Last one Mama,” I said to her in a cheery voice.
She smiled and levitated the plate off my head and into the sink. “Thank you sweetie.” She went back to doing the dishes.
I smiled at her and then look away. Many thoughts were going through my mind. “Do I tell her? Should I tell her? I mean, she would accept me right? She’s my mother. She should accept me. But, I’m still not sure.”
“Everything alright sweetie?” My mom asked in a concerned tone.
I looked up at her, she was looking down at me. Apparently, being lost in my thoughts, I never noticed her finish the dishes. “Oh, yes. I’m fine Mama,” I lied through my teeth.
My mom did not buy it. “Honey, I know you too well. I know something is wrong. Please tell me what it is.” She smiled warmly at me.
I heard a rumble of thunder outside, and then the rain came down. I wasn’t scared of storms, but I should’ve not told her on a day like today. We just celebrated my birthday. Was it right to tell her? To this day, I wonder if I said the right words, or if I should’ve waited until later. But I knew my mother. She would not have let me leave the room till I told her.
I sighed. “Mama, do you accept me for who I am?”
I can tell she was thinking about it. She had that look on her face like all mothers do. That look of “How do I respond”. But, eventually, she smiled. “Of course I do sweetheart. I accept the fact that you like your hair long. I accept that you have more feminine traits than a stallion like you is supposed to have. I accept that you like to read my fashion magazines over something that a colt would read. I accept a lot of things about you. But why do you ask?”
I knew this was the time. It was now or never. I looked at her and drew a deep breath. “Mama, I’m not a stallion, I’m a mare.”
Lightning flashed and thunder roared as it was waiting for me to say that. My mom’s eyes went wide. I can tell she was shocked at what I said. But I couldn’t tell anymore beyond that. Was she upset, mad, happy, scared, I couldn’t tell?
After what seemed like forever, she left the room and went to her bedroom. She didn’t say a single word. I stayed in the kitchen and waited for her. Except, my father came out of their room.
My father was a pretty strong Pegasus. He was nice most of the time. However, one look on his face, and any kid would be scared of him. I could tell that he was mad. Enraged even. He walked up to me and shoved me to the ground. He then stood over me. “What the hell did you tell your mother?!”
His words frightened me. I always hated when ponies yelled at me. But I had to say something. “I….I t-told her I w-wasn’t a stallion, b-but a m-mare…” There was much fear in my voice. Anypony could’ve seen that.
What my father did next, I will never forget. He raised his hoof, and struck me across my face. I cried out in pain. I spat up a tooth that he knocked out as he struck me. I held the spot where he struck, and I started to cry. I couldn’t believe my own father hit me. It was too unreal. I didn’t want to believe it, but it was real.
Then my father spoke again. “Listen here you little shit! You are not a mare! You don’t have any of the parts that make up a mare! You have stallion parts! That’s what makes you a stallion!”
His words were murder to me. But what he said next, hurt more than anything else.
“Now listen to me, you are going to say out loud to your mom and I that you are a stallion, and not a mare. And you are going to promise never to say those words. Got it?”
I have no clue what came over me when I said what I said. I stood up and yelled at my father. “No! I am a mare! And you will not control me over it!”
That was the moment my life had changed. The moment my own father beat me up. He swung hoof after hoof at me. Each hitting a different part of my body. And with every hit, he cussed at me. He used words that would probably break a few laws. Some words I didn’t even understand. And he did not stop. No mercy was given. He just kept swinging his hoofs at me.
After what seemed like an eternity of punches, he finally stopped. I could only open one of my eyes. I looked down at my body. It was battered and bruised all over. Blood coming out from my mouth. I looked up at my father. He had murder in his eyes. He looked like he was going to kill me.
Then something even scarier happened. Something that nearly made me have a heart attack. My father walked over to the kitchen counter, and grabbed a knife. He then looked at me and gave me an evil smile. One so evil, that not even the most bloodthirsty criminal could pull off.
He then spoke. “If you want to be a mare so badly, then let’s make you one.”
He started to approach me with the knife. But once he took that first step, I got up on my bruised legs and ran. Ran out the door and onto the rainy streets of Canterlot. As I ran down the streets, I could tell I was in no condition to run. With every step I took into the ground, I could feel a sharp pain run up my fore and hind hoofs. It felt like I was running on needles. However, I knew I had to run. Run from my father, the knife, my so called home, all of it.
The rain came down hard. Thunder and lightning roared through the sky; however, I didn’t let that slow me down. I kept on running through the rain and I couldn’t see where I was going. It felt like I ran for miles. Then all of a sudden, the ground disappeared below me, and I fell. Right off the edge of Canterlot.
I fell to the ground fast and hard. At this moment, my life flashed before my eyes. I saw them, my friends, parents, family. I saw the events of my life. I saw the first time I went to school, the time I learned how to talk, my first best friend, and the time I learned how to fly.
After that, everything stopped. Flight. It was the only way. Even in this weather, flying was my only option. I opened up my wings and soared through the sky. But it wasn’t a long flight. Just enough to save me from death. Next thing I knew, I hit the ground.
I don’t remember what happened after that. If my father flew down to look for me, if anyone came to look for me, or what happened. All I remember next is when I woke up.
It wasn’t quite morning yet. The moon and stars were in the sky. I looked around at the many flowers that surrounded me. The ground was still wet, as was I. The rain was gone, and the cool night continued on.
With all the strength I had left, I got up and started to limp through the flower field. I saw flowers of all kinds. Roses, Dandelions, violets, Carnations, Pansies, all of them. It was a very pretty sight.
However, as I moved along, I could feel the pain run through my hoofs again. I tried to spread my wings to fly over the field, but pain shot throughout them as I tried to open them. I looked at my wings and gasped. All of the feathers were missing and they were both broken.
I sigh to myself and continued on limping through the field. As I walk, I slip and fall into the ground below. I wince as I feel my jaw hit some small rocks below and I could feel my eyes starting to water up. This is what my life was diminished to in just a short amount of time. A weak, nine year old pony, laying in a field of flowers with nowhere to go.
I start to cry. Was this really the end? For me to die in a flower field? I cried even harder. I looked upward and I saw Canterlot above me. Should I just go home, beg my father for forgiveness, and just live the rest of my life out in this stallion body?
I laid my head back down as I pondered my thoughts. I then noticed something. An unusual flower beneath the rest. A beautiful white flower laying there. It was the only one of its kind in this field. I pick it up and look at it closer. It was a Lilly. A beautiful one at that.
I don’t know why, but this one flower gave me determination. I place the flower in my mane behind my ear, and limp along. I move through the field and onto the grass. I keep on moving. I don’t know for how long or how far I limped, but I kept moving, not looking back.
After, what seemed like hours, I could see a town in the distance. I smiled to myself, and limped on. The moon had started to set, and the sun started to rise.
As the celestial glow admitted through the sky, I reached the town. I looked over at a sign near the entrance to the town. “Ponyville” I read out loud. I smiled, and then collapsed. I had no more energy to continue on. I laid in the dirt of this new town, and slowly passed out.
What greeted me next when I awoke was cream colored walls and I looked around where I was at. I was lying in a bed with white sheets. I saw medical equipment all around and some X-ray scans attached to the wall. It didn’t take me long to realise I was in a hospital.
“Well, good to see you’re awake” A mare said from my side.
I looked at her. She was a white mare with a red cross as her cutie mark. I smiled at her. “Um…h-hello.”
She smiled in return. “You went through a lot. You had nine broken bones, your wings were shattered, and you had bruises all over your body.”
I looked at her in confusion for a moment and questioned what she said. “Had? Were? What do you mean by that?”
She had a sympathetic smile on her face. “You’ve been out for five weeks. Over that time, your wings and bones healed themselves. Lot of surgery had to be done though.”
I looked down at my body to see stitches on my chest and stomach. I could tell there was a lot of work done. “Well then, what now?”
“You are going rest here for a bit longer. We need to make sure there are no more bone fractures in your body. And your wings are fully healed. But right now, I’m going to go get you some food Mr.….?”
I thought about what she said. There were plenty of questions, thoughts and ideas running around in my head. One thing was clear to me though, if I was going to start a new life, it was going to be now. I shook my head at her. “It’s Ms.…” My thoughts turned back to the flower. “Lilly”
I can tell that confused her for a moment. But she smiled and said with a caring tone. “Very well Ms. Lilly. I shall get you some food.” She walked out of the room.
I laid back in the bed and looked up at the ceiling. I smiled and thought to myself, “This is it. My new life begins here.”
Author's Note
As always, reviews are always welcomed.
And as always, no flames please.
