When the world became dark
When I was a foal I was that type of pony that you could pass by without giving a second thought to. I was nothing out of the ordinary, just a scrawny blue Pegasus, with messy navy blue hair. Really the only thing that seemed to weird about me was the fact that my flank, was still blank.
Luckily I wasn't the only one who hadn't received their cutie mark. In fact, my best friend, Sunshine, was still yet to discover her special talent as well. Sunshine was a lot like me, a Pegasus who loved fun and adventure, but she always knew how to brighten something. Whenever I was down in the dumps and glum, she would always tell me, "Cheer up Nike! Every cloud has a silver lining!" I never really understood her metaphors, but it they would always make me laugh, and forget whatever troubles had plagued my mind. In fact, I don't remember a time where she couldn't make me smile.
But Sunshine had troubles too. She was bullied constantly because of her blank flank, and her size. I always stood up for her when I was with her, but the bullies soon realized that. They began to bully her whenever I wasn't around, calling her names, or even sometimes physical abuse. When the bullying first began, it was small. A mean look, a push from behind, a rude name. But as time went on, it escalated. I remember one time seeing her limp home with a bruised eye, and a dislocated wing.
It infuriated me. I made sure to stick next her to for as long as possible, and I even began walking her home. The bullies just stood at a distance, watching her like a hawk. It disgusted me. They would come close, maybe a hundred yards, but with me next to her, they wouldn't dare come any closer. One of the bullies, Kicks, had learned that lesson. His jaw is still healing. But as long as I was next to her, and we were friends, it'll be ok. I mean, we would be friends forever.
Or so I thought. Sunshine really is the worst liar I have ever seen. He pitch rises, her eyes dial out, and she looks at the ground even when telling the simplest lies. And being her friend all these years since we were foals, I can spot one of her lies from a mile away. Sunshine had come to school wearing a dress, I knew something was up. She didn't normally wear dresses to begin with, and to school, no way. Besides the dress, she was also wearing a very guilty looking face, like even wearing the dress was a lie.
Of course I confronted her about it. I mean, it was strange of her to act like that.
"Hey Sunshine! What's with the dress?"
Her face scrunched up and assumed the "I'm lying" position.
"Nothing! I-I just thought it would look nice today."
I could tell she was trying to hide something from the way she had been so defensive about it. I couldn't seem to understand why she would lie to me about a dress though.
"Sunshine, have I ever told you how horrible of a liar you are? I'm your friend, just tell me."
She continued to wear that guilty look on her face for a few minutes while I tried to stare deeper into her eyes. She took a breath and sighed.
"I'll tell you at the end of class, ok?"
I stared at her for a good long moment. "Ok."
School seemed to crawl bye that day. Each minute felt like an hour. I was struggling to stay focused. But finally the bell rang and we were dismissed. I jumped put of my seat before our teacher could protest, and glided out the door (I still couldn't fly at that time). I waited and watched as Sunshine unwillingly trudged around picking up her books, putting them in her saddle bag, and then made her way to the door. The look on her face was regret, and I couldn't presume why.
What was this foal hiding? I was her best friend, she could tell me anything. She finally reached the door, heaved a heavy sigh, and stared me in the eyes.
"Lets talk in the Cloudsdale park."
It confused me why she couldn't just tell me here, but non the less I agreed. We stopped at our favorite ice cream shop, and then headed to the park. She led me to the farthest and most secluded bench of the park. She looked very nervous. I couldn't wait any longer.
"Oh for crying out loud! What is it that you are hiding?!"
She looked thoughtfully at her ice cream, turned to me, and lifted up the back part of her dress. I gasped.
"You- you got your cutie mark!"
She looked sadly down.
"Yeah."
I stared at her intensely. And then, I laughed. I laughed and laughed until she gave me a funny look. I wiped some joyful tears out of my eyes as she started to speak.
"You aren't mad?"
"What?! Are you kidding?! We're friends dude, friends stick together no matter what!"
She sighed with relief.
"I thought you'd be mad because I have mine and you don't.."
"Pfft, nah man! It totally chill!"
I looked at the cutie mark once more. It was a nice cutie mark, a smiling sun. I thought it to be very fitting. She was anyone's sunshine on a cloudy day. I gave her a playful punch in the shoulder, and I looked out at the sunset.
"Come on, time to get you home."
We hoped down from the bench and started walking home. We talked and laughed, having a good time. Her getting her cutie mark wasn't going to separate this friendship.
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