Bad Machine

“Hey freak! Catch!”

Painite barely had time to even register the words before an apple was thrown across the cafeteria, painfully smashing against her temple. She cried as white hot pain flashed through her head and she lost her balance tripping over a hoof that was suddenly stuck out in her path. She landed on the floor in a messy heap of sticky breakfast oats, hot coca, eggs and toast.

She gritted her teeth forcing down the scream of frustration and hurt building up in her at the sound of laughing, name calling and taunting all being used as knives to cut away pieces of her self worth. She wouldn’t let these bullies bring her down to their level of pettiness. She lit her horn, cleaning what used to be her morning’s breakfast out of her mane and fur.

“Ooooooohhhhhhhh... What’s this?” a mare called out in a sickeningly sweet voice. The mare pulled the silver bandages Painite had wrapped around her eyes from her head briefly exposing her eyes to the bright sunlight streaming into the cafeteria. Painite screamed in tortured pain and clenched her eyes shut, burying them in her forelegs. But the damage was already done, she had seen unfiltered light. Thousands of red hot pins felt like they were being shoved into her eyes without the magical filtering effects of the bandages protecting her eyes. Painite whimpered and sobbed with pain, feeling around for the mare that had taken her bandages. “Catch!” the mare yelled.

Painite instinctively held out her hooves and even the light touching her scarred and cut eyelids was enough to make her cry harder and bury her face back into the darkness of her forehooves.

“Hey, weirdo! Over here!”

Painite turned to the colt that had spoken, felt her bandages fly over her head, into the grasp of another pony on the other side of the cafeteria. “Please!” she begged. “Please just give them back. It hurts so much!” Painite lit her horn, blindly grasping around for the bandages. “Please!”

“That is Enough!” A new voice called out over the laughing and taunting of the cafeteria bullies. Painite was in too much distress, pain and hurt to even think about bowing to Princess Luna, the pony who had spoken. The silence at the princess’s presence was absolute and deafening. “You all should be ashamed of your selves! Is this what you have been taught?! To prey on and bully those that are different?” She stamped a hoof and the sharp crack of her hoof meeting the floor echoed loudly around the cafeteria. “I will not tolerate this kind of behaviour going unpunished. Each of you who participated in tormenting this poor filly-” Painite felt a wing draping protectively around her, covering her in welcome darkness and comforting, caring warmth “-expect a letter to be delivered to your parents with instructions for a two month grounding, along with two months of detention!”

Painite felt the bandages being placed over her forehooves and she eagerly began wrapping them back around her eyes. The magical healing weaves that were placed in the very silk of the bandages immediately soothed the fiery pain in her eyes, it would take a few hours until the fully went away, even in the darkness of Luna’s wings she could see everything of her in a dull sepia tone. She couldn’t hold back her pained sobs any longer. She buried her muzzle into Luna’s forelegs crying uncontrollably, letting out six years worth of pain and hurt flow from her eyes into the princess’s fur. Never before had her bullies done something so painfully cruel and personal to her. They had finally broken her.

“Shhhhhhhhh...” Painite felt Luna’s muzzle pressing softly into her mane, kissing her gently with maternal love and comfort. The princess Painite up as easily as though she seven, not seventeen, holding her like she would with a filly. Cradled securely against her chest. Painite welcomed the comfort and love. It was a soothing balm to calm and heal all the cruelty and bullying she had endured at the hooves of her classmates in Manehatten’s high school. “Everything is okay now, little filly.” Painite felt a hoof softly run through her mane, before wiping the tears that managed to escape past her bandages.

“I-I just want to be treated normally.” Painite buried her muzzle into Luna’s chest sobbing harder. “I-is that so much to ask for?”

“Of course not, you poor thing.” Luna’s voice was soft, soothing and loving. “Life has given you a challenge, an obstacle to overcome and be the better and stronger for it.” Painite took in a deep breath looked up into Luna’s eyes wondering what they were like without looking at them through a sepia tone filter. They looked kind, sincere about the words she was speaking. “Or, you can become hard and bitter. You can let your tormentor’s words and actions harden your heart against the world and those in it. Is that what you want?”

Painite shook her head, sniffling loudly as she wiped a foreleg across her nose. “I-I want to be like you, princess. I want to help others.”