Foalhood
By: Patient X
"And that, class, is how to find the tangent of Theta." My earth pony instructor, Cheerilie, happily implies to the class, tapping on a recently drawn equation on the board with a magenta hoof.
My classmates all around me share looks of absolute apathy and exhaustion as they slouch over their desks. The brightly lit one-room brick school building is filled with the sore and half closed eyes of my disinterested classmates. I, however, partially listen to this deplorably boring lesson as I doodle on my notepad; grasping my pencil with my newly acquired magic eminating from my horn.
"Okay, everypony, that's about all the time we have for the day; I hope to see you all tomorrow! Tonight's homework is nothing, really. All I would suggest doing is reviewing some of the material we went over today." Cheerilie relieved the class from the painful torture of schoolwork as the class lets out a collective sigh of relief.
"Ugh, finally!" A classmate, Scootaloo, breathes next to me, buzzing her tiny, orange wings in an attempt to stretch them before sliding off her wooden chair and collecting her belongings into her saddlebag.
"It wasn't that bad. Sure, the material might have been a little over our heads, but it wasn't the worst thing ever." I try to reason with my orange pegasus friend, who smirks and nudges me with her hoof.
"This is college grade material, Crest. We're eleven. There's a chasm of a difference." Another friend, Sweetie Belle, sounds partially annoyed by my sympathy to the material Cheerilie had force fed us.
"Still, it's way too difficult for fillies." Scootaloo sighs next to me as I magically place my school supplies into my saddlebag and closing the lid of the polyester container.
Most of my classmates are scurrying out the door, leaving Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and I behind, along with another of Sweetie Belle's friends, Applebloom. Hoisting the saddlebag on my back, I begin to walk towards the door, only to be stopped by a magenta hoof on my shoulder.
"Crest, could I talk to you for a few minutes?" Cheerilie asks calmly and maternally.
"What do you need?" I ask my teacher, gesturing my friends to go on without me; they do so.
"Could I ask you where you got the bruise from?" Cheerilie asks, pointing to a purple discoloration on a part of my scalp.
"That thing? I fell down a couple of stairs yesterday, no biggie." I reply, shrugging off her concern.
"Alright. I was only curious. Have a good rest of the day...and try not to fall down any more stairs." My teacher warns me as I exit the school.
"Gotcha. Have a good day, too." I respond, trotting across the dirt path leading to a larger dusty road.
Reaching the bottom of the hill that the school resides on, I pry open the white picket gate that separates the school grounds from the rest of Ponyville. Waiting beyond that, in a cluster of three, are the Crusaders.
"Did Ms. Cheerilie tell you off for actually caring about the subject?" Scootaloo jeers as Applebloom snickers at her comment.
"No, just a concern for a recent injury." I return dialogue with a sigh afterwards.
"Even though you're not a full Crusader, you still wanna come and try to earn Cutie Marks with us tomorrow down at Sweet Apple Acres?" Applebloom queries with her usual southern drawl as we proceed towards the small wooden town.
"Sorry, but I've got to go get some chores done around the house. Maybe later." I suggest as the three Crusaders ponder on the matter.
"Saturday?" Sweetie Belle asks with a short smile.
"I'm free that day." I smile back as Scootaloo's face begins to twist and mold into a toothy grin.
"Awesome! We can all try to get our Cutie Marks in...well, we'll figure it out them." Scootaloo happily states as we reach a fork in the road; one leading into town and another into an adjacent neighborhood.
"Well, I gotta go. See y'all tomorrow." I state, waving goodbye to my friends and proceeding down the path towards the neighborhood.
"Bye, Crest!" Sweetie Belle yells as she and the other Crusaders run off into the crowded town of several hundred.
Three of four minutes pass before I make it to my house; a medium sized wooden abode with azure shudders and a shingled roof-- quite uncommon in the town. This house looks highly similar to the ones near it, except that their roofs are covered with a thick hay, bound together with ropes.
Taking a deep breath, I saunter towards the door, gripping the cold brass doorknob with a blue aura of magic. I open the door and a massive torrent of icy air shoots through my body, leaving large pinpricks of goosebumps in its wake. I strut into my house and close the door behind me. Placing my saddlebag on the wooden flight of stairs next to the door, I make a hard left and trot into the kitchen.
The brightly lit kitchen offers no opportunity to sneak any snacks into my room, for my sister stands over a freshly bought bag of groceries.
"Hi, Colgate." I respond to her presence with a falsified happy voice. She grunts as she removes a stack of carrots from the brown paper bag that sits idly atop the marble counter tops. "What's for dinner?"
"Asparagus and potatoes." She blankly responds, brushing a few blue and white strands of hair from her forehead as she magically grips a potato obtained from one of the grocery bags. "And before you ask, you're not getting a snack." She sternly remarks after I pull open the chrome fridge door to reveal a wide selection of food choices.
"Okay." I quietly respond, shutting the door with an unintentionally high amount of force, causing a loud thud to echo across the linoleum floored kitchen.
"Don't you get all fuckin' mad with me! You know, dinner isn't the most important meal of the day, you can survive without it for a night!" Colgate yells, her burning gaze meeting with mine, churning my stomach out of pure will.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to slam it." I quietly remark, inching out of the kitchen.
"Just what I thought...dinner's at six." Colgate murmurs as she turns towards her cooking as I grab my saddlebag on the stairs, just beyond the kitchen door.
Trotting up the worn stairs, I sigh deeply. I make a hard left and throw my saddlebag onto the floor of my room, dissatisfied with the day. I enter my room and close the door behind me. The bed is warm and clean when I fell onto it, relieved of any stress for the few hours I have before dinner. Suddenly, I colossal thud echos across my room, startling me into alertness.
"Get the fuck out here!" I hear Colgate yell furiously from the other side.
I hop off my bed and gallop towards the door, not wanting to incur my sister's wrath. I open the door to reveal my flustered sister with reddened cheeks surrounding a stern frown.
"Wh-what's going on?" I ask, frightened at Colgate's lack of apathy towards me.
"Did anypony ask you about that bruise?" She yells, pointing to my scalp with a blue hoof.
"I-I don't remember!" I respond with terror and sadness.
"Don't fuck with me!" Colgate snaps, raising a hoof and slapping me across the face. "Did. Anypony. Ask you. About. The bruise!?"
"I think so..." I try to recollect what Cheerilie had asked me before I left school, holding a light blue hoof over my stinging cheek. "I just said that I fell down the stairs."
"You better have." Colgate growls, grabbing my mane with her teeth and dragging me towards the stairs.
"Please, don't! I did what you wanted me to do!" I cry, tears forming at the base of my eyes while I grope at my scalp, trying to ease the stinging of my mane being pulled out.
"I just wanna teach you something." Colgate replies in a sarcastically childish tone as we reach the top stair.
Colgate releases my mane and I drop to the ground, curled up in a fetal position whilst grabbing my scalp and burning cheek. Absorbing me into a blue aura of magic, my sister hurls me from the top of the steps. One by one, I slam into the wooden stairs, knocking my torso and head hard against the oak planks that make up the interior of my home, releasing visceral cracks and pops as I collide to the steps. At the bottom of the stairs, I plop onto the ground, on the twilight of consciousness with pinpricks of horrid pain echoing through my tired nervous system.
"Get up." Colgate spits blankly as she trots down the stairs, I don't.
"Get. Up!" She yells again, grabbing me with an aura of magic and hoisting me up to eye level with her at the bottom of the stairs.
"I...I did wh-what you wanted m-me to do." I sob softly, clutching the top of my burning and aching head.
"I know. Did you learn to shut your mouth about this?" Colgate replies, amused at my torment. I nod in response.
"Good. Second time, dinner's in a couple of hours." Colgate sounds as if nothing had happened as she lets me go and trots into the kitchen, smug smirk on her face.
I curl up into a fetal position where I lay and cry...
Several Weeks Later...
Dust chokes the air of the path ahead Sweetie Belle and I as we walk quickly to Sweet Apple Acres; we plan on meeting Applebloom and Scootaloo there for some 'crusading'. Wispy cirrus clouds hang high in the air beneath the brutal sun furiously beating down onto Equestria as several squads of weather pegasi patrol the skies for any anomalous or stray clouds; crops need more sunlight, so they do what they have to do to meet their sunlight quota.
My face and legs have healed from the last painful encounter with my sister, who decided to fuck off for the past few months...probably better for me. However, the deep purple bruise on my scalp still lies there, almost like it's taunting me...won't the damn thing just heal already? I sigh from my own thoughts and turn my head to Sweetie Belle, who cocks her head to the side worryingly.
"So, what're we gonna do to earn our Cutie Marks? I think I've got a pretty nice knack for--" I start, but am immediately cut off by Sweetie Belle.
"Fixing the barn!" She squeals happily.
"...Not what I had in mind, but that'll do, I suppose. Beats working as an office kiss a--...butt for an overweight manager." I chuckle, censoring myself in front of Sweetie Belle, who smiles in return.
"At least your sister doesn't want you to become some lame-ass stylist." Sweetie Belle laughs; I join in.
Several minutes of walk and idle banter later, we arrive at the Apple residence, meeting Scootaloo and Applebloom at the entrance to the Apple Family property.
"So, y'all ready!?" Applebloom excitedly asks as Scootaloo hops around me in a circle, fluttering her tiny, orange wings as fast as possible to try and gain some air-time.
"Totally!" Sweetie Belle announces as the four of us canter over to the decrepit, red barn to get started.
Once inside, the four of us begin to formulate a plan while Applebloom's brother, Big Macintosh, carts in a wheelbarrow of tools and supplies for this large undertaking. Hopping on top of a neatly stacked pile of cleanly cut timber inside the barn, I use magic emanating from my horn to pry one of the pieces atop the pile and hoist it in the air, also grabbing a hammer and a few nails. Big Macintosh stays outside, keeping an eye on us to see if we do anything dangerous or wrong; we're eleven, we can take care of ourselves.
"So, how are things at home? You never talk about anything there." Scootaloo calmly asks me as she hauls a can of paint in her teeth over to the wall catercorner to where I work.
"Oh it's...fine..." I trail off as I bash a nail into the plank while holding it over a broken part of the wall; Scootaloo grabs the paint brush with her teeth and marring the pale wall with a fresh coat of red paint.
"The way you put that don't make it sound fine, Crest." Applebloom states from behind me as she hoists a saddle pack filled with tools onto her back and trots over to the pile of timber.
"It's nothing...I'm fine." I push away my friend's concerns and keep hammering more nails into the plank of wood.
"Crest. There's something wrong. That bruise is still there." Sweetie Belle urges from right behind me.
I turn to say something smarmy in response, only to find my friends gazing deep into my light blue eyes with genuine concern.
"I..." I can't tell them the truth. Colgate will castrate me...and then kill me.
"Please." Sweetie Belle pleads as she gives me puppy-dog eyes.
I notice Big Macintosh step into the barn to see what all the commotion is about. His eyes meet mine and I turn away, not wanting him to see the fear and anguish in mine.
"You can talk to us, Crest. We won't judge." Big Macintosh says as warmly as he possibly can.
"I just don't want to talk about it." I turn around once again and pick up another nail, having realized that I had already beaten in twelve nails in the board at odd angles already. I hang my head and give a pitiful sigh.
"Crest..." Applebloom sounds fearful of what I might say back, almost wincing in case I lash out at her.
I can't tell them the truth. I won't. Not only do I want to expose my sister, but I don't want to know what she'd do if she found out that I told on her...I feel genuinely afraid for my life, and my friends are tempting me with my own existence in my hooves.
"I...I have to go!" I yell randomly as I drop the hammer and sprint gallop my friends as fast as I can.
"Stop! We can help you! Crest!" Sweetie Belle shouts with true empathy in her voice as I gallop far away from them.
I don't care anymore, I don't even acknowledge Applejack as I pass her when I exit the gate to the road. I skitter past other ponies that pass by, giving confused or annoyed glances as I brush past them with speed.
Several minutes of running later, I finally reach my home. I don't want to go in. I never want to go in nowadays. I'm too afraid that Colgate might lash out at any time and I might not even be prepared like last time. Moments later, I see a dark red face peer from the upstairs window. A wine-red mane covers the top part of the face; I know who it is. Berry Punch, Colgate's girlfriend. They've started dating several weeks ago, and that's when Colgate stopped hurting me; coincidence?
Berry Punch raises a hoof and waves, smiling. I do the same. Colgate's face soon joins Berry's face, looking indifferent at me. I sigh once more and trot into the house. Berry's supposed to be over for dinner tonight, so, I hope Colgate won't be so shitty towards me tonight...Celestia, I fucking hope so.
