Ever since I can remember, I have been...different. Well, different might just be the understatement of the day. You see, I might appear to be human to all of those who know me (excluding my parents) but those people truly do not know me very well. I was adopted from Calamere Orphanage at a very young age—presumably three months old—by my parents. I seemed at the time to be normal, but after I was brought home, as I am told, my parents began to find that I was becoming more and more ‘off’. A month after the adoption, I began to cry more and more. My parents, rightfully worried, brought me to the doctor, who said I was fine, and this sent me home.

That is when it happened. I was crying so loud and so much that my parents were terrified of the prospect of leaving me alone. Just then, I burst into bright emerald flames! My parents were horrified and dropped me on the ground. But, when the flames dissipated, what I had become shook them to the core. I was a human girl no longer: I stood on four shaky hooves and my body was plad in thick, black chitin. My eyes where slitted and were surrounded by bright orange pupils. I had two glossy, insect-like wings that hung limply at my sides. I had a small horn atop my head as well. My parents were rightfully scared and frightened, but when they began to shriek in alarm, I began to yell and cry as well. My parents were stunned by my behavior and realized that I was more than a monster and that I was just a baby all alone in the world, I just was not a human. Ever since then I have vowed to take care of me. That is as far back as the stories of my beginning go.

I do not know who my real parents are, and being shapeshifters, I doubted I would ever find out. I accepted that fact a long time ago and told myself to just enjoy what I did know and what I did have. So, after a long while, I came to terms with those simple facts. But, now, I am moving onto middle school. My older cousin, Nora, tells me that sixth grade is ‘the year that your childhood is taken away’, whatever the hell that means.

So, anyway, that should be great. Despite the prospect of middle school, I am slightly worried about what is in store. Being a...uh… shapeshifter...I have the strange ability to ‘see’ what other people are feeling. I thought that all people could see that for quite a while, but I found out later that reading emotions was not normal. I am drawn to positive emotion, and I avoid the negative emotions of those around me. If I get too much emotion too fast, my eyes will start to freakishly glow when in my human form. So...yeah...being around so much hormonal teenagers should be great for me. Well...that’s enough of me and my big mouth for now. I am on the way to school, after all. First day...yay?

“Jade!” A feminine voice shouted from the front seat. I shook my head, clearing my mind from all of my previous thoughts. I sensed annoyance coming from the front seat and wondering why looked outside. I realized the car was parked.

“Yeah Mom?” I sighed, rubbing my aching head with my hand.

“Damn negative emotions…” I thought angrily to myself as the headache pierced deeper into my skull.

“Are you going to be okay,” she asked gently. I avoided her milky, blue eyes. I gave a long sigh, and put on the best smile I could muster.

“Y-yea…” I replied, looking out the window of the minivan at the distant mountains. “If I got through Gregara Elementary School, I should be able to
handle four years in this place.” Mom gave me a small frown and shook her head.

“Alright,” she sighed, unlocking the car door. “Just so you know, if you have any...problems...or if your headaches get too much, just call me.” I put on my best smile as I grabbed my backpack. I pushed the door open to be greeted by the hot, summer air. I began to close the door, then hesitated. I looked into the car at my mom, sensing her worry and sadness as I began to close the door.

“I love ya, mom.” I said softly to her. I saw her eyes tearing up as she smiled.

“Love you too, my little cutie.” That was the last sentence spoken as I closed the door with a swift movement of my hand. My headache was more distant now that I was alone. I have a small sigh, sling my old, decrepit backpack over my shoulder and speed walked up to the front gates.
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The second I entered the gates to the middle school—my school—were moments of panic. So many emotions swarmed around me from all directions: excited, angered, saddened, happy...it was so overwhelming! I felt the familiar headache regain it’s hold on my head as my instincts tried to control me once more.

“Transform!” They told me. “Make the pain go away once more...just release and the headache will dissipate!” I shook my head, closing my eyes as I felt the glow spread to them. I needed to breathe—just like mom taught me—if I could just catch my breath…

“Hey Jade!” a squeaky voice called out to me. I bit my teeth together, forcing my mind to overcome the headache. I reached into the side pouch of my yoga pants and pulled out my sunglasses. I placed them on so that the glow of my eyes would not reach the eyes of the person addressing me. I looked at the one who called out my name and was happy to see who it was.

“Daisy!” I gasped, launching myself into a hug. The girl was wearing a ragged shirt and had long, golden hair. “It’s so good to see you! I haven’t seen you since fifth grade ended, you know! How have you been?” The positive emotions that radiated off of Daisy created a focal point for me. It calmed my headache down so it was at the back of my mind once more.

“Decent! I’m sorry I couldn’t get together with you over the summer! Believe me, I wanted to, but I was at summer camp most of the time…” she began to ramble at me. I smiled, taking in all of the positivity as I listened to what she had to say. After a while of her talking, I began to zone out. There was only so much of Daisy’s blabbering that you can take in one sitting, after all. I noted a sudden change of emotion as my cue to start listening—was that nervousness? “...and I met a new friend at camp—I told her all about you—and then I found out that she was going to come to the same middle school as us! Isn’t that great!” I felt slightly jealous of this “new friend”. She had gotten to spend pretty much the whole summer with Daisy, afterall. “Oh look, Daisy! There she is now!”

I saw her as she spotted Daisy, her chocolate eyes widening with surprise. She ran as fast as she could over to us, her light brown hair blowing in the wind. She smiled as she came to a halt in front of my friend.

“Oh my god!” she gasped. “Daisy, is this that awesome friend that you told me about!” I turned to face the newcomer, my gaze searching her through the sunglasses, for any sign of false eagerness. To my surprise, I found none. Feeling completely stupid, I stuck my hand out dumbly to her.

“Nice to meet you...uh...what’s your name? I never caught it…” I smiled sheepishly at her. The brown-haired girl gave a chuckle.

“Oh yeah...my name is Aria. Nice to meet you too, Jade.”
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The whole day from there on out was long, boring, and useless. If you want positivity, go talk to Daisy instead, otherwise your stuck with my interpretation of middle school. So, I met all of my teachers throughout the day. They were all fairly interesting, but the class at the end of the day—Social Studies— had one of the weirdest teachers I have ever met in my life. She called herself Ms. Gala, and she was a odd teacher. It wasn’t how she stared at me with her razor-sharp eyes or the fact that she, unlike the rest of the teachers, jumped straight into the lesson on the Civil War, and it wasn’t even the odd way she spoke. The fact that thoroughly gave me the creeps was that when I looked at her, I could not see anything. Well, sure, I could see her hazel eyes and dark brown hair and the odd star pattern outfit she was wearing, but I could not see her emotions. It was a lot like being blind; I could not even begin to guess what she was thinking. That simple fact is what put me off with her. And yet the way she looked at me…

I shook my head, looking for my mother and father's car in the extremely overcrowded parking lot. My head was pounding once again, but I had begun to get used to being around so many people. A honk of a car horn drew my eyes to the tan Toyota that I was looking for. I raced over to it and without turning back, I jumped in. My mother and father sat in the front seats, but there was uneasiness in the air. These were not my parents. The dread and fear that filled my chest realized that the second I searched them for any emotions possible. I could not sense anything from them. I felt my eyes flash with emerald magic as I glared at them.

“Who are you?” I hissed at them. My ‘father’ stayed still, looking forward while my ‘mother’ glances at me. With my heart pounding in my chest, I reached for the door handle, about to run out, before my mother began to speak.

“I would advise against that,” she purred, as if reading my mind. “What would they think of you if you said we weren’t your parents? Would you really be willing to risk your secret like this?” My hand slowly moved away from the door as the car lurched forward.

“Well...shit.” I thought as the school gates disappeared behind us as we drove away.

Author's Note

This is my first MLP fanfic I have ever written! Comments and advice are much appreciated!