Hard Life Growing Up

by Artistic Fox

Rating: teen
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Sad, Original Character, Profanity, Violence, Slice of Life
Length: 10742

The backstory of the character Artistic Palete; as she grows from a filly to a mare and learns her place in the world.

Following her awareness, a little fox/pony hybrid learns how to survive in the wild, live with the public and become her own pony.

Published 2020-02-09 10:10:01 UTC
Last updated 2020-02-09 10:10:01 UTC

Abandoned

I never knew my parents. The last thing I ever remembered was screaming, crying for my mother. She never came though. It could have been hours for all I knew, I wasn’t very self aware from the start.

I eventually came to a stop, but only after realizing I was alone. Surprisingly, being alone didn’t make me start to cry again. I don’t know what happened to my parents, why they weren’t around. I was only a pup, or a filly, or whatever I was.

Propped up against a swayed tree, it was a great source of shelter. Unfortunately, it also covered me from the rain. Normally, that would have been a good thing. But when you’re so young and alone with no one to feed you, what else could you get but water?

Food was not an option. I could barely roll over, let alone walk and if I even managed to catch anything, it would need to be tiny, my teeth hadn’t come in at all. Probably the only reason I survived was due to the small trench that ran past me. When it did rain, only during heavy rains, it would fill with water and rush past me. I could barely reach my hoof into it to get a little bit of moisture.

It was only a couple of weeks before I began to walk. I don’t know if that was sooner than normal, but I didn’t really have any choice. It was hard though, first I had to master, rolling. It took a lot of effort just to roll onto my chest, even more to support my weight on my hooves. It was a struggle, I failed countless times, but I never gave up, nor did I shed a single tear since that day I was alone.

Walking wasn’t too difficult. After managing to support my own weight, which was quite easy, I was very skinny. Next came the harder part. Moving forward and keeping my balance. To protect myself, I would wrap my tail under my belly as each step I attempted, ended with falling forward onto my chest. As hard as I tried, I just kept falling forward. I tried to lean back as I stepped, but in the end my face hit the ground.

It was becoming more difficult, each day I was getting weaker, hungrier. I couldn’t survive on water alone. I took to eating the grass around the tree’s roots. It kept me alive, but didn’t help my energy. I did manage to walk eventually, in case you were wondering. Not quite knowing the secrets of my body, I realized my tail kept my balance, so I kept it stretched out any time I walked. It was an odd site, but I soon let it sway instead.

Now that I was able to walk, food was on the list. My teeth were barely out, not much use for anything big, but enough for something small. I laid claim to small bugs everywhere, but I was never fast enough to catch them. I had to resort to smaller bugs.

Ants were everywhere. I set myself up by a small ant hill. When any left the top, I would be there, ready to lick them up. Probably should feel sorry for them, unable to leave their home under threat of being eaten alive, but unable to stay with the threat of starving to death.

It wasn’t my concern. Survival was my priority. The ants gave me some energy the grass couldn’t. Next came the bigger prey. Quickly honing my skills on walking, I was able to slow trot now, making catching bugs such as beetles, much easier.

They were too large to swallow whole like the ants and their squirming made me sick. As minuscule as my teeth were, I chewed them up. They hurt with every bite, their thick shells, cutting into my soft gums. It was just another trial I had to over come.

Next came something that had I not corrected then, it might have been permanent. Cleaning myself… Of course, over so many weeks, ‘things’ were stuck to my fur in placed… I’d rather not mention. Sure there was a little bit of mud here and there, but as a small baby, there’s some places the parents are meant to help clean.

I wasn’t too sure how it worked, but I had seen other creatures do it. I once came across a lake, or a puddle, it was hard to tell at my size. There were a couple of creatures there, taking a drink. From what I saw of myself, being my black hooves and fluffy tail, they too looked like me.

When I approached them, they noticed me. One moment they’re staring at me, the next they’re off, running into the forest. I remember wondering, why not come to my aid? I was one of them, do they not help their own. That’s when I saw my reflection for the first time in the water. Of course it scared me at first, but I soon learned it was only me. But what really set me off was how my face, looked so much different to theirs.

The markings were almost identical, but their snouts were thin while mine was thick. They had narrow eyes while mine were large and round. Even looking at my hooves, I noticed theirs were thinner, and had many tiny appendages on the ends. Oddly enough, a lump protruded from my head, I had not idea what it was.

I may not have gotten them to help me, but I did see one lick themselves. I might not be one of them, but I was close enough to resemble one. So I gave myself a lick, starting with the easiest spot, my hoof.

The taste alone made me want to throw up right there and then. I didn’t even want to waste the time to move my hoof out of the way; having my snout so close only helped me notice the smell too.

Not wanting to go for another lick, I turned to leave, but my tail had stumbled under my hoof. The pain wasn’t the issue; it was the lost balance that tipped me over into the puddle. It was a lucky break; the water had washed away a lot of the dirt on my fur, so much so that the clear puddle was brown in a few seconds.

I learned an important lesson about grooming then and there. I’m not a fan of licking myself still, I do sometimes but, only as a last resort. It still leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Filly

Four years had passed and the creature was now entering a new stage of her life. Her body started to take a stronger shape, although still small, it allowed for her to hunt much easier. Her legs were stubby and short whilst her tail had become bushier than it used to be. Sneaking around had become difficult as her tail would constantly sway across dry leaves, making a noise and scaring her prey, holding it up too high gave her position away too.

She thought she finally had a method worked out as she crouched beneath a bush, watching as the unsuspecting rabbit pulled roots from the ground and began gnawing on them.

There was a sudden ‘snap’ in the bushes opposite her, it startled the rabbit that turned and ran in her direction. She pounced, leaping towards the rabbit but since it was already on alert, changing directions was easy for it as it turned again and ran away from her.

She chased after it, leaping through the bushes and grass. The rabbit was fast but as it needed to run in a sort of zigzag to avoid branches and overgrown roots, she was able to run over them, gaining the extra ground. There was an arch of a root with a bush, nearly as tall behind it.

Taking one last leap onto the tall root as the rabbit ran underneath, she kicked off with her hind legs, fore legs out stretched, ready to land on the rabbit on the other side. Instead she came face to face with another creature and crashed into it.

The two toppled over. Falling onto her stomach with this other creature landing on top of her, she saw the rabbit she chased run past them and disappear into the bushes.

“Look what you’ve done!”

She got up, tossing the creature off her back. She stood onto her hind legs and peaked over the bushes. The rabbit was far gone; there was no catching it now. Angrily, she turned to the other creature.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”

The other creature got up and immediately scooted back, pressing her own back into the bush.

“I’m sorry! I was lost; I didn’t mean to get in your way…”

She put down her hooves and looked into the face of the one shouting at her and her eyes widened.

“Oh good, another filly. You know the way out of here don’t you?”

Taken aback, a little confused, what was a filly? Looking at this other one, she did notice similarities between the two. While they both had large and rounded snouts, short and stubby legs, she was taller than herself and her tail was, much better kept. Besides, that, she seemed to lack any bodily markings except a symbol on her flank.

“Do you know the way back?”

She repeated as she got to her hooves.

“Back where?”

“To the school…?”

She tilted her head in confusion, looking around for anything that could be considered a school. It was at that moment that the filly realized that this other filly was not like her, at least not exactly. It piqued her interest a bit.

“My name is Forest Hopper. What’s your name?”

She tilted her head again.

“What’s a name?”

“Really? It’s what others call you. What do others call you?”

“Well one of the other creatures in the forest said…” At this point, she got low to the ground and started screeching like a wild animal. “…Is that a name?”

“…No… it’s not…”

“Wait, so if I wanted to call you, I just say Forest Hopper, and you’ll come back?”

“Well, I won’t just appear but if you’re near me, I’ll come towards you, yes.”

Laughter rang out as she collapsed on the ground, laughing harder than she ever has in her lift.

“What’s so funny?”

“You’re name is Forest Hopper… Ha ha ha… That’s so fucking stupid!”

Forest’s face glows a bright red before turning up her nose and walking off.

“Wait up Forest Hopper! I wanna see a school!”

She got up and started chasing after her, easily catching up and walking beside her. Although she was shorter than Forest, her energetic way of walking made up for the speed of travel.

Forest was quiet for the first few minutes before she gave out a sigh and turned her head.

“How long have you been here for? I don’t think I’ve seen you in town before and there’s not another one nearby at all.”

“Here? In this forest? As long as I can remember.”

“You’ve been living in this forest? Alone?”

“Yeah, don’t you?”

“No, I live in a house with my mum and dad.”

“What’s a house, a mum and dad?”

Forest gave another sigh.

“Forget the house, a mum and dad are the two that raised you, were you not raised by anyone?”

“Nope, I never had anyone. But I think I remember… someone. She felt soft, warm… but that’s all I remembered…I think.”

She turned her gaze back to the symbol on Forest’s flank.

“Why do you have stuff on your butt?”

“It’s not stuff, it’s a Cutie Mark. It shows up when you find your special talent, that one thing you do best. Mine is a tree because I am attuned with nature. Unfortunately I get to attuned that I lose track of where I am and get lost often.”

“So you’re name is Forest Hopper and you have a tree for a Cutie Mark?”

“Yeah… It’s odd that lots of ponies have names that happen to match their Cutie Mark quite often. Like their parents are psychic.”

“Pony?”

Forest stopped walking; looking down at the filly she was walking with. Only now did she really take in the features of this particular one. Her mane was messy, hooves and ears tipped black, tail bushy with a white tip and of course all the mud that matted down her fur all over the place.

“You’re a pony… I think. You look a little, different, definitely shorter.”

Forest began laughing but was immediately cut short.

“Hey fuck you!”

Forest stopped laughing and grunted.

“Where did you learn such language but can’t learn anything else on your own?”

“Fuck if I know?”

Forest’s gaze turned to her head.

“Know any magic?”

The confused look on her face gave Forest her answer.

“Never mind.”

Their trek through the forest finally brought them to a path. She had not gone this far before. She had everything she needed nearby, heading so far off seemed pointless, but curiosity did get the best of her.

“I know where we are now! Follow me!”

Forest ran off down the path. Breaking out into a sprint, she caught up easily enough but came to a grinding halt she the path opened up into a wide, open area. There were many ponies, at least 20 of them, all running around, playing with each other.

Stopping short of the clearing did not keep her out of sight for long as one other pony noticed her and pointed her out to the ones she was playing with. They too began pointing her out and soon, all of them were looking at her.

It was quiet. Just 20 pairs of eyes, staring at her. The idea of running ran through her mind but before she could turn, she was called out.

“Hey! Over here!”

Forest shouted, waving her hoof to beckon her closer. She started walking towards her, head low, avoiding eye contact. Whispers broke out among the crowd. Her hearing however was quite good and allowed her to pick up what they were saying.

“Who is that?”

“Why is she so dirty?”

“What’s with those marking?”

“Why’s she so short?”

She finally reached Forest who stood at a fountain, lapping up the water.

“Want a drink?”

The water shot out from a small ball in the middle of a bowl. As she leaned in to get some, it stopped flowing and disappeared. She stood back before leaning in again, waiting for the water to flow. She let out a growl before biting on the ball in the middle, her growls getting more intense as she grinded her teeth against it.

“Umm… you have to press the pedal.”

She let go of the ball, looking down at the base of the fountain and saw the pedal. A little hesitantly, she lifted her leg and placed it on the pedal as instructed. It suddenly dropped under her weight and she leapt back, startled.

A few giggles broke the silence from the crowd as everyone was still focusing on her. She got back up on the fountain again and stepped on the pedal. Water flowed once again and she leaned in and licked the water. Her pupils dilated, her heart pounded faster. The water she always found in the forest was murky and disgusting but it was all she knew. This water was clean and cold, it was the best she’s ever had.

She continued to lap at the water that never seemed to stop flowing until someone shouted out behind her.

“Oh cool, everyone look at this!”

All the ponies’ attention on her dropped as they all turned and began gathering around someone else. Forest grabbed her hoof and pulled her with her as she forced her way through the crowd, pulling her along with her. She was pulled up to the front where a colt stood, showing off his own Cutie Mark, a fidget spinner.

“Just got it last night. Probably the best Cutie Mark in the history of Cutie Marks if you ask me.”

‘This guy looks like a massive asshole.’ She thought.

“You look like a massive asshole.”

The crowd went silent again as the colt turned towards her.

“Who are you? Shorty!”

“Who are you? Fuck face!”

The crowd oohed and laughed. The colt was getting angry.

“I don’t need to introduce myself to some scrawny filly that looks and smells like they’ve been living in a garbage bin.”

“Fuck you, you piece of shit! I’ve taken down bigger prey than you before; I can take you down easy.”

The colt picked up a nearby rock from the ground and tossed it. Turning at the last moment to protect her face, the rock hit her in the shoulder. She had felt pain before. Stubbing her hoof, tripping and falling, but this felt different. She placed her hoof on her shoulder where it hurt, but the pain intensified. She removed her hoof quickly and looked down. There was a red stain on her hoof.

“Why don’t you go back to your bin you freak!”

The colt shouted, chucking another rock. She ducked, barely avoiding it before pushing her way through the crowd and running back for the forest.

“Wait!”

That was the last she heard from Forest among the laughter of the other ponies. She sprinted down the track, turning and charging through the woods, trying to get as far as she could. It was hard to see as her vision became blurry, tears streaked down her cheeks as she began to slow down, both from her blurred vision and exhaustion.

Thunder echoed through the forest as dark clouds began to form. Rain immediately began to shower and her dirtied fur became soaked almost instantly. She found a small alcove in a giant tree trunk nearby and headed for it, taking shelter from the storm. Amidst the sniffles, she gently began licking her wound. It helped in the past when she got hurt, she hoped it would help now but the metallic taste of metal was making it very difficult.

“Well, well, well. Look at the little foal. Why don’t you cry to your mum? Where is she huh? Bet she tossed you away cuz she didn’t want such a freak for a kid!”

“Fuck off!”

She growled, getting back onto all four.

“Get the fuck away from me!”

“Yeah right, like I’m gonna let some smug filly come in to my school, call me an asshole and take away my moment. You only get one Cutie Mark and you ruined mine!”

He tossed another rock. Lifting her leg, she managed to block it from hitting her face but the anger just rose. The colt grabbed another rock but as he was about to throw it, a green light erupted from the alcove.

Her eyes shut as the bright light invaded. There was a strange sensation running through her body, coming together on her forehead. She peeked through her hooves, finding the light had left. As she got up, she noticed something, the colt was gone. Did she scare him off with… whatever it was she did? Something suddenly moved from the corner of her eye. A mouse perhaps? She didn’t stop to let it escape; she pounced and caught it under her hooves.

Something was odd. Mice usually squirm a lot, they don’t just give up and they squirm all the way until her fangs come down on them. This one wasn’t moving, at least not much. She picked it up and held it firmly between her hooves. It wasn’t a mouse, it was the colt.

“What have you done to me? Let me go! I’m going to tell everyone what you’ve done!”

She was about to drop him with a familiar sensation ran through her. A loud gurgle erupted from her belly, implying her need for a meal. Her normal prey was always random animals, mice, squirrels, rabbits, anything she could catch, but she never had caught anything that spoke.

Something was telling her not to, but on the other hoof, every time she looked at this colt, she just felt anger. She hated this one and she knew exactly what to do with him.

His eyes widened as her jaws parted. His scream was barely heard as she pushed him into her awaiting maw. Now he was acting like a mouse, squirming and scurrying across her tongue, trying to pry open her lips. She flicked him over with her tongue, feeling him rub against her teeth. She brought them together, ‘Clack!’ she missed. He was squirming more, trying to avoid her teeth and forcing himself between her fangs and lips.

Her tongue easily scooped him out and placed him back on her teeth again. ‘Clack!’ he moved again, this time back onto her tongue. She tried to manoeuvre him back but he slid further away from the tip of her tongue, making it hard to move him. There was a sudden tickle in her throat, his leg? Maybe his tail? Either way she involuntarily swallowed, pulling the rather large meal into her throat.

She leaned down, coughing as the colt was slowly sucked down her throat. It was hard to breath but she continued to swallow, there was no going back now. With one last swallow, she felt her meal deep in her throat, enough for it to coax it along on its own. The sizable lump in her neck soon disappeared into her chest before the weight of food hit her stomach.

She had always ripped her meals apart, chewing before swallowing. It was just natural, after all the difficulty she had swallowing this one alive, but it gave a feeling in her stomach she very much enjoyed. It squirmed, wriggled, banged on her stomach for escape. She felt very powerful, it’s life in her hoof, but food was not meant to be released.

The storm didn’t look like it was going to end any time soon. The alcove in the tree was deep enough to avoid any splashing from the rain. Curling up in the corner, she began to drift off to sleep. The muffled screams and pounding inside her relaxed her as she dozed off.

Teen

Three more years later and the little filly had grown. Not quite an adult yet, but a teen of sorts. Her legs had gotten longer thus her speed had increased but still on the short side, barely taller than a filly.

She trudged through the snow. It was too thick to run and her weight kept making her sink if she stood still for too long. Her nose lowered to the ground, sniffing for what she sought. With a lick of her lips, she pounced, diving face first into the snow.

Her tail swung wildly above the surface as only her flank and hind legs remained with it. Bracing on her sides with her back legs, she pulled herself back out, pulling a mouse out by the tail wit her. With a flick of her head, she pulled the mouse into her maw and swallowed it whole.

Since the incident three years ago, she grew an affinity for swallowing her smaller prey whole. It gave her a feeling she couldn’t recreate any other way. Unfortunately, with the disappearance of that colt, it didn’t take long for a search party to comb the forest. She overheard some of the other fillies and colts telling the search party that he had chased after a strange filly with black markings.

It didn’t take much to work out that being found would be trouble for her so she ran. Unsure of how far they would go, she kept running from forest to field to desert to snow. She had seen quite a few things in her travels, towns full of ponies, new wildlife and prey to hunt down.

She still didn’t know what it was that caused that colt to become so small, but across her travels; she saw others with a similar lump on their heads, much like her own. They did amazing things with them, lifting stuff, doing tricks, stuff that got her excited. But alas, she didn’t know how to work it. Once in a while it would go off, but only when she was cornered by a larger predator that decided she would be their next meal.

It did excite her to have predators such as wolves and bears on her diet, but still unaware of how it worked, she preferred to run rather than hope it would go off when she needed it to.

The hardest part was what the colt said to her. As much as she hated everything about him, except his flavour, she felt different to everyone else. A part of her wanted to fit in but she couldn’t show herself to random ponies, always fearing, what if they attacked her too?

She was no idiot though, once in a while, she’d have no choice but to ask someone something, some were hesitant, some ran, some where plain rude. She liked to be just as rude back but that usually ended with her being chased off again.

Full from her hunt, she moved on from the field, circling around the outskirts of a town she had been living nearby for the past few days. She had made a temporary burrow by some metal lines that ran in parallel with each other. Every now and then, this big, loud thing would run along them. It used to scare her, but she found it also scares all the other animals, making it a safe place to be.

“I wish I could go to Canterlot. I heard its where some of the best ponies live.”

“Oh I know. I swear everyone wants to be a Canterlot pony.”

Her ears swerved in the direction of the conversation. Two elder mares stood on a platform right next to the metal lines. ‘Everyone wants to be a Canterlot pony? Perhaps if I too was one, I would no longer be so strange like everyone thinks.’

“Hey! How do I become a Canterlot pony?”

She leapt up onto the platform, startling the two mares.

“Excuse me? You want to know how to get to Canterlot?”

One of them responded to her, but they both slowly stepped back, seemingly trying to keep their distance.

“Yeah, that!”

“Just hop on the train, it’s the last stop.”

She turned and ran towards the big, loud thing they had pointed at. ‘A train they said it was.’ Running up beside the train, she leapt up, barely catching the roof before pulling herself on top.

“Hey! Get down from there!”

Looking back over to the platform, she saw a disgruntled stallion, waving his hoof in the air.

“You have to buy a ticket! No free rides!”

He pointed towards a booth nearby, a single window with a hole at the base of it. She sighed and hopped down from the train, running off to the booth where another stallion sat inside.

“Ticket?”

“Where to?”

“Canterlot.”

“12 bits.”

“Bits of what?”

The stallion looked at her, unsure where to go with that.

“Bits of coin…?”

“Oh… what’s a coin?”

“Listen kid, I don’t have time to spend playing games with you. If you want a ticket to Canterlot, it’ll be 12 bits.”

He grunted before sitting back in his chair and pulling up a newspaper. Looking around, she saw the two elderly mares starting to leave. She charged towards them, circling them and stopping them in their tracks.

“Do you have bits of coin?”

“Ha, I knew it was some beggar filly. I thought she looked way to dirty.”

The two scoffed and pushed past her, holding their noses up high.

“Cunts…”

She turned her sights down the street. She had never really gone into town before, but she had to find some bits. Down the street, there was a crowd of ponies and many small buildings, full of items and food. She walked past one in particular that had barrels full of apples.

“Two bits for three Apples.”

The mare behind the stand shouted. Grabbing three apples, she put them on the counter in front of the mare standing behind it.

“Two bits please!”

“What are you trying to be funny? Get out of here before I call the guards.”

She backed off immediately, poking her tongue out at the mare before running off into the crowd. Standing beside another one of the small buildings and observed.

“Five bits for a Watermelon.”

She watched closely as a pony approached. She grabbed a watermelon from the barrel and dropped five small, gold circles on the counter before walking away.

‘So those are coins, but how do I get them?’ She looked around and noticed a stallion, dropping many coins into a large pouch before hanging it off his flank. Lowering herself to the ground, she crawled towards him. He didn’t seem to notice her as she slowly lifted her hoof up towards the pouch.

“Theif!”

Her ears perked up as a mare had called her out. Everyone turned towards her direction while whistles began screeching through the air. A couple of ponies in armoured uniform charged towards her.

“Oh fuck me!”

She got up and ran in the opposite direction, leaping between the crowds of ponies. One daring stallion decided to try and tackle her but she easily jumped above his lunge and kicked off from the back of his head. She had cleared the crowd easily enough while the guards were still trying to push past them.

Running down the end of the street, she took a sharp turn, breaking the line of sight before ducking into a nearby building, shutting the door quickly and bracing her back against it. Her hear was racing as she heard the clops of the guards getting closer. Any second, she was expecting the door to vibrate as they attempted to get in, but the clops began to fade as they ran past, trying to find where she might have been hiding.

Once she could no longer ear a sound, she sighed a breath of relief before walking away from the door. Before her stood multiple columns, running down as far as the building stretched. On each of these objects was an assortment of rectangular objects. She grabbed one and it flipped open. Thin, white sheets flipped open with it, each sheet having squiggly lines and sometimes pictures on them.

“Can I help you?”

She jumped, dropping the object and turning around. An old mare with a cane hobbled towards her.

“Looking for a particular book?”

Looking down at the book she dropped, she picked it back up and flipped it open.

“What do you do with these?”

The old mare laughed.

“You read them of course. You do know how to read, don’t you?”

“That depends, what is reading?”

The old mare’s laughter quickly stopped, turning to a face of seriousness.

“Open a book, tell me, what does it say?”

She looked at the open book she had and stared at the lines on the pages. She brought the book closer and waited.

“Well?”

“I don’t know, it didn’t tell me anything.”

“No, no, no. The books don’t speak; you read the words on the pages.”

“These squiggly lines? These are words?”

The mare had a concerned look on her face.

“How old are you?”

“I don’t fucking know.”

“Watch your language! Another outburst like that and I may just not help you.”

“You… want to help me?”

The mare turned around and beckoned her to follow. Walking as slow as the mare in front of her, she followed her around the shelves to a desk in the corner. Opening a nearby cabinet, the mare shuffled through the pages, pulling out a thin book.

“Why aren’t you scared of me?”

“Why would I be scared of a little filly?”

“Most others don’t like how I look…”

“Well lucky for you, I can’t see what you look like then.”

Her head tilted, confused before she waved her black hoof in front of the mare. She didn’t even flinch.

“Blind as a bat. Now, if you want to learn to read, you have to start with the basics.”

She opened the book to the first page. A picture of an apple with a pointed, black marking next to it.

“This is the alphabet; it starts with the letter ‘A’.”

Across the next hour, the old mare showed the filly each of the letters of the alphabet and even had her memorize them. Before either of them had noticed, it was dark outside.

“I guess we should call it a night. Will you be alright going home this late?”

“Oh yeah, I could probably catch dinner on the way home.”

She hopped down and began to leave when she noticed a huge stack of books, pilled up across four desks.

“Did you read all those?”

“Ha ha, no. Those were returned books just after I lost my sight. I can’t find where to place them and ponies can’t find the books they’re looking for since I haven’t put them back on the shelves. So no one comes by anymore.”

“Why doesn’t someone help you?”

“Because I can’t pay them. At best, I can offer three bits a week, but that’s not enough for any one.”

“Bits? If I put these books away, you’ll give me bits?”

“Gladly, but if you’ve only now learnt the alphabet, how much do you not know about numbers or the Dewey Decimal System?”

The blank expression and silence was enough for her to know she didn’t understand, even if she couldn’t see the blank expression.

“Well, I guess numbers are easier to learn than reading and the system isn’t all that complicated. Tomorrow, I can teach you how it all works and then we can go back to reading. You can come in, help put away some books in the morning and I can teach you in the afternoon.”

With a smile, something she had not done in a long while, the filly agreed to the lectures before departing the library, running off home whilst still keeping to the shadows.

Across the next few weeks, the filly quickly learned to count and began working on the books while reading was a bit more complicated. Day by day, she learned a bit more and cleared away stacks of books in the process. Three weeks in, she was reading on her own, starting off with filly grade books but slowly working her way up.

Each week, the librarian gave her three bits and every time, she would run back to her burrow, dig a little deeper and bury them for safety. Five weeks in, she had finally fully comprehended the basics of reading. She wasn’t perfect, but it was enough to get by on. All the books that were stacked on the desks were completely cleared and she had a hefty pouch of coins now. She had found an old chip bag to carry her coins in.

“So what’s next for…? Oh! Dear, I never even asked your name.”

“I don’t have one.”

“You don’t have a name? Well why don’t you make one for yourself. You can have others call you whatever you want.”

“Maybe, one day I’ll make a name for myself.”

Searching through a couple of books, she opened one to find there were no words in it, only pictures.

“Is this a filly book as well?”

“Why? Whats the title of the book?”

“Art of the ages.”

“Oh no, that isn’t a filly book. That’s art. I’m no artist myself, but some say art is a representation of one’s life. What is created is formed by circumstance and events. Most artists paint based on personal events in their life, it gives them motivation. Their art looks the way they envision, the way they want it.”

“Am… I art?”

“I can’t answer that. Art is subjective; multiple ponies could all have different opinions about the same piece of art. Tell me, do you shape things the way you want it to be? If so, you might just become a talented artist one day.”

Memories ran through her mind, thinking back to her younger days. Did she shape her own life? Everything she’s done has been her own ideas, she survived all this time on her own and she handled any threats, on her own. Perhaps she was an artist.

“Here, I thought you might like this, as a thank you gift for helping me around the library.”

The mare handed her a brown book, it was quite thick, much thicker than she had ever read before. She looked at the title and read it aloud.

“A beginners to advanced book of magic.”

“Just because I’m blind, don’t think I didn’t notice you have a horn.”

She reached up and rubbed the lump that had grown from her forehead. A horn, that’s what it was.

“A filly of your age should be doing at least some magic by now. Who knows, it might help you with whatever goals you have.”

The doors swung open as a small group of ponies entered. With the library now stocked properly, other were coming to use it once again. The old mare whispered to the filly.

“Good luck with your magic.”

She then turned and slowly headed back to the counter to help the customers check out some books.

“Goodbye and thank you!”

She yelled back, startling everyone in the library as she ran out, holding the book in one hoof and galloping on the remaining three. After a quick stop by her den to pick up her coin pouch, she was off to the station, excitedly holding the pouch between her teeth as she stood in front of the stallion in the booth.

“Where to?”

“Canterlot!”

“12 bits.”

She placed the book down on the counter before tipping out 12 coins from her chip bag. They were covered in dirt from when she buried them and also with remnants of food from the bag. The stallion sighed as he grabbed the coins and slid them across the counter, into a register drawer that pulled out from beneath.

He pulled out a small ticket from under the counter and pushed it through the small hole. Excitedly, she grabbed the ticket between her teeth and left before quickly returning and tucking her coin pouch under her chin.

Now, finally with a ticket, she boarded the train, taking a seat on a near empty cart. With so much space to herself, she spread out her possessions of which she had accumulated across the last month.

A book, an old chip bag with three coins and a ticket, slightly drooled on; she was so excited. A couple of pegesi a few seats ahead of her began whispering to each other. Her highly attunded ears easily picked up the conversation.

“Look at that filly. She’s weird looking.”

“Yeah, let’s move to another cart.”

The two got up and started moving to the other side of the train.

“Fuck off I didn’t want to look at you shit heads the whole time anyway!”

The couple quickened their pace, sliding open the door and disappearing into the next cart. All alone with silence, she pulled open the book she was gifted and began to read as the train slowly took off from the station.

A door behind her swung open as a bearded pony entered. He looked around to find it near empty apart from the one unicorn filly. As he approached her, he outstretched his hoof.

“Ticket please.”

“What?”

“Your ticket, may I have it.”

“Piss off and get your own!”

He was taken aback. He looked ready to respond before he stifled himself.

“I need to see your ticket to ensure you paid for this trip.”

“Oh… Ok, but I want it back.”

She picked up the ticket between her lips and dropped it onto the stallion’s hoof. With a quick glance at the details on the ticket, he pulled out a hole puncher and popped a hole in the ticket.

“What the fuck did you do that for?”

He grunted as he dropped the ticket onto the seat beside her and walked off into the next cart.

“I know where you work!”

Opening the book, she found a notice on the first page.

‘Disclaimer: Unicorn magic is generally reserved towards one pony’s special talent. Although any pony can cast any spell instructed in this book, some will find much more difficulty than others.’

The trip was quite a long one. She didn’t realize how far Canterlot was it did give her time to get through the book and even learn some of the basic spells near the beginning. Levitation for one was very helpful, making it much easier to carry her possessions. She did attempt some of the advanced spells, but apart from a few sparks of her horn, nothing seemed to happen.

“We’ll be arriving at Canterlot in five minutes.”

A voice rang out of the speakers in the cart. Her heart was beating faster. She had been waiting and working hard for the past month for this moment. She was going to be a pony that everyone else wanted to be.

With a few minutes to kill, she flicked through some of the other advanced spells, out of curiosity. That’s when she saw one that really grabbed her attention. The page was titled, ‘Shrinking Spell.’ Much like she had cast accidentally as a younger filly, this spell gave the same effect.

Although an advanced spell, she had cast it once without even knowing what magic was. Would she not be able to do it again with instructions? Following them carefully, she focused her attention on the only thing in the cart that she could. The seat in front of her was the only thing on her mind. Slowly, she continued on to each step until she felt a tingling sensation in her horn. A small headache formed as she shut her eyes to help herself concentrate.

A bursting relief fell on her when her headache suddenly disappeared, followed by a screeching sound of metal on metal. She opened her eyes to find the seat in front, missing. She looked down and saw the seat was now tiny, smaller than her hoof. Several bolts were snapped in two, apparently from when the seat shrunk and pulled away from its bolted position.

“Last stop! Canterlot!”

The speaker went off again as the train screeched to a halt at the station. She jumped up onto the window and looked outside, but it was too hard to see through all the steam the train had set off. Grabbing her belongings she jumped off her seat and bounded full speed towards the door.

As she left, the bearded pony from before entered from the other side of the cart, looking around before noticing the empty space a seat should have been. The shrunken seat and broken bolts easily caught his attention as he leaned down for a closer inspection.

“Aww really? The conductor is gonna have my hind…”

The filly leapt off the train, standing on the platform as steam still surrounded her. Slowly it cleared and she finally got a full glimpse of Canterlot. It was beautiful. The buildings were tall and fancy, the streets were clean, the ponies all walked past in dresses and suits and not too far in the distance, she saw the castle.

She let out a giggle as she ran through the station, entering the streets and looking around at the shops and sites. As she ran through town, she passed many different buildings, but one caught her attention, one with a large window on the front and behind it, a fancy, red dress. She stood on her hind legs as she placed her fore hooves on the window to get a better look.

“Hey! Get off my window!”

Her attention was brought to a sophisticated looking unicorn on the other side of the window. She grabbed a broom and headed for the door. Dropping down on all four, she turned and ran as the unicorn burst out the door, brandishing the broom.

“Filthy tourist!”

She wasn’t aware if the unicorn was chasing her or not, she just kept running. As she ran, she noticed all the stares from the ponies around her. Each one of them turned their noses up as her, whispering insults towards her look. She ran around a corner into an alley and stopped to breath. It dawned on her, being here wasn’t enough, she was still the odd one wherever she went. She needed to change or no one would ever accept her.

Catching her breath back, she peeked around the corner. Ponies still walked past, sending glares her way. She looked up at the sky and saw it was dusk, it would be dark soon. Shelter was her first priority so she set off down the street, keeping to herself as she looked around for some place she could stay.

She happened across a park that was slowly emptying as ponies left to head home for the night. A small pond rested near the middle and a mound grew beside it. Finding a position that suited her, she began digging into the mound, tunnelling out her new den.

‘FWEET!’

The filly jumped at the sudden noise as her attention was brought to the pair of guards that began running towards her.

“Fuck me! Not again…”

She abandoned the unfinished den and ran for the streets again as the guards pursued her.

“Hey! Stop right there!”

“You must be as stupid as you look if you think I’m gonna stop!”

Her longer, teen legs made her speed much faster than some heavily armoured guards could handle as she easily escaped through the streets, losing them in moments. She hid in another alley and watched carefully as the guards ran past the alley, still in pursuit of her.

“Looks like I need to find another place to stay.”

Searching the alley, she found several bins, stacks of discarded boxes and piles of old newspapers. With a lot of help from her magic book, she was able to use levitation and create a decent shelter of boxes with the newspaper for something to lie on.

‘It’s not much…’ She thought as she crawled into the boxes, laying on the newspapers and pulling a couple of pages over her back. ‘…but its something.’

Mare

Three more years passed as the unicorn peered through the bushes. Her prey was sitting there, just waiting to be eaten. She couldn’t help but lick her lips as she smelt the aroma from her meal. With the use of her magic, she tilted a chair back until it fell over and clattered on the linoleum floor.

The Baker turned his head towards the fallen chair and set down the freshly baked loaf on the counter as he stepped around it to pick up the chair. He turned back to find the counter empty. Immediately, he shouted obscenities and started searching the bakery for his loaf of bread. Meanwhile, in the bushes, the mare giggled to herself as she munched on her warm loaf. How is it he falls for the same trick every single day?

With her breakfast taken care of, she snuck out from her bush, keeping to the shadows and walking behind larger objects to hide herself. Over the past three years, she has been living in Canterlot, learning how Canterlot ponies walk, talk and even act. Unfortunately she’s had to do certain things to survive. Tricking the baker out of a loaf daily was just one little thing.

She laid low as a guard walked past, a tinier guard on his shoulder as they searched the streets. She may have shrunken a guard or two or five during her stay here. It was a bit of a slow learning process to work out what she needed to do to survive and avoid trouble, but she got the hang of it. Once in a while, a guard might corner her, which was rare, but she always had a spell up her sleeve to deal with that.

Unfortunately, the guards had posted her face all over Canterlot meaning that it was getting harder and harder to move around the city without someone noticing her. She stopped by the park, taking a drink from the nearby fountain. Her face was plastered on the noticeboard next to it. As far as she could tell, she looked almost just like all the other ponies around the city, except her markings were more definitive and her mane was a mess. Along with the dusty fur and muddied hooves, she stood out of a crowd. Except for the fact that she was still shorter than the average pony, it helped her hide in a large crowd.

She thought it was time to leave, finally find a real home to settle down in with her new found way of acting. She no longer casually swore like she did as a filly, she instead spoke in a somewhat sophisticated way, just not as fake as other did. Sadly, the city was built on the side of a mountain and the only methods of leaving seemed to be flying, which was out of the question, or the train. But with her face plastered everywhere, getting onto the train was near impossible.

Over the years, she had managed to build up some bits which she kept safe, more than enough for a ticket out, but any time she attempted to buy a ticket or even just sneak onto the train to avoid spending as much time out in the open as possible, a guard or civilian would notice her and a chase would ensue.

She stood by the corner of an intersection, leaning up against the building as she looked around for any signs of guards. With a clear view, she turned the corner, immediately bumping into someone.

“Oh dear, are you alright?”

Several bags had fallen on the unicorn along with some decently heavy rolls of fabric. Each of the items that fell on her we lifted up as she saw another unicorn, a white one helped her up onto her hooves. Although her eyes barely met the mare’s chin, this one didn’t seem to look down on her as other ponies did.

“Oh my, you’re absolutely filthy. I do apologize for knocking you down. Please, allow me to clean you up.”

She stretched out her hoof. Unsure of what to do, very few ponies have been kind to her before but she’s been living in Canterlot for three years. No one has shown her any kindness. Still, something was telling her to go with it as she lifted her hoof to take hers.

“Oh wait. Um… Just follow me instead.”

So not hugely different to others, but then again, her hooves were dried with mud and dusty, she was willing to look past it. She followed the unicorn who led her to a shop, a new shop that seems to have just recently opened. That would explain why she didn’t seem to recognize this unicorn. Three years is a long time to learn the faces of everyone you don’t like, her face wasn’t on that list.

Up until the shop, she had been walking beside the unicorn. As she opened the door to the shop, she entered first and she noticed this unicorn’s unusually curled, purple tail.

“You have such a unique tail.”

“Why thank you. Yours is… Well I can’t really tell under all that mud and dirt.”

She turned to look at her own tail, not realizing that it was worse than her hooves. It was matted down and solidified in mud. Had she painted it, it could pass for all the normal looking tails ponies had.

The unicorn led her upstairs to a shiny, clean room where a few fixtures she didn’t recognize stood. The stranger went to a large white bowl and turned a couple of handles as water poured out of the side, filling up the bowl.

Slowly walking up beside the unicorn and the bowl, she peered of the rim to see the bowl full of hot, steaming water.

“Hop in.”

She jumped back.

“You plan on cooking me?”

The unicorn burst out into laughter, taking a moment to calm herself.

“It’s a bath.”

She slowed down her laughter to small giggle.

“You do know what a bath is right?”

Her giggle became silent when she realized that this orange unicorn in fact did not know what a bath was. The white unicorn cleared her throat and patted the rim of the bowl.

“Trust me, jump in, I bet you’ll love it.”

Still a little hesitant, she approached the bowl and hoisted herself up on her hind legs. She touched the water with one hoof and immediately felt some heat through the caked mud. She pulled herself over and slid into the bowl, splashing water everywhere. The clear, hot water had turned black in an instant.

“Oh dear… This might take a while…”

After draining the water, refilling it, draining it again and refilling it a third time, the water remained, somewhat clear enough to clean herself in. The unicorn gave her a soft, soapy sponge for her to scrub herself with as she scrubbed her hooves with a thick bristled brush.

“I don’t know what to say. I’ve been scrubbing your hooves for half an hour and no matter what, they just stay black.”

“They’ve always been black.”

The unicorn raised her eyebrow as she followed the black hoof up her leg, finding the section the colours change from black to orange.

“Oh, what a unique coat you have.”

The orange unicorn giggled a bit. No one had every complimented her look, only insulted her. With every part of her body scrubbed and rescrubbed, she was helped out of the bowl and given a soft cloth.

“Dry yourself off and come back downstairs.”

The unicorn left, leaving her to work out how this cloth worked. She wrapped it around her head, waiting for her fur to dry but it was taking to long. She hung it over her back, but also nothing happened.

Shrugging, she tossed it aside and shook her entire body, spraying water in every direction until she was dry. She felt strange all of a sudden. She looked around and saw another unicorn in the room with her. When she tried to approach her, the unicorn approached her too. Getting closer to the unicorn, she realized that they looked just like her. When she lifted a hoof to reach out and touch her, she also reached out to touch back, but instead of a hoof, she just felt a cold surface.

“Oh… a reflection?”

She was looking at herself, but it was strange, she had never really seen herself, so clean before. Her orange fur, black hooves and ears and bushy tail really did look different from other ponies, but everything else was the same.

Deciding not to dwell on her looks again, she left the shiny room and headed back downstairs. As she reached the bottom floor, she saw the white unicorn, walking around a small table with a fake looking pony standing on top. She was attaching fabrics and sowing pieces together, seemingly zoned out before her eye caught hers.

“Oh, you’re done already, good. Now I thought to make you a dress to apologize for knocking you over earlier, but most of my dresses are big, showy and fancy. I didn’t think that would suit a pony like you. You have, such a unique coat, your hooves stand out from the rest of your body, your tail is so bushy and soft…”

She took a moment to pick up her tail and stroke it gently.

“…So I thought a more, minimalist dress would suit you best, something to show off what you have that other ponies could only dream of.”

She undid the dress from the fake pony and brought it over to a tall box.

“Come on, try it on.”

As she approached the box, trying to inspect what it was, but the unicorn thrust the dress into her hooves and pushed her inside. It was quite large and along three walls were reflections of herself. Sure that she wouldn’t be allowed to leave without doing as she said, she crawled into the dress, fitting her hooves into the holes like the fake pony had.

Standing in front of the reflections, she looked on as a silky, red dress hung over her body, exposing her hooves and tail. Although ponies commented on how weird those parts of her were, she somehow saw them differently with this dress on.

Opening the door to the box, she stepped out to show off to the unicorn.

“Almost done.”

She grabbed her hoof and brought her over to another reflection that sat above a large table with a single chair behind it. Taking a seat in the chair, the unicorn began brushing her mane, spraying it with strange smelling mists and brushing it some more. As she watched the unicorn focusing on her mane, she also noticed her levitating another brush by her tail as it too was brushed.

“There. I think you’re done.”

When the unicorn stepped down from in front of her, she saw her reflection once again. But she looked completely different. Her mane was clean and brushed into a windswept look as the rest of her mane bounced on her shoulders. Her tail, no long a giant bushy mess but a smooth, thick tail. She was beautiful.

“How did you…?”

“It’s an art darling. I see what other could be and transform them. No one has to be who they are when they can be fabulous instead.”

‘I can be what I want to be…’ She thought as something in her head finally fell into place. She was always worried about how others saw her. What others thought of her, but this unicorn has shown her, it wasn’t what they think that mattered, it was what she thought.

There was a glow that began emanating from beneath the dress, catching both of their attentions. Getting up off the chair, the white unicorn circled her, lifting up the dress and gasping. On her orange flank, where it had been bare for as long as she had lived, a Cutie Mark had formed. A palette with a brush, covered in blank ink standing behind it sat on her flank. It reminded her of her own brush tail. As she lifted it up to admire, she quickly noticed the tip was now black, much like the brush on her mark.

“What an unusual occurrence. I’ve never seen a pony actually change with the appearance of their Cutie Mark before.”

“Thank you so much, for everything you have done for me…”

“Oh, you may call me Rarity and I may call you?”

She didn’t have a name. She wasn’t given one like everyone else, but with her newly formed Cutie Mark, it dawned on her that she wasn’t meant to receive one, she was meant to make a name for herself.

“Artistic. Artistic Palete.”

With a smile she had not felt in a long time, she left the shop, her head held high as she strutted down the street. She could see the difference as ponies turned their gazes towards her. Unlike before where they whispered cruel things towards her, they instead murmured their disbelief in her coat, her beauty. For the first time ever, she walked down the street, the centre of attention and it wasn’t a bad thing.

After a quick detour back to her shelter, to grab her things, she was certain, today was the day. She returned to the station, where guards roamed, still on the look out for her. As she approached the booth to buy a ticket, she saw another one of her posters attached to the inside of the window.

The picture was of a messy maned, dirty faced unicorn with no name. She leaned in closer, seeing her reflection on the glass in front of the poster. The reflection showed a beautifully kept mane, clean unicorn who knew who she was.

“Where to?”

“The end of the line.”

“25 bits.”

Palete poured her bits out onto the counter and began counting, finding herself short at only 19 bits. She didn’t expect this; she thought it would only be 12 bits. Had the price gone up over time or was it because Canterlot was an expensive city?

‘You are who you want to be…’

That line ran through her head as she stared at the stallion behind the booth. Leaning in closer, she lowered her eyes and spoke softly.

“I seem to be a bit short at the moment. Is there any other way I could cover the cost of this ticket?”

The stallion was flushed red as he struggled to speak.

“Umm… Come around to the door and maybe we could work something out…”

He got up from his seat and walked over to the door that Palete had already made her way over to. As he opened the door, he held out a ticket. Palete tried to grab it but he pulled it back, shaking his head. He then leaned closer and pursed his lips.

“Alright… but you’ll have to close your eyes.”

He followed her instructions and shut his eyes as he waited for his kiss. Palete turned away from him, flicking his face with the tip of her tail before pulling the ticket out of his hoof with her magic.

“Wow! What a mare…”

He rubbed his cheek from the slap, unaware of the ink trail that was slapped across his face from cheek to cheek. With her ticket in hoof, she approached the train where two guards stood. Without any hesitation, she walked past them, boarding the train with a smile on her face.

“Last call!”

As she took a seat in a cart where many other ponies sat, most turned to look at her, awestruck by her. It was a welcomed change from their usual reactions.

“Tickets please.”

A bearded stallion entered the cart, taking ponies tickets and punching a hole in them. As he approached Palete, she already had her ticket out, holding it before him. Punching a hole in it, he gave it back but stopped before moving onto the next pony.

“Hey, haven’t I seen you before?”

Palete smiled before looking up to the pony.

“No, I’m new here.”

“Oh, then have a nice day miss.”

Palete enjoyed the trip from Canterlot. Slowly, the cart dropped off a few ponies here and there as it stopped at station to station. Eventually, the speaker spoke the words she was waiting for.

“End of the line.”

Gathering her things, she exited the train onto the station. She could see, the town was small, but clean, modern. The streets were cobbled, there were no guards and there was many less ponies roaming the streets than Canterlot had. As the train departed from the station, Palete could see the other side of the tracks; a lush forest grew beside the town.

She took one last look around before nodding in agreement. She might look like a fancy Canterlot pony now, but deep down; she just wanted the peace and quiet of a forest to call her own. As she took a few steps towards the forest, a little filly approached her, holding some pamphlets in her hooves.

“Hi! Welcome to Alicorn Springs. What brings you here to our little town?”

Palete lowered herself to the filly’s height, although that didn’t mean she had to lean much, but she smiled and patted the filly on the head.

“Just heading home.”

With that, she leapt down from the station, walking off into the forest to make a new, permanent den.