At the break of fall, their family’s already barren land was in shambles. Wheelbarrows were flung aside, windows were shattered and worst of all, the ground, which used to be a majestic piece of lush green, was now a pathetic heap of dried soil and hoofprints. The farm had fallen into complete desuetude.
A single drop of water trickled from the tap.
“Looks like water would be gone too,” the most persistent farmer who retired from working retorted, as he trudged to the cabin.
Even the most impish farmer did not stop for a laugh. Their faces were all shades of grey, the emotions hidden underneath the grey mask was truly unfathomable. They looked apathetic but they were getting more desperate by the second, and the seconds ticked by hastily, not giving the farmers a second chance.
Their farm used to be a prestigious berry-world of mirth. However a dry spell, followed by a terrible typhoon destroyed all the plants and all there was left… was nothing. The berry family would soon recoil from its riches. Apart from the countless earth ponies working at the farm, there was the unicorn who kept his identity away from the earth ponies at the farm. If his cover was blown, torture was almost inevitable. A young Stetson hat was parched on his golden mane, and a full-body black suit overlaying his white coat. His nickname was Spades, the mysterious farmer. He was teased everyday by his comrades for being weak, physically unhelpful and not mentally strong and thus he was nicknamed Spades. But he had an even greater problem.
Different from the other farmers who were earth ponies, Nightshade was a unicorn, and he was delivered as a little colt from an anonymous couple, probably his parents. He decided to work at the farm he was delivered to. An aging earth pony caretaker, Newmoon, was entrusted with the young and inexperienced colt. The great problem was that he did not know who his parents were, and where he had come from. But the last time he saw the lights of the magnificent country of Canterlot was before the amnesia struck him. There would be sudden jolts of scenes in his mind of the beautiful country, but those rare scenes would be too evanescent to even remember and soon it would disappear...
Voices in hushed tones were heard from a small, distant cabin:
“Maybe we should just let him go and starve.”
"He is worthless!”
"Yeah!"
"Yeah..."
“And his hind legs are that of a unicorn! Maybe he is one… He’s always wearing that brown hat to cover his head…”
"Plausible, and that full-body suit as well. I heard unicorns usually get white coats."
"Agreed!!"
“Shhh… softer…”
The voices died down to inaudible, murmurous mumbling.
Unfortunately, Nightshade had heard of all of this talk. I should leave, before they use harsh methods just for my riddance, he thought. He smiled wistfully and longingly - Newmoon, that sweet old stallion. He would be hard to part with but this had to be done. He had to leave sooner or later anyway, even if it was for naught. But before his thoughts were in a quandary, he had already packed up his things. Through the thick forests he travelled, his eyes were of no tears. He did not take a single look back – at the place he actually believed it was called home.
End of Epilogue.
The Sun soon made its descent, so did any of the hope left deep down at the four corners of my heart. My life seemed to have no personal space, nor did it have any time for a single smile, or at least a pinch of joy. There was no more purpose in life. There was only a shade of monochromatic grey accompanied by its pure emptiness. There was only a sinkhole to fall even the tiniest bits of happiness. And there was only myself - alone in the sinister portals of time. My tears were nearly reaching spillage, but now was not the time to mourn over something so minute, so simple, so... devastating.
Everything came gushing back now. It was a bright day, the day when I was going to get my graduation certificate from a certain school. It was going to be the graduation of a lifetime - of hope and of glory. But it was at that moment, the Royal Guards appeared at my door. The flickering of their shiny gold armor. Once. Twice. Bad news. What could have gone wrong? Did... did... I did not want to think about it. The truth had dawned on me and for some particular reason I did not cry - maybe that was my talent, or maybe it could just be a bad thing. I'm... I'm so sorry kid. That was all they could say?! Was that all they could think of? But I knew that was going to happen from the very beginning. The scene of the ordeal unfolding before me kept replaying over and over again in my mind even before the incident occurred. The scene of the train's departure, tied together with their final goodbye smudged ink all over my mind. Once spread, never retrieved. Again.
But it was not just that incident that gave birth to my sorrow.
I would meet up with a mare after the droning of the teachers at school took its toll. Her name was Glaze and her body was made up of muscles, and science. I took a photo with her once at the chemistry lab, and that was the last photo I ever wanted to take a look at. We shared an interest in Chemistry and daily experiments would be our hobby. That experiment was a fatal one. The last few words I ever heard from her was I love you, even if it sounds less colorful that it actually is, that was, before the explosion occurred. Only, I the magically formidable unicorn, emerged as the last stallion standing...
When I look at the picture today, I would reach out and touch it, sinking into the perfection and pulchritude of the picture's varieties of color, only to realize that I am living a nightmare in reality, and that my reveries would never come to fruition. My mind started to wonder from my central core of thought. Was misfortune granted to me as a gift? Perhaps. Misfortune was all that turned me into a dark being even stronger than the Magnum Alpha himself, the master of dark arts, my tutor.
