"Have a nice evening, class!" Miss Cheerilie called out to all of us fillies and colts leaving the school.
"Thank you" I chimed as I passed by her, trotting anxiously away from the school.
My name is Rain Shade. I am a small unicorn filly, smaller than most.
I had been told by my mom I had to head home and drop off my school supplies and any homework I had before going to my best friend, Molto Tempest's house.
He was a charcoal black earth pony who had a steel gray mane. his eyes were a brilliant shade of copper.
He followed beside me, chatting about a project he was working on with his dad. Something about the metalworks that they ran, in which I understood almost none of.
After our walk, which lasted all of a hour, we arrived at my house. It was a small structure resembling more of a shack than an actual house, but it's all my mom could afford for us. The roof had small leaks in it and some of the hardened clay that made up the outside around the studs and baseboards had cracked. It was intact, but needed repair.
We quietly stepped in, checking to see if ShallowShine, my mom, was asleep. She was. She worked late nights and always came home early in the morning, but stayed up late enough to pack my school bags, comb my mane straight, and send me off to school with loving notions.
She was all anyone could want from a mom. She loved me to pieces and always looked after me, providing the best she could, and I loved her for it.
I crept into my room and emptied my schoolbags out onto the small table liked to call a desk. Then I carefully packed my drawing supplies into my bag and re-buttoned the flap. I also grabbed my guitar, careful to hang it off my torso in a way it wouldn't hit the ground.
My two favourite hobbies were drawing and guitar, even though I was horrid at the latter.
Using my magic I wrote my mom a note and taped it to the door stating where I was if she had forgotten, and that I loved her extensively.
We left the lot and began trotting our way out to Molto's.
It was well over an hour before we arrived, and we were slightly tired and immensely thirsty.
We stepped into his dad's house and he greeted us in the deep rumbling voice he always had.
"Hello again, Shade," he called to me, using the nickname he and my mom had given me. I spent most of my weekends at home, sitting in my room, or out here at Molto's.
"Hello mister Tough Gleam" I called back in my tinny voice.
"How was school Molto?" he asked, moving up and hugging his son.
"It was alright... Kinda boring though" he responded.
"I can't blame ya," he let Molto go from their hug. "Well, You two have fun, I have some important work to do for an important buyer," he told us with a stern glance at Molto before trotting out of the back door and to where they kept their "Smeltery". I didn't know why it was called that. At the time all I thought it did was burn metal out of rocks.
I helped Molto set up the spare blanket in his room on the floor. It wasn't comfortable, but It wasn't unbearable either.
After we sat aimlessly in his room for a few minutes, we went outside, where I layed down, and with the careful strokes of my horn and pencil, began to draw, for the 7th time (I had counted), The beautiful landscape spanning out behind their home, dipped down into a valley.
I felt Molto sonter up and lay beside me. He watched as I drew, focusing on my sketchpad, looking up every so often to survey the details of the land.
The sun was beginning to set and the sky was morphing into a near beautifully evil shade of crimson-orange.
"You are amazing at drawing... You know that?" He told me, admiring what I had finished by dusk.
"its... Its really nothing special... Just a hobby..." I tried to correct him, but stuttering at his comment. Nopony had ever complimented my drawing skills like that, other than my mom.
"But thanks anyway..." I smiled.
soon the stars began appearing in the moonlight. We sat and watched the beautiful spheres of Celestia's gleaming fire until it became cold.
Molto helped me up off the ground, and we slowly trotted inside to go to bed.
We made it up the stairs, and I brushed the dirt off of my deep violet coat, then crawled under the blanket on the floor. I could hear Molto snoring softly before I fell asleep myself.
The next morning we both awoke with a start to the banging of hammer-against-metal.
I stumbled downstairs in a sleepy daze with Molto and found my mom sitting at their kitchen table.
"Mom?" I asked, "What are you doing here?"
"I'm sorry Shade, but we have to go. There's somepony who is mad at mommy and wants to hurt her. He has other ponies who will hurt other ponies for him, and we have to go," There was a severe tone of worry in her voice. "I used all our extra bits to hire a couple stallions to haul our belongings in some carriages to where we'll be living for a little while."
"B-but mom?" I stared up into her eyes. "Who would want to hurt you?"
"It's nopony you know or need to know about." she responded apologetically "Now come, Ive already talked to Molto's dad, we must go." she let me grab my sketchpad and my guitar before she shuttled me out and down the road.
8 years later.
Over the last years nothing much happened. I had progressively gotten worse in school, getting average marks, barely Bs. I hung out with Molto a lot more, and I learned to play my guitar with my self-taught expertise.
My mom was always out later than usual, and some days she didn't come home, so I had to start cooking fro myself too. Mostly cheese related dishes, like Mac and Cheese, grill cheeses, and cheese and crackers. When she did come home, she was tired and worn out, and always had long showers before going to bed, but she was still there for me whenever I needed it.
We moved around a lot, mostly because mom said there was better work in the next town we moved to. I always found my way to Molto's though.
I'd had a horrible day today, mostly from other ponies at school.
I am 14, and had already stopped growing, and my body was a size smaller than a normal mare's.
There were insults, teasing, punches, bucks, and so much more thrown towards me today.
Previously I had been a loner, sitting in the corner at lunch, not having many friends, always getting picked on.
But for the past few weeks, it was really bad. I had gotten a date, exactly 19 days ago, with a cute, golden haired pegasus mare named Lightning dust.
She was known to be cocky and commanding, always testing everypony's patience, and pushing herself athletically harder than any of us. And I had given her a chance.
It was late after track practise in the shower rooms, after I had rid myself of sweat and dried off. She was stuffing her headband and some other items into her locker when I approached her.
I had never had intimate feelings for a mare before, and this wasn't the start of them. I just thought she was exceptionally cute, and decided to be the one nice person in the whole school and give her a chance. I walked up and stuttered the words that gave me my first love, and my first heartbreak.
Earlier today, she approached me with a sorrowful look in her eyes.
"Hey Dusty, What's up" I asked her, putting a hoof on her shoulder.
She brushed it off and looked into my bright magenta eyes, staring back, her eyes with thier usual sun-like glow.
"R-rain Shade..." she bowed her head slightly "I'm... I'm breaking up with you"
My heart shattered, and then he ghost of Celestia came and stomped all over the pieces, then discord put it back together, and slowly sawed through it.
"W-What?.. Why?" I started to sob.
"It... It's not you... It's just... We're not going fast enough..." she explained.
she slowly walked off, leaving me at the wake. I found an empty classroom and layed down in the corner, sobbing, my face in my hooves.
I loved Lightning Dust, she was the first mare I had grown to love... and now she was gone...
Eventually the final bell rang loud and prominent, and I sontered my way home, leaving tears in the dirt behind me.
My mom was gone when I got she had days off, and must've gone into town go grab some groceries.
I plodded into my room and closed the door.
Later my mom came home, carrying some paper bags in her magical grasp, and setting them down on the table. I trotted up and threw my hooves around her neck. There was a strange scent coming from her, particularly her back and flanks.
"Mom... What's that smell?" I asked, breathing in the rank spunky odor again.
"I... uh..." she stuttered for a second. "Oh... there's no use hiding it anymore... Shade, I have to tell you something important. But can it wait until I get myself cleaned up?" she asked softly.
"Whatever you need mom" I let her go from the hug.
I went into my room and about the third time I re-tuned my guitar, my mom stepped in quietly and sat down on my bed.
"I... Shade I need to tell you some bad things mom has done in the past... and more recently..." she began to explain, "You know how I told you I work at the bar in town?"
I nodded.
"It's true... but not the whole truth... I could never find a decent job, and i wasn't good at anything relevant so... I was forced to become a prostitute..." she sniffed a bit, I gasped at the word "Prostitute"
"It's an incredibly shameful job... and really dangerous. Remember the night I had come home bleeding and said I just grazed myself on the cupboard door?" she asked me again.
"Y-yes..." I answered sheepishly.
"One of my clients got into trouble and a stallion with a knife chased us. I tripped, and my client was able to stab him before he could do any real damage..." she pushed back a wide strand of her long mane , revealing the scar on her shoulder.
"M-mom..." I was sad for her, not at all enraged. I hugged her tightly, only being able to imagine the struggle.
"It's okay sweetheart..." she held me close and pet my mane softly.
"So... how was your day..." my mom tried to make conversation.
"Horrible... Lightning Dust dumped me..." I confessed.
She let out a small gasp and continued to hold me, my tears beginning to stain her midnight blue coat. "I'm so sorry Rain Shade... I thought you two had something..."
One Year Later...
