"I never asked to be this way, none of us did. So you can take your prejudice and shove it up your ass ...or do I have to do it for you?"

Rose, the first part of my name I was given by two parents who I had never met, and could barely even remember. I used to think that a pony's name hinted at what their cutie mark would be; Luna controlled the stars and the moon's lunar cycle, Applejack had a talent for working with apples like most of her family, and Pumpkin Cake had a cutie mark of, well, a pumpkin and a cake.

As for me, though. The first part of my name didn't fit me at all. I didn't feel pretty like a rose ...at least not anymore. I didn't smell like a rose. By Celestia, my cutie mark didn't even have a thing to do with a rose or flower of any kind.

But, as for the second part of my name. I guess it fits me well enough. Over the long years I've lived, I could honestly say I've changed. I've adapted to the wasteland, and all the things in it. I've struggled and fought for my life, worked through blood, sweat and tears to make to where I am today.

Even if my body hasn't changed since that horrible incident happened at Luna's school. I have grown mentally and emotionally; I've blossomed to survive the world around me, and make it to the point where I could start to help rebuild. I became a teacher to help young ponies understand right from wrong, to learn that the world wasn't just black and white, to take the time to understand others(which was one of the reasons the war got so bad to begin with), to be as just and fair as they could be in a world that constantly asked for blood to be spilled.

Before the megaspells fell, I was a blank flank, constantly trying to find my purpose in life. My special talent. But, no matter how hard I tried, I never got my cutie mark. It was thought that because I was a abnormality before getting my cutie mark, I would never get one.

...They were wrong.

I was wrong ...and it wasn't until one-hundred years after the Old World ended that it finally came to me. What I was meant to do, and ever since that day, I've been helping ponies start over; recreating what the world used to be, and at the same time, making it better.

I might not be a rose, sure, but I have blossomed into something more then I once was. And it was my special talent to help other ponies blossom into something better, and as a result, make the world blossom as a whole.

In that sense, I took great pride in my name: Rose Blossom.

Most nights, when I sleep there's nothing but a calm darkness. Other nights, I dream about my life before the megaspells, walking through the city of Manehattan among the local residents like a ghost, able to watch but not touch or interact with anypony at all. Ghouls don't usual require sleep, and to this day, it's still not clear why. But, I enjoyed the calm of it.

Last night, however, was the first time in a long time, that I've ever had a bad dream.

It was about that fateful day at Luna's schools. I could remember it so clearly, walking down the hall from the levitation's classroom, greeting the few friends and teachers I encountered in the corridor. The only mission on my mind was getting the magic report for Ms. Buttercup.

Then it happened. The loud sound of automatic gunfire, that stopped almost as instantly as they had began. Nopony knew what was going on, and I felt worried at first, fearing the worst.

Maybe the guard ponies were shooting at a monster or something?

But, that wasn't likely since the Everfree Forest was miles away.

A few minutes after the gunshots were heard, things calmed down and I continued down corridor and taking the steps down to the next floor, but once I got the the landing in between the two floors, I heard screams from teachers and students a like just eight steps down. I froze. Too scared to go down stairs, but still wanting to know what was wrong with my friends.

The pink cloud appeared out of nowhere. One second the hallway below was clear. The next, pink began covering the entire second floor and starting climbing up the stairwell almost touching my hooves.

I galloped so fast to get away. I had no idea what it was, but I knew that cloud was dangerous, the smell it was giving off made my noise burn, like the time when dad sprayed too much cleaning stuff in the kitchen.

I tried my best to get away, and even locked myself in a storage closet in my panic. I took towels and sheets, whatever I could and pressed them up against the bottom of the door. Not that it was much use in the end, the cloud still got in through the cracks in the doors, slowly filling up the room. There was nowhere the run! Nowhere to hide! My eyes burned so much. I rubbed them and rubbed them, tearing up heavy, coughing and hacking so hard I could taste blood. It was too much.

I feel over onto my side, scared and alone, stuck in a stupid closet in more pain then I'd ever felt in my life. Like my inside were being set on fire. I weep and I moaned, just wanting the pain to stop, for somepony to help me.

The last thing I could think before everything went black, was that I wanted was my daddy.

I'd wake up shorty after that, out of breath and tearing up.

I wanted nothing more then to forget about that horrible day. But things like that aren't easily forgotten. So I tried my best to live with the memory. All the while keeping my nightmares to myself, wishing that Luna was still here to help me through them.

If only-.

"Sis," a voice spoke suddenly, interrupting my thoughts. "Are you alright? You're spacing out again."

I looked up from the inky black coffee inside the cup, starring at the the leaf green colored earth pony in front of me, across the table. I gave a nod. "Uh ...yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking about things."

The buck raised an eyebrow. "Alright," he said, before going back to eating his breakfast that conceited of canned pre-war apples and yams. He was still young, not quite a stallion yet, but too old to be called a colt anymore.

His mane was dark yellow, while his eyes were sea blue, and on the left side of his face right under his eye was a small tattoo of a sludge hammer: the symbol of the Hammerhead raider tribe.

There was a lot of unspoken rules among ponies in the wasteland. One of the big ones being: No Tolerance for Raiders. Most thought that they were too far gone for redemption, and shot raiders on sight. My dad was one of those who thought this and didn't hesitate to kill them at first glance.

But there was one pony who proved that some raiders could be changed if given the chance. That pony was the not-yet stallion in front of me, my adopted brother, Bloody Ratchet, though most in town just called him Ratchet.

How Ratchet came to be in my care is a story most ponies in town know.

It was about ten years ago when I was still traveling with dad. We did a lot of things for money, some things that I regret even now, though dad didn't regret it at all. We were given a simple assignment for a large amount of caps. Apparently, a small town we had made our way to was being harassed by a tribe of raiders; after being given the location of the raider's hideout, we did what we normally did.

A simple extermination.

We went in guns blazing. Dad and I wiped out the entire raider den down to nothing more then a few radroaches and a still roasting pot of pony meat. They were nothing but vermin, making the world even worse than what it already was. A job well done, and we were congratulating each other.

That was until ...well, a bullet when whizzing past my ear, and another caught my dad right in the chest. It was a good thing we had armor on, or he'd finally have found out the answer to if he could still die or not.

At first, I thought it was a regular old raider that we had missed, and in a way, I was right. But I was surprised more then ever to find a five-year-old colt in stained rags that couldn't even be called clothing anymore, pointing a gun at us. I had no idea what to do. I had never expected raiders to care much for kids, and by the look on dad's face, he didn't either.

There was no way we were going to kill a colt, that was one thing we would never do. So we did the next best thing. We got the gun away from him(which was easy since he was mostly shooting at the flipped over table we took cover behind until the magazine was empty) and knocked him out, then tied him up.

What happened afterward was pretty simple; we took him back with us. He was still young, but even so, the raider way of life ran deep within him. It took a long while. And a lot of biting and bucking. Longer then I expected, but we eventually taught him that the way his clan had been living was wrong. Of course he still had those raider tendencies, like making death threats when he was angry, but other then that he was a good pony who made me proud everyday.

"You should probably get ready to leave, sis," Ratchet uttered, not even glancing up from his plate of food. "The school's gonna be openin' up soon. You don't wanna be late."

I gave another nod, and wrapped my magic around the steaming cup of coffee as I brought it up to my lips. I half smiled, taking a sip. Two-hundred years old and the coffee still tasted fresh. I've always wondered what pony ever got the idea for long lasting food; it was as if somepony knew the end was coming before anypony else did.

Being a ghoul, I didn't need to eat or drink to survive like everyone else, but I still enjoyed having a Sparkle~Cola or a hot cup of coffee every now and then. The small dining room was quiet, save for the sound of sipping and Ratchet's loud chewing(which was annoying by the way, but I didn't feel like getting on his eating habits again at the moment).

A half hour later, I was floating my saddlebags over my flanks, standing next to the front door.

"Remember to lock up when you leave out," I said to my adopted brother, using my magic to unlock and open the door. "And behave yourself at work, guarding the gate in serious business."

Ratchet smiled, and nodded. "I know that, Rose ...oh, and make sure to check and see if the liberty has that book I was looking for," his smile turning into a slight frown. "They still won't let me in after the, um ...incident."

"Well, that'll teach you to think before you go rutting a mare in a public bathroom, in a liberty, at that." Came my smug response with a grin. His frown deepened.

"Hey, it wasn't just my fault, ya know. Sunny Rays is just as much to blame, here."

"Yes, yes. Of course," I said, waving a hoof as I trotted out the door. "See ya later, bro~!"

"Bye, Sis." Ratchet muttered, before closing the door.

I changed my trot to a skip as I made my way down the road, smiling. I got few hellos and a smile and wave from the other residents of Newport that passed by, some were wearing Stable Nineteen guardbuck uniforms, while other worked as simple merchants, builders or farmers.

"Morning, Ms. Blossom," an older mare greeted me, trotting towards the opposite direction.

I stopped and waved. "Morning, Pecan! Have a nice day a work!"

"You know I will, stop by the shop later and we can talk over sweets."

"Sure~!"

Even after all these years of living, I still retained some of my more foalish tendencies. Maybe it was from me not being able to mature physically, or maybe it was something totally different. Still, it helped me grow closer with my younger students, so I was alright with it. I was treated as a mare by most, but there were still those how treated me like a normal filly, either because they did know me or just found it amusing. I didn't mind, though, I enjoyed being treated like a kid sometimes. As odd as it sounds, it made me feel normal. Something I'd never be again.

Riinngg!

Using my magic to open the classroom door, a redish pink glow appearing around the nob, I trotted happily into the classroom already filled with young children. I set my saddlebags on the back on my chair and levitated myself into the seat cushion, laying out my personal textbook (more of an old, worn journal then anything else) on the desk in front of me.

"G'morning, class," I said, smiling at the excited and bored faces of my students. "I hope you've all had a nice weekend, and slept well enough late night." I levitated another book out of my saddlebags, along with a pen, the book just inches away from my face. I even put my favorite pair of reading glasses on. I didn't have an eye problem, but I never teach without them. It made me seem a little bit more teacherly. "Okay, now I'm going to do role call. Just say 'here' when your name is called: Aqua Lime!"

"Here!" A yellow coat and green mane filly announced, raising a hoof.

"Adisa!"

"H-here," a young zebra colt with a slight accent said.

"Black Hawk."

"Here!" A young light brown griffon answered.

"Bluesky."

A light blue and white maned earth pony colt raised a hoof. "Here!"

"Crystal."

"Right here, ma'am!" One of the older fillies answered, a grin on her muzzle, and her black mane filled with rainbow colored streaks.

Roll call continued like this until all thirty students in the room had answered. My class was pretty diverse, much like the town of Newport itself; there were zebras and a few griffons, but most of them were ponies, with only two pegasi, one being born to two earth pony parents, just as Pound Cake had been.

"And lastly, Zahara." After a few moments when no one answered, I looked up from my roll call list at the class. "Zahara? Is she not in today?"

Adisa raised his hoof as he spoke. "Um ...Z-Zahara's out sick today, t-teacher," the zebra colt said, shyly. he had always had a small stuttering problem, and got teased a lot for it, so he barely talked unless it was needed. Adisa was one of my top students. I helped him try to improve in his speech in any way that I could. And he was doing much better then he had last year. "Her m-mom said something a-about r-radiation sickness."

"So, Zahara was the one who went down into the subway tunnel a few days ago?"

"Y-yes, Ms. Blossom."

"I see, that's good to know." I floated the checklist book back into my saddlebags. "While were on the topic, before we begin class, there's something I need to talk to you about. All of you." I hopped up onto my desk, still starring at my class. Dad once said when I started teaching, that it looked more like a filly trying to play school than an actual classroom. I could understand why he would say that(at least now I could). I've had countless times were parents with new students would come in and ask for the teacher, even though I was sitting at the teacher's desk or going over a lesson. It was annoying. But it's what I had to live with. "Let me make one thing clear: the subway is off limits, that goes for every last one of ya ...I'm looking at you, Rebel Lancer."

"What did I do?" The red and dark brown colt in question uttered in confusion.

I rolled my eyes, and went back to what I was saying. "Anyway, the radiation down in those tunnels in no joke, unless you want to die a painful death, turn into a ghoul or just love the taste of RadAway and Rad X, stay out of there." I hopped back into the oak chair, my serious look turning into a much cheerier one. "Now, class, please take out your homework from last week. I'll collect them when the lesson is over. Today we are going to be continue talking about pre-war history, and one of you're favorite ponies, Sweetie Belle. Can any of you tell me about her, other then the fact that she was a famous singer?" A smaller then average earth pony, with a pink mane and hazel brown coat, wearing glasses put up her hoof. "Yes, Bolder Dash."

The small filly adjusted her thick glasses slightly on her muzzle, and began answering. "She was one of the founders of Stable-Tec."

"That's very good, Dash, looks like you've been paying attention," I praised the filly. She smiled, and I went to the next student. "Anyone else have anything to add?" An older, close to teen zebra colt raised his hoof first, before five others. "Let's see ...Nuru."

"She married the pony who made the first virtual war simulator in Canterlot, right?" The striped colt asked, uncertain.

I smiled and shook my head. "Nice guess, Nuru, you got part of it right," I said. "But she actually married him in Ponyville, Sweetie Belle was proposed to in Canterlot. Remember that, it'll be on the test." I levitated the journal up to me, and opened it, starting on the page that I had left off on. "Now we are going to begin on page thirty, I'd recommend everyone open their journals to take notes." A few of the children did take my advice, as for the rest however, they just listened as I read out loud, which was perfectly alright with me. As long as they did well on the test, it was no problem.

"Sweetie Belle, as you all know, was also the sister of Rarity. The leader of the Ministry of Image, and the Element of Generosity. Being as there was so much work to be done during the war, the two sisters never got to see each other much outside of business. After Sweetie married her husband, a earth pony named Button Mash, they moved from Fillydelphia and began a quiet life in Ponyville. With Sweetie Belle, being Stable-Tec's Head of Public Relations, having to travel around Equestria, and Button's job as Head of the Virtual War Simulator Project, or VWSP, in the Ministry of Wartime Technology, they didn't get to spend much time together, but their bond stayed strong-."

As I continued reading, my mind began to wonder a bit to the time when I was still in that facility after the Little Horn incident. My normal life was over. I couldn't learn with a class or friends. My education had been stopped because of what had happened to me.

And even to this day, I hate needles. I hate clinics and doctors. One of the good things about being a ghoul, was that having to go visit a doctor was rare.

Not much was known about my kind back then, though.