//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Foalhood // Story: Just Like Me // by Dido //------------------------------// ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Chapter Two: Foalhood ---------------------------------------------------------------------- One long year had passed since the newsmare named Fast Learner had given birth to the abomination, She had done everything in her power to get rid of it, but Equestrian Law had forced her to keep it for not only was this “Thing” a male, but also of another species, his kind would be special and other countries would likely give praise for the birth of a new species. Fast Learner had read books, went to meetings and tried her best to learn how to advance in motherhood, true to her name she learned how to care for a foal, but her ability to care for the baby she now had was slowed as it was not a normal foal, nobody she could talk to would even consider it a pony in general. Fast learner had been given a rough time through her life as the child had become even more difficult, almost every week the crossbred child would get sick and require medical attention, along with the being not able to digest some of the normal Equestrian food. The royal pony sisters had given the foal a special doctor, who could find out what’s wrong with just about any species of creature known to Equestria, but the foal too would prove to be most difficult. Fast Learner had to pick a name for the foal soon after it was born, otherwise a name would be given to it along with not receiving benefits. Fast decided that Wild Ace would be an appropriate name for this creature, as she had no idea what this being was capable of. Wild Ace had become even more troublesome as the years had gone by, his diet now found by the specialized doctor, consisted of meats from neighboring countries as well as various fruits and vegetables, putting quite a taxing on Fast Learner. As time stretched longer Wild Ace had begun to fill out his figure more and more. He began to become taller, his brown hair becoming more grown and his wings too were getting full of black feathers.Out in the shadows lurked a bipedal figure who began to stalk the family. Every now and the Wild Ace would be calm enough for Fast Learner to rest for a while giving her some peace.Then came the day that any mother would be proud of, baby’s first words. Fast Learner felt happiness as Ace babbled out the word that resembled “Mama”. Fast’s feelings began to grow more as she grew with Ace, living became more easy for her as she slowly but surely a felt true feeling of maternal love for Wild Ace. Finally accepting that she was in fact Wild Ace’s mother. Eventually Wild Ace began going to school, which was hard as the teachers had to be extra careful and wary with the “special” foal attending the school. Many of the other foals and fillies stayed clear of Wild Ace leaving him to a lonely first few weeks. The foals and fillies began to tease Ace for being different, sending him home crying to his mother who comforted him dearly. On many occasions this had happened and of those times Fast Learner had talked to the School Board to stop the bullying, but the Board had disregarded her pleas and instead focused on other matters. Fast Learner tried many times in the past to expose the corruption in the schools across Equestria, but witnessing it first hoof sent her overboard. Using her assets in the news industry she was finally able to get new ponies into the School Board to help Ace in the long run. Wild Ace did not fare any better in Elementary School, if not worse considering he was the only one of his kind and was subjected to more bullying, cruel jokes, and even shamed by the “beautiful” fillies. One cruel joke involving Hearts and Hooves Day left Wild Ace in tears in front of the whole student body, where they laughed as Ace ran home. Wild Ace began reaching the “Rebellious Age” where his hair began covering his eyes, and wore darker clothing. Ace began to be mischievous and trouble some: staying out late, stealing, getting in fights at school, etcetera. There have been a few times that Wild Ace had been caught by the police vandalizing property and stealing objects. Fast Learner scolded Ace for his actions and also made him return the stolen objects and apologize for the vandalism. At the age of sixteen Wild Ace had been called up to meet the royal pony sisters for an important reason. Ace, as a new species in this land had to become a legalized proper citizen or else he would have to be deported out of Equestria. The trouble making served as no help as the ponies of Equestria thought of Ace as a nuisance and wanted him gone Taking on this huge responsibility cast Ace out of his “Rebellious Age” and awoken something inside him. As time went by Wild Ace had started his path to citizenship seriously, no longer causing fights, ignoring bullies, not focusing on the blooming fillies. Ace was dead set on becoming a proper citizen, doing many community service acts and taking classes to become proper as to not fail, but mainly to not disappoint his mother. Ace knew this could be his chance to show pony kind that the foal who was considered an abomination could be the same as them and show them that they were all wrong. He Needed to do this!