It is a normal rainy day in the Empire when Cadence hears a knocking on the door of the orphanage. She opens it and looks down to see a colt and filly shaking in the rain. “What are your names? Please, come in,” says Cadence. The foals come in and Cadence soon returns with blankets and hot chocolate for the pair. They thank her and sit down.
“Our names by the way,” peeps the colt, “are Piper and Rust.”
“And pray tell what happened to your parents? This is an orphanage after all.”
“Our father abandoned us, our mom was abusive-she’s in jail,” responds Rust. “We had nowhere else to go.”
“Well, you’re welcome here,” responds Cadence. She then takes down their names and shows them to their bedrooms. Rust is put in a room with three other colts-Colton, Foster, and Sun Darter. Piper is put in a room with three other fillies-Rainbow Melody, Sweet Blossom, and Angel Lily. Over the following days, Piper slowly begins to come out of her shell with the other orphanage residents much to the delight of Cadence as well as her brother Rust. While she’s still quiet and doesn’t like to talk most of the time, an effort is being made to make friends and that is already an improvement.