Many centuries ago, there was a creature of pure evil that ruled Equestria with an iron hoof for generations. He was a large, blue goat that went by the name "Grogar". Before he was later inevitably defeated, he embarked on one final quest. He had only one goal in mind: to create a creature with unlimited power. A creature that could potentially outlive him and continue his reign of terror. He traveled far and wide and studied dozens of animals and took note of their abilities. He captured these animals and brought them back to his lair.
"Now, let's see..." Grogar muttered to himself as he paced back and forth in his lab, "dragons have tough scales and can breathe fire...goats have an incredible climbing ability...lions have great strength..."
He continued to mutter to himself as he listed off the various traits of each animal that he had captured. He had them in small cages on the large, raised stone surface. In the center of it was a large glass ball that was full of a strange, warm yellow liquid. It was viscous like nectar.
He continued, "... the endurance of a horse, the speed of a deer, sensitive hearing like a bat, and," he props himself up onto the table and slams his hooves on it with excitement, "and the power to regenerate like a lizard!"
All of the animals cawed out in fear and dread.
"Silence!" Grogar gutturally exclaimed, "You're about to become part of something HUGE! A creature so terrible...and so malicious..."
He picked up a strange-looking bell using the magical aura from his horns, "and most importantly..." he points the bell at the glass ball sitting at the middle of the stone table, "IT WILL BE UNSTOPPABLE!"
He laughs maniacally as a beam shoots out from the bell at the glass ball. As it hits it, the beam separates and hits the various animals surrounding it. A white flash envelopes the room and Grogar is nearly sent flying, but he manages to stay upright. He squints at the glass ball, trying to see if it had worked. Inside the glass ball was a small baby creature; it was a horrendous amalgamation of animals. It had mismatched antlers: one of a deer and one of an impala. He also had mismatched limbs: a lion's paw, an eagle talon, a lizard's foot, a goat hoof, and a short red dragon tail. Grogar had succeeded in creating an amalgam creature, but he was still unhappy.
"Grrrr...no no NO NO!!! IT'S ALL OVER THE PLACE! HOW IS IT EVEN SUPPOSED TO WALK?!" he huffed aggressively through his nostrils.
"What a waste of time...a failed attempt..." he angrily muttered to himself as he looked at the floor. In a small fit of rage, he kicked the glass ball off the stone table, causing it to crack slightly.
"I'll just have to try something else then..." Grogar said as he turned around pacing around in his lab yet again.
Meanwhile, the glass ball which had contained the odd-looking creature continued rolling away until it went into one of the vents. It went through a twisty maze of metal ventilation until it had eventually led to the outside world. Since Grogar's lair was built on top a mountain, the glass ball continued rolling downhill. As it picked up speed, it bumped into many jagged rocks causing to crack even more. Eventually, it hit the side of a tree and the glass ball had shattered to pieces causing the small creature and the strange liquid to spill all over the grass. The sound of the glass breaking echoed through almost half of the forest. The creature immediately felt the cold of the outside world and began shivering and whimpering like a baby crocodile. Suddenly, a young mare's hoofsteps could be heard quietly trotting towards the origin of the sound of the glass breaking. The young mare had a soft, fluffy white coat and a near-pastel pink mane. She was an earth pony that had a cutie mark of a bright pink butterfly that appeared to be resting on a single red zinnia flower. She also wore a light red bandana to keep her hair out of her face.
"What in Equestria was that?" she asked herself. Suddenly she could hear a strange whimpering in the distance; she slowly trotted towards the sound until her eyes met with quite a peculiar sight.
"Huh?" She slowly inched closer to it. To her, it looked like a small ball of brown fur. It shook as it felt the cold breeze against its helpless little body.
"O-oh my..!" she stuttered in surprise, "what a weird looking puppy..."
She examined the creature closely and corrected herself, "Oh dear....no. This is not like any puppy I have ever seen..."
She used her hoof see it's face better, "Let alone...any creature."
She reached into her saddle bag and pulled out a white towel. She then proceeded to make a makeshift cradle around her neck. She tied the last knot in the cradle, gently picked up the strange, small creature, and placed it into the cradle.
"There you go. You might look strange, but that doesn't excuse letting you die alone in the forest," she said, gently caressing her hoof against the creature's face. It stops shivering and tries to hold on to her hoof for more warmth. She pulls away her hoof and the creature whimpers in response. It's stomach audibly rumbles.
"Oh, you poor thing...let's take you back home and get you fed."
As the mare carried the small creature through the forest, it nuzzles more into the cradle and clings onto her neck to stay warm.
She chuckled, "Oh don't worry, my dear. You'll be safe with me."
A small cottage surrounded by pine trees comes into her view. She opens the front door and is wafted with the fresh smell of pumpkin. She breathes in deeply, taking in the comforting smell that filled the house. The baby creature cooed softly as the mare opened the door to the ice box in the kitchen.
"Hmmm...let's see how much I have left," the mare said to herself pensively as she pulled out a glass bottle half-full of goat's milk. She put the lip of the bottle near the baby's mouth and it started licking up the milk with it's forked tongue.
"Oh my! You were really hungry, huh? You poor thing..."
The small creature whimpered softly as it finished drinking nearly two-thirds of what was left in the bottle. It belched loudly despite its small size.
"Woah! That was...something," she chuckled nervously. The baby nuzzled cutely into the cradle and cooed softly.
"Awww...you cute little thing," she said as she caressed the baby's cheek with her hoof. As soon as she did that, the baby finally opened its eyes. They were a rich red color and shined like small rubies. She quietly gasped in awe as she gazed into the baby's huge eyes.
"Oh my...your eyes are so beautiful..." she said under her breath.
This baby creature had come into this mare's life on a whim and she had already become so attached to it.
"I'll look after you and take care of you, my dear. You'll be safe as long as you're with me," she said as she had a warm smile on her face.
"Oh! You're gonna need a name then since I found you by yourself," she said.
"Your name will be...hmm," she put a hoof to her chin and thought to herself.
"Draco."
After that fateful day, the kind mare lovingly took care of him for years. They had a very strong emotional bond. Though Draco never actually knew her real name, he always called her "Amma". Aside from him being a strange-looking creature, he lived a relatively normal life. He didn't have the crazy powers that one would think he would have. In a way, his life was very...predictable. Not that it actually bothered him. Predictable was simple. And, quite frankly, he wouldn't have it any other way. Draco had just turned 5 years old. He was unusually tall for his age; he was already at eye level with his mother. Needless to say, he stuck out like a sore thumb. Since the cottage was deep in the forest, Draco never had the chance to interact with other ponies. So, his mother decided that it was time for him to go to school.
One day in fall, Draco walked alongside his mother out of the forest to the nearby school. Like any kid on their first day, he was extremely nervous about meeting other ponies.
"Oh don't you worry too much, my dear. School is fun!" the mother said to him cheerfully, "all you have to do is talk to the other kids. That's all you have to do!"
Draco just looked at the ground with a worried expression. He knew that he was a lot different than any other pony. Aside from his strange appearance, his mannerisms were also quite weird. He had a weird tendency to have his hands curled closed to his chest. And on that note, he also had hands, unlike the other ponies who only had hooves. He also walked on his hind legs rather than on all fours. With that said, he was understandably nervous.
"But, Amma...what if the other kids don't like me?" the young draconequus asked.
"Oh, honey. I can guarantee you that everypony going to school right now is thinking the same thing. It is the first day, after all. And just like everypony else, you just have to break out of your shell and be yourself. That way, you'll make some friends!" the mother responded as the school building came into view. They both stopped at the front door. The mother turned to face him, "Remember, dear. It's okay to feel nervous at first. And I know you may look different than everyone else. But I know that you're gonna make a friend if you just be your kooky little self."
He giggles as she playfully messes with the small, black scruff of hair on his head.
"Be good for me, okay?" she said. "I will, Amma..." he said with a smile as she kisses his forehead. "Oh! And remember...no matter what happens, there will always be someone in your corner."
Draco opened the door to this classroom and, his future self would faintly recall this moment being the beginning of his worst nightmare. Sure, he was expecting weird looks, but nothing in his life prepared for the sight before him. It wasn't just weird looks; everypony had an expression of pure disgust. Even the teacher couldn't help herself at first before composing herself. Draco immediately froze in place as he looked at their awful gazes. He closed his eyes and took a deep breathe. He walked to the front of the classroom and faced the class. The teacher snapped herself out of it spoke, "H-hi, there! Why...um...don't you introduce yourself to the c-class?"
Draco just stood there, practically shaking to death from nervousness. It didn't help that even the teacher was having a cold sweat. After a few seconds, Draco tried to speak, but his voice was too squeaky from his clenched throat. He gulped and cleared his throat, "H-hi, everyone..! M-my name is...um...D-draco..."
He forced himself to smile so that he could appear more friendly. In doing that, everyone looked even more visibly uncomfortable. He was nearly on the verge of tears until he shut his eyes tightly and briskly walked to the nearest empty seat. As he walked past, the other kids reeled back as far as they could in their seats in an attempt to keep their distance from him.
Class had started and, naturally, the other kids began to gossip about Draco, loudly whispering to each other.
"What IS that thing?" a pink filly whispered.
"It's not gonna EAT us is it?"
"I don't wanna find out..."
"Why does he look like that?"
"He looks like a chimera...but uglier..."
Though the other kids whispered, the gossips just echoed in his head. He tried his best to ignore it, but he couldn't help hearing what everypony said. Time felt slow to Draco, even after the gossip died down. He was nearly on the verge of tears again and wanted to go home. He knew this would happen. He knew he wouldn't be accepted at first. But those looks on their faces? That's what hurt him most. But then he remembered what his mom had told him:
"...there will always be someone in your corner."
He stopped to think. What could she have meant by that? She couldn't have meant that SHE would be in his corner, right? She wasn't right there with him at that moment. Who would be in his corner at a time like this? As the young draconequus pondered, the school bell rang, indicating every young filly's favorite time of the day.
"Okay class~! It's time for recess~!" the teacher cheerfully exclaimed. Everypony cheered as they sprinted to the door and into the playground. Meanwhile, Draco had only just got out of his seat and lagged behind the rest of the group, slowly walking to the door. He stopped himself right at the entranceway and nervously gazed at all the other ponies playing in the playground. The teacher who stood outside of the doorway saw him and forced a cheerful smile.
"Oh come now, sweetie. It's recess time that means you can go play outside," she said. Draco just held himself as his stomach seemed to twist into knots. He only mumbled, "Mmm...I don't feel good..."
"Oh, sweetie. Don't be nervous, dear," the teacher's expression softened and her muscles relaxed a bit, "it's only playtime. Go play!"
Her smile, though more genuine, still didn't settle well with Draco. But it's not like he could have asked for more, so he was at least grateful that the teacher wasn't chastising him. He took a deep breathe and foolishly thought to himself as he stepped out the door.
"Maybe there's still hope for me. I just need to go up to somepony and ask if I can play with them...yeah...that's all I have to do right...?"
He slowly inched towards a group of fillies who were playing an early form of kickball. It was more of a game of kick-the-ball-of-hay-as-hard-as-you-can, but Draco was nonetheless interested.
"H-hey guys...! Umm...do you have room for one more player...?" he asked the group. They all stopped in their tracks and stared at him silently for a few seconds. A scrawny, grey colt spoke up and said, "O-oh! Uh, sorry. We don't need any more players..."
"Oh, okay..." the draconequus said. The minute he turned around, a slightly taller, brown colt ran past him towards the group that Draco had just talked to.
"Hey guys! Have room for one more?" the colt excitedly asked.
"Sure!" the grey colt responded. The group laughed as they continued their game. Meanwhile Draco continued walking away, practically leaving behind his hope in his wake. He walked to a small patch of tall grass that had dozens of colorful flowers in it. He sat in the middle of the patch and starting picking out petals from a small pink zinnia flower. He began thinking to himself.
"What was I thinking? I knew Amma would be wrong..."
As he plucked out petals from the zinnia, a faint sniffing sound could be heard circling around him. He didn't pay much mind to it at first, as he was too hyper-fixated on the thoughts going through his mind. The sniffing sound grew louder as something swiftly rustled through the tall grass. Draco looked up and searched his surroundings, but couldn't find what was making that odd sniffing sound. The sniffing sound then started charging towards him faster and faster until, suddenly, his head collided into something. No, not something. Someone.
"O-ow! What the--?!" Draco shouted as he closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. He slowly opened his eyes and saw a tiny filly sitting on the ground as she rubbed her forehead. Draco tilted his head in curiosity as the young filly opened her eyes and looked around, confused. She had a butter yellow coat, a pink mane, and she had a green bow on her tail. Her cutie mark was a bunch of beautiful pink flowers in a bunch. The little filly looked up at Draco with her shimmering green eyes.
"Oh, I-I'm sorry....um...I didn't see where I was going," said the young filly. Draco just stood there silently as the filly looked around herself, searching for something.
"Did...she just say 'sorry'? To me? Who is this pony exactly?" Draco thought to himself.
"Yay! I found it!" the young filly said as she gasped excitedly, tugging at something in the ground. She pulls out a large purple flower and sniffs from it. She sighs contently.
"These are my favorite flowers. They smell so nice," she said as she held the flower and smiled. Draco just watched her with a strange mixture of curiosity and amazement. She looked at Draco with her beaming bright eyes and hands him the flower.
"Here....y-you can have it..." the young filly said shyly.
"W-what...? F-for me?" Draco stuttered.
"Mhm..." said the young filly as she nodded her head.
"But...that's a purple dahlia. That's very rare," Draco said.
"O-oh? It is? I had no idea," the young filly said, "I just thought it smelled nice."
"You don't have to give it to me. It's okay," Draco said as he looked away from her.
"W-wait! No!" the young filly quietly yelped before covering her mouth from raising her voice (even though she wasn't very loud to begin with).
"I...really think you should have it!" said the filly, "it's rare like you are."
Draco felt a weird tingling sensation his body as she said that and his heart nearly jumped out of his chest. He gently takes the flower from her hoof.
"Thank you so much. You're very kind," said Draco, "I'm Draco. What's...your name?"
The young filly looked up at Draco cutely.
"My name is Posey."