//------------------------------//
// Seventeen 
// Story: The Eventual Daughter of a Non-Brony 
// by BronyWriter 
//------------------------------//

Chocolate for dessert! 

Awesome. 

Wish this could happen every day.

I finish my dinner and count the pieces in front of me. They're small, but I have five of them. Should I eat all of them? Yes. 

No, save some for later.

It's been years since Diamond Dust was adopted. It's not like she's going to take them if I do.

I pop one of the candies in my mouth. So good. I turn to one of the colts sitting next to me and tap him on the shoulder. 

"Hey, whose birthday?"

He turned to me and raised an eyebrow. "You didn't hear? Rainstorm. She's turning seventeen." He grimaces. "I heard her and Miss Hoof are going to start working in a couple of months to get her situated for next year when she ages out."

I flinch back. Yeah, I know that nopony wants to age out. Rainstorm is really cool. Every time I see her, I wonder why she's not adopted already. I know if I was a grownup, I'd adopt her. 

I look around the cafeteria and see Rainstorm poking at her empty tray. Some of the other older ponies are trying to talk to her, but she's not really listening. I don't get it. Even if she's gonna age out of the system soon, it's still her birthday! She should be happy! Maybe she just needs somepony to cheer her up. She gets up and puts her tray on the trash can before walking out of the cafeteria without saying anything to anypony. Yeah, she definitely needs somepony to cheer her up. I shove the rest of chocolate in my mouth and fly after her.

Oops. Should have put my tray away. Oh well. Rainstorm needs help.

"Hey, hey Rainstorm!" I call out as I get closer. She glances back at me and sighs.

"Hey, Comet. How're you?"

"How am I? How are you? It's your birthday!"

"Yeah," she grumbles as she starts walking again. "Whoopie-fuckin'-doo."

I grimace and flatten my ears for a second before walking after her. "I know that... next year might be hard, but you could still get adopted!"

She scoffs at that. "Sorry to burst your bubble, kid, but there is a zero percent chance of that happening. No, next year is going to be the start of the second chapter of my miserable 'Rainstorm is a useless freak who can't even fly, so who would want her?' life."

"No, that's not how it is!" I insist. "You remember Flaming Blitz? He got adopted when he was seventeen, so it's going to happen to you." I nod as I rushed to keep up with her. "Yeah, definitely."

"Nope. If I do, it's going to be by parents who want the a charity case to show the world how great they are."

I raise an eyebrow. "Huh? That doesn't make any sense. Why--"

"Because of this!" she roars, wheeling around and flaring her smaller wing out. "Where the fuck do you think we are, Comet? We're in Canterlot, and most of the ponies here want the best, shiniest, most perfect models that they can show off to their friends and neighbors! That's why Diamond Dust was fucking adopted before either of us! She looked and acted perfect!"

I flatten my ears and took a step back. "I... I don't..."

"You think the snooty ponies around here would want to buy a house with missing roof tiles? Or a dress with a tear in it?" She waves her wing around. "The same thing goes for us!" She deflates a bit as I started sniffling and curl up into a ball. She flattens her ears and bites her lip, folding her wing again. "I... I mean me. Not you. You're just different. Y-you're not broken like me. You're smart and you're sweet and you can fly and... and you're perfect. Just in a different way than some of the ponies in Canterlot think."

"I don't believe you," I whimper. 

Rainstorm begins blinking rapidly and takes a deep, shaky breath, and I would think that she's about to cry, but she never cries. "Look... I--"

I shoot to my hooves and run back to my room. I turn a corner and slam into Miss Hoof.

"Oh, goodness, are you alright, Comet?"

"No," I moan, getting to my hooves. "Just leave me alone!"

"Comet, I was looking for you because you have an interview today that--"

"No!" I cry, running to my room. "I don't wanna! I'm not good enough!"