//------------------------------// // Powells // Story: The Eventual Daughter of a Non-Brony // by BronyWriter //------------------------------// Rainstorm wasn't wrong. She aged out of the system. I know that Miss Hoof did everything that she could to help her make the transition, but I know it's not the same as having a mom and a dad. She's not the first pony that I saw age out, but once she did... I didn't have anypony left like me. Different. Imperfect. I'm staring up at the ceiling in my room when Miss Hoof comes in. Great. What now? Another stupid interview? "Comet, are you okay?" "Never better," I grumble. "That's good." She walks next to my bed and puts a hoof on my leg. "I have another interview scheduled for you today." Fucking nailed it. "I know that you don't like doing them, but I have a good feeling about this one. A really good feeling." I scoff. "Oh, well if you have a good feeling, I'll start packing my stuff now." Miss Hoof flattens her ears. "I... I know that it's been a while. This one is different, though." "Yay," I say flatly. "I promise, Comet. At least give it a try." Ugh. I take a deep breath and roll over. "Well, you won't leave me alone until I have my ten minutes with these morons, so whatever." "Comet--" "Yeah, yeah, what room are they in?" "Er..." She motions to the door. "Room One." Let's get this over with. I hop off of the bed and head toward Room One. I could make it there with my eyes closed. I'm surprised that there aren't dent marks in the floor with how many times I've walked from my room to one of the stupid fucking interview rooms. Either way, let's get this over with. I wonder what their problem will be with me. How I haven't really been happy in a long time? How freakish my fangs, wings and eyes look? Or maybe they don't want a foal whose great, great, great, great etc grandparents might have sided with Nightmare Moon. I push the door open and walk in. I look up and... Wow. Woooow. What. The. Fuck. There's an earth pony mare, which obviously isn't weird, but there's also a phoenix of all things, and... I, uh... don't even know what to call him. If it even is a him. I don't know. He looks kind of like a minotaur, I guess, but he's not quite as top heavy, doesn't have giant horns, and I assume that he doesn't have a tail. He's got a small patch of red mane on his head. I don't... Just... I don't know why or how, but this has to be a prank. As such, I do the only thing I can think of. I burst out laughing. "Okay, okay, you got me! This... this is good." I bang on the door, expecting Miss Hoof to come in with a "gotcha" but she doesn't. "Good prank. Good prank. I get it, I'm never leaving. Good one." "Er... Comet?" the one who isn't a pony or phoenix says. "This isn't a prank. We're actually here because we want to adopt." I roll my eyes. "Uh-huh. Sure. Absolutely. An earth pony, a phoenix and a ghrmpherana... whatever you are, want to adopt me." "It's true. We can't have foals of our own," the earth pony mare says. "Gee, wonder why." This is fucking ridiculous. "I'm still not sure if you're real or not." "I'm real,"the male one says. "I'm a species called a human. Only one of my kind on the planet. Princess Celestia accidentally brought me here about thirteen years ago now." "Uh-huh." This has to be a prank, right? Miss Hoof just found a few beings and threw them together to make me feel like I have a chance. You know, if there's a weird family, maybe I'll fit in because of how weird I am. Cute idea. But... My stomach tightens as a thought crosses my mind. Does that really sound like Miss Hoof? And... what if this isn't a prank? If they're two different species, yeah, the wouldn't be compatible, so they'd want to adopt. If there's a family that wouldn't want to adopt just to show off their new perfect son or daughter, this one would be it, right? I don't like this. Just leave. This isn't real. I frown at them. "Okay, let's say I humor you. What then?" Crap. Now I'm committed. Ugh. "Well, we'd like to get to know you, Comet," the mare says. "Tell us about yourself." "What's to tell? I've been here pretty much my whole life." Don't do this. But he's sitting on the floor. You can just check. If this is a prank, I'll find out right now, and we'll put all of this behind me. Just check. What if it's okay? Despite every instinct telling me not to, I walk behind the human and start pressing my hoof on his back. Huh. Sturdy, but not uncomfortable. There's enough of a niche that I might actually perfectly fit. No wings, but at this point, I'll take what I can get. Maybe I could... feel safe on there. If he was okay with it. But they probably want a better response first. "I'm the only bat pony here. Parents dropped me off when I was a foal. Not sure who they are or where they went." Fuckers. "Well, you have to have likes and interests," the human points out. "What's your cutie mark? It looks like a nightshade flower." Right. That thing. I look up at the phoenix, who stares right back at me. "It is. Got it when one of the dumb kids here got really sick. The teachers here had no idea what was wrong with him, but I smelled cleaning chemicals on him. They found out I was right, and boom, cutie mark in poison control or something." And he didn't even give me his chocolate for the rest of his life in the orphanage, which, without me, would have been a lot shorter, so I completely deserved it. "Interesting," the mare says. "Isn't it just?" I snark, moving back to sit in front of them. "I think more cloak and dagger stuff is typical of bat ponies. I don't know because I haven't met many other bat ponies. Saw one when Princess Luna came to see us one time." Which... "Can... can I lie on your back? Just for a minute... I mean... if that would be okay." "That would be... unprofessional." My ear flicks. Yeah, that... isn't my favorite memory. "So do you have any friends here? Anything you like doing?" the mare asks. I shrug. "Nope, not really. Kind of alone around here." I roll my eyes and cross my forelegs. "Everypony is just lining up to be best buddies with a bat pony." Best I had was Rainstorm, and she's been gone a while. "I see." The human and mare look at each other and shrug. Yeah, totally weird that a weird filly has no real friends.. "So... if we did decide to adopt you, would you like that?" "I guess," I respond. "Where do you live?" "Ponyville," the mare says. Wait, huh? That's not exactly next door. "Ponyville? What's a couple like you doing all the way in Canterlot for something like this, then?" "Well, we reviewed our options and we decided to try here," the human says. "Plus Princess Celestia helped a lot." Oh, I'm sure. Sounds true. I give him a flat look. "Princess Celestia. You're buddies with her?" "Well, like I said: she brought me here from my home world thirteen years ago. So yes, I know her." "I'd say you're lying, but I can't say otherwise, can I? Still don't know what you are." "A human. I told you that." "Yes, yes, but I don't know what a human is." I tilt my head at them. "In fact, I don't even know what your names are." "Oh, of course. I'm TD and this is my wife Cheerilee." He points to the phoenix. "This is Oswald." "Oswald." Alright, then. "TD the human thing, Cheerilee the earth pony and Oswald the phoenix. All one happy family." I hear somepony walking by the door, and turn around, expecting Miss Hoof to come through and say it's a prank. The longer I talk to them, though, the less likely that seems. "Now you're sure this isn't a prank?" "Positive." "Uh-huh." I sigh and lay down. Alright, don't get your hopes up, but this is one of the longer interviews you've had so far. "So... what do you two do?" "Well I work for Ponyville, and Cheerilee here is the local teacher." "Local teacher?" I raise an eyebrow. "Like the only one?" Cheerilee nods. "Damn, that must be kinda stressful." "It can be, but it's something I love dearly. I wouldn't trade a moment of it," Cheerilee says, ignoring the profanity. "Sooooo... if I came to live with you, I'd go to school and you'd be my teacher?" No, no, I'm getting my hopes up. They seem nice, but that just means they'll let me down gently when they tell me they don't want me. "I suppose so. If that's okay with you. Ponyville does only have the one elementary school." "Huh." I rest my head on my forelegs and start idly poking at a loose thread in the carpet. "What's your house like?" "Homey, I like to think," TD says with a smile, taking Cheerilee's hoof. "We've really worked at making it a nice place." "And I'd have my own room?" "You would." "That I could decorate how I wanted?" "Within reason, yes." "Weird." My own room. That's an odd idea. "You ever share a room with a half dozen other ponies? It's not that fun. Like at all. I mean, shit, some of the other orphans snore like crazy. Sounds like a damn chainsaw going off half the time." They look at each other awkwardly. Oh, great going, Comet. Maybe they liked you, but you just had to be a retard and swear in front of them. Yeah, that'll make them want you. "Sorry. Ms. Hoof says I shouldn't say words like that." "It's okay, Comet," Cheerilee says. "I mean, yes, it is best to not say those words, but we're not mad or disappointed or anything." "Not yet," I mumble. "But you will be. They always are. A bat pony like me is a novelty to a lot of ponies. There's not a lot of us around, and most of us work for Princess Luna anyway." I glance back up at them. "How many bat ponies have you seen in Ponyville anyway?" Maybe they have a family or two over there. Not likely, but maybe. "Well, I've only ever seen bat ponies in Ponyville when Princess Celestia and Princess Luna came to our wedding," TD admits. Aaaand there's another dumb question, Comet. "You're right, I guess. I don't see bat ponies around, but that doesn't mean we see you as a novelty, Comet. We don't care about your tribe. We just want to get to know Comet Screech." "Maybe, but like I said: I'm a novelty. Novelties wear off," I mutter. Yeah, it's like Rainstorm said: if they adopted me, it's because they want a charity case to show everypony how great they are. "And have we given you any indication that would be the case?" TD asks. "We didn't know you were a bat pony when we were first told about you." Yep, they never do. That's why ponies always look so shocked when I walk in. "And do you think you'd be happy with a family who loves and cares for you?" Cheerilee asks. "If you're open to it, we'd love to give you that." "Maybe." I stand back up and look at the door. I can't do this anymore. They're saying all of the right stuff to give me some hope that they might want me, but that's just going to make it worse when they decide they don't want they freaky bat pony after all. "I mean, it's not like I really have much of a choice in the matter. I'm just a filly. You two are the adults who can decide that stuff." "We wouldn't do it if we thought it would make you unhappy," TD insists. "I guess." I shrug. "But I gotta get back now. I..." My ear flicks. "Something." I leave before they can say anything else. It's easily the best interview that I've ever had, but they'll pick somepony else. They won't pick me because I'm a freak and a fuck up. I should have smiled. I should have been sweeter. I shouldn't have said any swear words. They seemed willing enough to ignore me being a bat pony, but like Rainstorm said, they probably still want a perfect model. I was grumpy, shut down, and profane. Not exactly somepony they could brag to their friends about adopting. But if they don't care that I'm a bat pony, maybe there are other ponies who won't care either. If I interview with more, I just need to shove it all down. Smile. Be happy and bubbly. Don't swear. Be perfect. Then maybe... I guess I know for the next couple.