"What in the name of Celestia's right eye are you doing?" a shriek erupted from a certain house in Ponyville.
"Mom," Ebony rolled her eyes. "I'm moving to Manehatten for my first year of college, okay?"
"No, it is not okay! When the hell were you going to tell me this?" demanded Katty, Ebony's one and only strict stepmare.
"Well, I thought you'd fully support me on my pursuing of my cutie mark,"
"No way am I supporting this.. this.. Ah!" Katty screamed in frustration. "What are you expecting your cutie mark to be anyways? An annoying, silly little filly?"
Ebony lowered her eyes, pawing at the floor. "Mom, I'm going, and that's final!" she stubbornly insisted.
"Fine! But don't expect me to chip in a single bit for your rent, tuition, food, or anything, for that matter!"
"Alright, alright. You can go now, I'm leaving in a week," sighed Ebony, her shining emerald green eyes displaying her irritation. Why the hell couldn't her stupid stepmare just shut up?
"Fine! Honestly, I can't imagine why your father even keeps you around anymore!" scowled Katty before storming out of Ebony's room. Finally, Peace and quiet at last.
Ebony sorted through her belongings, packing all of her sheet music and her headphones. After packing her basic survival necessities, which included her song lyrics, goPod, and Book of Inspirations, she decided to pack her optional stuff. She packed all of her savings, which consisted only of forty-two bits, and some toiletries.
Lazily walking over to her mirror, she realized that there was no way in Equestria that she was going to Manehatten looking like a pony zombie. Her silvery mane was heavily knotted, the lavender streaks looked greasy as ever. Of course, this was because her stepmare had used up all of the bathing water in the house. Why the woman needed eight hours of running bathwater daily was an unsolved mystery.
Taking a comb in her mouth, Ebony painfully brushed away her knots and washed her hair in her small bathroom sink. Deciding she looked at least presentable, she took a deep breath and dove into her closet for her clothes.
Ebony had once heard a rumor that you always most definitely needed to wear clothes 24/7 in Manehatten. It was because the streets were busy and grimy, which made ponies' coats get dirty and unhygienic. Ever since the big breakout of the Cutie Pox in Manehatten in 1742, everypony was sure to wear full clothing.
Ebony rifled through her closet, her very few items of clothing were sagged and outgrown. No way she'd wear the junk living in her minuscule closet. Those things practically had mold growing on them! Ebony decided that she'd have to steal some of her stepmare's clothing, but it was for a good cause. Besides, that pony's closet with close to bursting with her revealing clothes. She wouldn't notice a few pieces gone, would she?
Silently trotting downstairs, Ebony made her way to the master bedroom and and quietly entered. To her relief, Katty was already taking her daily eight hour bath. The constantly running water would drown out any noise escaping the main room as Ebony committed theft.
Ebony opened the closet, wincing when it made a loud, creaking noise. Adrenaline coursing through her veins, she headed deep into the walk-in closet until she met a corner with dusty articles of clothing. Blindly, Ebony grabbed what felt like four tops, two pants, three skirts, and two dresses.
She hauled the load up the stairs and attempted to cram it in to her school bag. School was starting in two weeks, so she needed to be very prepared for her journey. When Ebony got a better view of the clothes she grabbed, she let out a gasp of amazement. She had thought that her family was unfortunately poor, so where would they be able to afford such amazing designer clothing?
She read the tag on a dark blue, velvety skirt that twinkled with something that looked suspiciously like diamonds. It read 'Luna's Inspiration', a well known brand who's clothing was always limited edition.
Looking over at another, rose red strapless ruffled top, the tag read 'Celestia's Blush', leaving her dumbstruck. She definitely knew that brand. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were always complaining how Diamond Tiara wore that brand all the time.
Grinning, Ebony slipped on the top and skirt, amazed at how well the mismatching colors complimented her. Ebony admired herself in the mirror, striking different poses and fluffing up her hair. Looking closer, Ebony realized something in her outfit was missing. She kept staring at herself, until it clicked in her brain. Shoes. She needed shoes.
Hesitant at the thought of another trip downstairs, Ebony gazed longingly in her mirror. Finally deciding that the shoes were worth the risk, she stripped off the clothes and tip-toed over to her parent's room. Quietly opening the door, she darted towards the closet and scanned the shelves for footwear.
Ebony headed deeper into the closet, until she finally stopped to a halt, many shelves of a variety of shoes displayed before her. Ebony looked up and down, giving each shoe a discriminating look. They all matched the clothes she had tried on back in the room, but it slowly dawned on her that what her stepmare wore definitely wasn't her style.
'This will be another mission for me,' Ebony decided. 'To find out my kind of fashion,'
The thought of having her own style to reflect her own personality excited Ebony, and she was on the verge of a completely genius happy seizure when she heard a noise escaping the room. Heavy footsteps thudded against the carpeted floor, and she realized that it was her father returning from work.
The closet door creaked, and Ebony scrambled behind some silky dresses to avoid being seen. Her jet black coat blended in well with a heavy, dark fur coat that was tickling her nose. Ebony heavily attempted not to sniffle or scratch her nose, or just flat out sneeze, but the wait was agony for her.
She realized with horror that her dad was venturing out farther into the closet, humming a tune to himself as he examined the side where the men's clothing was. Ebony knew her father would be enraged to find her snooping in their closet, because he had convinced her they were drop dead poor. To find a walk-in closet with such luxurious clothes would mean he'd have to explain his lies.
Her dad, Charles, stopped right in front of the spot she was hiding, she knew from the red hooves clopping suspiciously. Terror struck her as she saw her dad sweep the coat back to find her, shrunken into the wall, with her eyes squinted shut.
"Ebony Waters, what the hell are you doing?" his deep voice bellowed, causing her to wince.
"Daddy, I..." Ebony whimpered, he was standing up regally, his anger radiating off him in waves.
"I want you as far away from my house as possible!" he yelled. "You will leave now, no explanation will be offered to you about this! If you peep a single word about where I got this money, or this day... I will hunt you down and kill you," his voice lowered to a cold, deathly whisper.
The only thing that Ebony's panicked mind could register was 'Well, that escalated quickly,' which was of no help at all during the terrifying moment.
"Yes, daddy," she squeaked. "I promise I'll be a good girl and keep shut,"
"Good," he growled menacingly. "Now get the hell outta my house. I never want to see you again,"
Ebony quickly scampered out of the closet, galloped out of the room, and retreated to her own. Panting, she threw all remaining important possessions into her bags and rushed out of the house, never looking back.
Down the cobblestone road she went, huffing in exhaustion, but refused to stop until she reached the Ponyville train station. What was up with her dad? And where did he get all of that money? Nobody has diamond studded gowns when they were dirt poor!
"Hello, ma'am. Would ya like to purchase a train ticket?" a short, young colt was standing at the ticket booth.
"Um, yes," she said, desperately trying not to appear frantic. "One train ticket to Manehatten, your soonest time possible,"
"Alright!" the colt handed her an orange ticket. "It boards in half an hour, have a lovely trip!"
"Thank you, have a nice day," Ebony called over her shoulder as she hurried over to a bench. There, she put on her headphones while she waited for the multi-colored train to appear.
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"All aboard!" a brown pony with a thick, bristled mustache called out, waving his hat all around.
Ebony put her neon blue headphones around her neck and struggled to carry her heavy luggage over to the train.
"Alright, missy! Lemme see your ticket!" the pony turned to her.
Ebony quickly flashed him her ticket and boarded, storing her luggage in a compartment above her.
She watched as other ponies boarded the train, and she was surprised to see so many. What was going on in Manehatten to collect so many ponies here? Time for her to find out.
"Excuse me?" she interrupted a pony who was talking to her friend rapidly. "Why is there such a crowd here? It seems strange,"
The bubbly, orange pony gave her a weird look. "Don't you know? DJ P0N-3 is having a concert in Manehatten! OMG, I'm, like, so excited!"
Her blue friend nodded along vigorously, obvious that her excitement wasn't going to die down anytime soon.
"Oh, okay then. Thank you," Ebony thanked as pleasantly as she could, before putting on her headphones and began nodding her head to the beat of the music. She cranked up the volume, since the loud chatter of the ponies made her squirm. Ebony was never much of a social pony.
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"Alright, missy! Ya almost fell asleep, ya know," the stout pony snapped her out of her dizzying trance.
"I didn't miss my stop, did I?" she asked worriedly.
"Aw, nah, ya didn't. Shucks, I couldn't let ya miss your stop!" he assured.
"Thank you so much!" Ebony let out a sigh of relief as she collected all of her baggage. Without letting the ticketer pony speak another word, she dashed off the train, and onto the busy Manehatten platform.
Excited chatter filled her ears, making them buzz. Ebony's eyes widened at the sight of so many ponies. She then remembered- she wasn't wearing anything. All of the other ponies were fully clothed, making her feel naked. Technically, she was.
She let out a squeal before running off to the mare's bathrooms, her bulky suitcases making things awkward. Once she managed to squeeze herself inside a dirty stall, she threw on the first shirt and skirt she let her hooves touch. Thank goodness, she hadn't forgotten to pack the stolen clothes.
Looking down at what she dressed herself with, she found herself in a tight pink tank top with sapphire sequins and a skirt so short, it almost didn't even have a right to be classified as an article of clothing. The black-and-yellow skirt made her feel uncomfortable, she felt like one of those.. what do you call them? Ah, yes. Sluts. She felt like one of those slutty type of ponies.
However, now was not the time to complain, since she still had to check out her room at Pale Hearts College, the one where she will attend in two weeks. Lucky for her, she had filled out the paperwork and sent it in early, so she managed to snag a really great spot. All she had to do was pay for everything, which would make out as very difficult, considering her small amount of money.
A light bulb went over her mind, lighting up with a new idea. She could sell her stepmare's clothes! With the money, she could at least afford a slightly fashionable saddlebag, some kind of pants, and a baggy sweater. Once Ebony stepped out of the bathroom, the level of noise once again, made her head spin.
She trudged out of the place and took a map at the exit. Squinting to see the tiny, precise details, she walked and walked until she finally found herself in front of the one and only, Pale Hearts College.
'This is it,' Ebony thought to herself as she stepped inside, a nervous trauma instantly swelling up inside of her.