//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: The Lust for Power // by All of the Above //------------------------------// When I awoke, the only thing I could here was yelling. This was no surprise to me because it happened everyday. The only difference was that it was a little louder than the days before. It was my father, yelling in my ear and shaking me awake. His yelling was incoherent babbling. He possibly had something in his mouth. “Get... stupid piece of...” He finally stopped shaking me when I starting shouting. I opened my eyes and saw this broken stallion hovering over me like a snake waiting to strike the helpless mouse caught in its coil. I stared into his lifeless, bloodshot eyes. His navy blue coat was becoming terribly overgrown, as well as his black mane. Which was caught in my mouth. It was so far in my mouth that it was starting to make me gag. With that lovely surprise, I was finally awake. He left as quick as he arrived. He just came in and shouted at me for a little bit, just because some pony needed to be shouted at today, and just left the next second. Sometimes I wonder It did not look like it was even light out. Falling out of my bed and landing on my hooves, which were hurting for some odd reason, I peeked outside the window. One of the perks of living outside of Canterlot is the view. My house is positioned in a way so that I can always see the sun come over the colossal mountain that always casts its shadow over us in the morning, until the time comes when the sun climbs to the top of the mountain, and peeks its head just to say hello. And that is what I just saw. My father only woke me up on those days. One thing is always inevitable when this happens. I have to walk to school today. Even when it's winter, he still makes me walk. I'm lucky I have snow boots for those occasions. Waking up this early means I have to get ready quickly, and run towards Celestia's palace. "Did you not hear me? Get up!" my dad barked. "And make your bed, Arkane." He slammed the door shut. I lived about a mile away from Canterlot. I had a father, a mother, and an older brother. Unlike most foals, I go to Celestia's School for "gifted unicorns." Let me tell you one thing. I'm not gifted. At least, wasn't gifted. My parents bribed my way into the school. They somehow manage to pay a lot of money for me to go there everyday. Don't ask me how they got the money, because I don't know. They knew full well that the school day lasted until six o' clock at night, so they just enrolled me without a second thought. It was there way of telling me that they didn't want to see my face for an entire day. I live with abusive parents and a brother who just hates me. He keeps telling me that I take away the attention from him. What attention I took away from him, I don't know, and still don't. He doesn't do anything to hurt me, he just puts me down on a regular basis. His name is Gild. After I finished making my bed, and I walked out of my room. The hallway was illuminated by dozens of candles. Shadows of their flame danced on the walls, making it look like a shadow dance party. I shook my head. 'Arkane, you get distracted too easily. You have to get to breakfast then get to school. It'll all be okay once I'm there.' I thought to myself. I can see my mother in the kitchen, making some breakfast. "Hurry up." I don't know how she knew I was coming down the hallway or how she knew that I was in the hallway, but somehow she did. I always imagined her having very good hearing, even for a mare of her age. My mother has a dandelion-colored coat and a dark brown mane. She never bothered to comb it, because she hardly left the house. She just bums around until dad got home from his job that he never talks about. The tips of my mothers hair was singed. She smoked a lot. The smell didn't bother me all that much. It was just the natural smell of the house. After taking the first few steps into the kitchen, the scent of cigarette smoke hit me in the face. There my mother was in all of her cruel, decrepit glory, smoking a cigarette and glaring at me like she was a little girl and I tattled on her for doing something bad. My father sat at the table, drinking something, probably hard cider. I don't think I've ever seen him drink something that won't make you drunk. On the table, there was my scarf that they never bother to put away. I just throw it on the table without a second thought and they don't seem to get angry at me. Maybe that's because they don't put their junk away. "Your legs aren't broken, so get it without using your stupid magic, otherwise they will be broken," he tells me. "Put it back on the table." The scarf was already wrapped around me, so it was pointless to do it. I was about to take a step towards the door, but he stood up, spilling his drink. He examined the spill and turned his head to me. "You made me... spill my milk," He's actually drinking milk. What is this? I was answered by a mug to my head. It wasn't a very hard hit, but it hurt nonetheless. I'll have a terrible headache for the rest of the day. "Put it back on the rack. Now!" I took the scarf off of me. My father directed his attention back to his drink. I attempted just to fake it, but I remembered that my mother was looking at me. At that point, I didn't really feel like arguing with them. If I wanted to get out of the door without any further damage, I would have had to do as they commanded. I saw him crack a small smile as I put it back on the rack. I heard him say something underneath his breath in a mocking tone, "Dreck." I put the scarf back on the table, and then I picked it up. This is a waste of time. You'd think I could get used to this, this torture, this constant voice telling me that I'm the plague to this world. I mean, I'd certainly heard it enough from my father, and of course my mother took his side. Gild wasn't any better. They made me feel like my existence here was a mistake, and that I didn't matter at all. And for the longest time, I believed them. That morning was a day I believed it the most. But it didn't hurt me like it used to. Now it's just a daily reminder. Like the reminder that you're going to die one day. We just don't care, because we know that as a fact and it doesn't affect us. We don't care. We don't even give it a second thought. That's because we think that the day we die won't be for some time. No matter what we do, we will die in the end. So what's the point of doing something about it? If there was anything enjoyable about waking up this early was that there were still stars under the sky. Walking under them made me feel safe, like they were watching out for me. Sometimes, I felt like i was the only one who had a greater appreciation for the things in life that we take for granted. Everything we know of could be taken away from us at a moments notice, but we just don't care. Though it may sound silly, I still liked to wish on stars. If any pony I knew heard about this, I would never hear the end of it. Bullying wasn't a problem for me at Celestia's school, but ponies my age still like to tease. Which is why I stayed quiet and tried to make myself go unnoticed. I looked up to the night sky, and tried to locate a bright star. I sit on my haunches, quietly saying my wish out loud "I wish... for power. Power that will make me strong enough to crush all of those in my way. Power that beats that of Celestias. I deserve the power. I deserve it, damn it!" A smile creeps along my face. "I can't wait to watch that house burn to the ground. I can't wait until the day I step on the ashes of that house. Hay, I'll even spit on the burnt corpses of my parents. I will destory that place." I get up, brushing off the dirt. I know that the wish will never happen, but it felt nice to say it. And who knows, maybe it will happen. Maybe they'll see what they've done to me. I regretted making that wish.