//------------------------------//
// Hearts That Heal 
// Story: Different 
// by Whisper-Quill 
//------------------------------//

Twilight Sparkle sat in the Carousel Boutique, sipping on a cup of fresh green tea, with just a hint of jasmine. She looked around the colorful little shop, home to one of Equestria's most popular fashionista's, and one of her best friends. Dresses circled the room, all forms of fabulous made into solid matter made up of thin strands of....



Twilight chuckled to herself. She was doing it again, over analyzing everything and thinking way too much. Spike was right, she needed a break. As she sipped her tea, a unicorn, pale as the purest snowfall, with a royal purple mane styled to perfection, and a thin coat of make-up that must have taken her hours to do, even though it was only a five minute job, walked into the room, a concerned look upon her face.



"Twilight darling, do you mind helping me for a minute?" Rarity spoke up, looking around the room.



"Sure Rarity. What do you need?"



"Oh I've lost my diamond encrusted ribbon again and I simply must have it for a very important clients order. I thought I might ask you for your help before I had another, erm, episode, as it t'were."



Twilight giggled behind her hoof at this statement. She remembered the last time she lost the brilliant gemed ribbon. She had cried and flailed upon her chaize lounge until she spotted it across the room. What was even funnier, was where it was now.



"Um, Rarity," Twilight giggled. "You have a little something on your flank."



Rarity looked behind her, expecting the worst. What was it? Spiders? A leech? Or, Celestia forbid, dirt? Opening her eyes slowly, she saw her diamond encrusted ribbon sitting upon her flank.



Rarity blushed slightly. "Oh. Thank you Twilight."



"No problem. So what were you saying before you ran out?"



Rarity perked up. "Oh yes! Well I was thinking that my life has taken an unexpected turn. You see, making dresses and bringing a whole new light to the world of fabulosity is well and good, but I'm starting to slow down, darling. I fear I am starting to grow old. I feel I'm losing what little I have left in life to keep me on my toes. Honestly Twilight, when was the last time the fate of Equestria was hanging in the balance and it was up to us to stop the forces of evil from tipping the metaphorical scales and creating Tartarus on Equestria?"



Twilight held a hoof to her chin and thought for a moment. "You make a good point, but Rarity, your only twenty-three. How could you be getting old? You still look as beautiful as ever."



Rarity sighed at this. "It's not so much as outward appearance, darling, but more inward. I'm waking up later every day, I have nothing to do but make dresses since Sweetie Belle went with Mother and Father on one of they're vacations last month. I need something to keep me busy, and I don't get enough clients to keep my schedule full."



Twilight put her hoof on her friends shoulder sympathetically. "I understand, Rarity. But what will you do?"



* * * * *



Raine sat in her bed, looking out her window at the foals playing in the yard. She stopped going outside, stopped talking, stopped leaving the room, and stopped eating. All the other foals ignored her, but it made no difference to her anyway. No one cared about her, so why should they?



Raine sighed to herself, her depression digging deeper into her core. Her stomach rumbled, but she ignored it. She was getting really skinny. She could see her ribs. Her eyes were sunken and her mane and tail were a disheveled mess. Her coat no longer held it's usual slight luster, and her eyes were slowly becoming hollow and emotionless. A single tear traveled down her cheek and pooled at her chin, dripping off and landing on the dirty bandages on her leg. Her leg hurt, but her chest hurt even more. No, her heart hurt. She started crying in earnest now, burying her face in her pillow and sobbing delicately into the fabric.



All she wanted was to have someone there for her. A family. If not a family, then a friend. Or even someone to talk to, even if they weren't listening. As long as they looked like they were listening, she would be happy. But no matter what, she was still alone. It had been so long now. Almost ten years since she was left at the orphanage. She had been here longer than most of the other kids, but as they had come and gone, adopted by loving fimalies, she was still alone. Almost ten years, and not one friend.



She started to cry harder, staining her pillow with tears. Her sobbing echoed off the dirty walls, heard by no one but herself. She wanted to be loved, if only just once in her life. She wanted to be wanted. She wanted ponies to care about her as if she wouldn't last long very long. Maybe she wouldn't though. Maybe it's easier to let go. Just give up. Quick Step did it just a few months ago, and it seemed so painless. He just hung there from the rafters, not a single emotion betraying his face, his bed sheet his only salvation from this cruel place.



Raine looked at her bed sheet with empty eyes filled with tears, wondering just how fast it would be.



Suddenly she heard voices, but only one familiar. Ms. Care's was easy to make out, but who was the other one? It was obviously a mare, but she sounded weird, like she wasn't from here. She sounded happy, too. Like nothing was wrong with this place. Raine didn't get up from her bed, she instead layed back down and faced the wall away from the door, and continued to cry softly. Why did it matter. She has seen hundreds of parents-to-be come through here and give her the same disgusted look over and over again. This one wont be any different. Suddenly the voices were in the doorway. Raine could hear Ms. Care's voice. "Well it looks like those were all the children. Now have you made a decision, or do you want to wait?"



The mares voice brought Raine's attention back from her sorrow. "What about this one?"



Ms. Care's voice made a quick counter. "Oh you don't want 'that' one. She is quite a trouble maker. Why last week she attacked one of the foals and then tried to tell me she didn't." Ms. Care looked at Raine's curled form with disgust. "Plus, she's deformed and would surely scare anypony else in your household."



Rarity raised an eyebrow at that last comment. Looking at the filly with piqued interest, she walked up to her. The first thing she noticed was that she was crying. The second was her wings. They looked like Princess Luna's royal guard's wings. Like bat wings. Further stimulating her curiosity, she sat on the little filly's bed. "Hello there." Rarity looked at the filly, waiting for a response. She continued, "My name is Rarity." She smiled. "What is yours?"



Raine laid there, surprised. But she knew the moment that this mare, Rarity, saw her, she would shriek and then run out of the room. Just like everypony else...



Rarity waited but no response came. Then she saw the filly's appearance. She was filthy and her mane was matted. But what shocked her the most was the fact that the foal was so skinny, she could count her ribs. "Darling, what ever happened to you?!"



Raine was confused. She had never heard this tone of voice before. It was surprised and frightened and also... Caring? Raine looked up, almost forgetting her bodies strange look. But she noticed too late. Before she could turn away, Rarity had her face in her hooves, looking directly into her eyes. Her monsterous, dark, vile eyes.



And Raine saw concern etched on her face.



"You simply must get this filly something to eat! She looks like the could fade dead away!" Rarity directed this order to Ms. Care, shocking the matron to the core. Shaking her head violently, Ms. Care left the room. Moments later she came back with a plate full of spagetti and daisy tomato sauce, setting it next to the filly with a grudging look in her eyes.



Raine looked at the food, the look at Rarity, confusion all over her face. The purple maned unicorn smiled at her and nodded. Raine looked at the food, and picked up her fork with her magic, and though it wobbled a little, she delicately twirled the pasta around it, taking a careful, slow bite. The two mares watched her, one with hate, and the other with interest.



When Raine had finished, she sat up and looked down. Then, opening her mouth, she spoke, her delicate voice hoarse from lack of use. "Thank you."



Rarity beamed, smiling at the filly. "Your very welcome, darling. Now, why don't you tell me your name, hmm?"



Raine scratched her foreleg with a hoof. What's going on? Why is she so nice to me? These thoughts kept flashing through her mind, but regardless, she answered the beautiful unicorn.



"Raine."



Rarity smiled even wider. She could feel her heart pounding harder with each little word the filly, Raine, spoke. Her voice was soft and very well carried, though a bit gravely. Rarity knew it. This was the one! So she was a little... different. After all, she had never seen anything like her before. Wings and a horn? She couldn't be an Alicorn. But these things meant nothing to her. Different was Rarity's life! And she would be damned to the moon before she let something so sweet as this filly go without a home.



"Ms. Care, I do believe I have made my decision."



Ms. Care looked up and smiled, but it fell from her face as soon as Rarity looked at Raine. She wouldn't. No. She wouldn't think to... Would she?



Ms. Care smiled again. "Wonderful! Who will you be adopting then?" Ms. Care willed a bead of sweat to not drop from her forehead.



"I will be adopting her." Rarity said, facing Raine, whose face was a mix of shock, disbelief, and uncertainty.



Ms. Care kept smiling through the fear of the freakish being this mare wanted to adopt. "Are you quite sure Ms. Rarity? There are many other foals in the yard."



Rarity nodded. "Yes I am quite certain that this is the one I wish to adopt."



Raine couldn't believe it. Someone wanted to adopt her. Her! The most disfigured, scary looking, creepiest, weirdest filly in the world.



Ms. Care, unable to legally do anything, sighed inwardly. "Very well then. I'll draw up the paper work, and then you and your... filly, can be off to your new home."



Ms. Care walked away to her office to print the legal documents for Raine, when Rarity spoke to Raine. "I know you didn't do any of those horrid things that awful mare spoke of. I honestly think she has some sort of prejudice against you because of your appearance, but let me assure you that I find absolutely nothing wrong with you, darling. Now, why don't we get you some new bandages for that leg of yours, hmm?"



Raine looked at Rarity with bewilderment in her eyes. Was this for real? Was it a dream?



"Darling, are you coming?" Rarity asked, a bit of concern returning to her voice.



Raine nodded and followed Rarity through the door and down the hall to the nurses office.



"How can any of this be real? Is this a joke Ms. Care and the other foals are playing on me? If it is, it's not funny." Thoughts of uncertainty raced through Raines mind, clouding her concentration. Without noticing, she walked straight into the doorframe of the nurse's office. Rubbing her nose apprihensively, she looked up at Rarity, who didn't laugh or make fun of her, but crouched down and took her muzzle in her hoof.



"Are you ok, dear?" Rarity asked, worried that the filly might have something worse than a hurt leg, like an infection, or deleriousness from sleep loss or blood loss.



Raine saw the worry in the pale mares eyes, and suddenly, all doubt was lost. Rarity's eyes didn't hold malice, or hate. Not ever fear. Instead, there was care. In that instance, Raine knew that Rarity's actions were sincere. Her vision was starting to swim, and her legs fell out from under her as she started to cry again.



"Darling, what ever is the matter?" Rarity layed next to the filly, brushing her tears away with a hoof. Before she could react, small legs were wrapped around her as Raine cried into the crook of her neck. Suprised, Rarity looked down at the tiny body pressed against hers as the filly cried into her neck. With a smile, Rarity wrapped her forelegs around Raine, rubbing her withers with a hoof. "Shush, Darling. Everything is ok now."



Raine couldn't believe she was finally leaving this horrible place. Every day spent wishing she had never been left here, or even worse, born, was finally coming to an end. But she had to know why. Why was this mare any different from the other ponies that had come and gone, leaving her feeling worse and worse wth each visit.



"Why aren't you scared? Why didn't you pick any of the others. Why me?"



Rarity's brow furrowed at this. Was this filly really put through that much?



"Darling, I don't see why you haven't been adopted until now. You are such a sweet and well mannered filly that anyone would simply die to have you." Rarity brushed a stray bit of mane from Raine's face as she looked at the soft features of the well groomed mare she had her little legs around. "You're features alone make you an extremely remarkable filly. Yes, you aren't exactly something one sees very often, but that in itself makes you all the more special." At that, Rarity smiled at the surprised filly. "Now, shall we continue to the nurses office?"



Raine wiped her eyes and nodded with a smile.



* * * * *



"Well she was less than friendly." Rarity stated, Raine following behind her with a freshly bandaged leg, actual effort having been put into her injury.



"She's always like that when I'm around. No one's really liked me before." Raine shuffled along behind Rarity, her head low to the ground.



Rarity looked back at the unfortunate filly, a frown cressing her face. "Well don't worry about them darling. They're just close minded is all. Unable to see true beauty in such rare things."



"Speaking of beauty, I look like a wreck." Raine pouted at her poor state.



"Never fear, darling, for I have many products to make your coat shine with fabulosity beyond your wildest dreams." At that, Raine's eyes shimmered with anticipation. "Now I have a cairrage outside waiting for us, so go fetch your things and I shall finish up with the paperwork including my adopting you." Raine nodded and trotted to the room where she and the other foals slept. As she walked through the halls with a smile on her face, she chanced glancing looks at the others, almost giggling at they're confused looks that they gave her.



"Why is she so happy?" one foal had whispered to another.



"I heard she's getting adopted."



"What? By who?"



"That one mare that came though. The one with the purple mane."



"Weird. Didn't think she'd take to the freak."



Raine rolled her eyes. She didn't care what they thought. She was leaving this horrible place for good. Stepping into the bedroom, she trotted straight to her bed, pulling open the drawer and taking out her only possessions; an old mane brush, a book of poems that she found under the orphange last year, and a feather from a bird she saw flying overhead that had dropped one. Looking around to see if anypony was around, she stuck her hoof into the drawer and felt around the underside. When she finally found it, she pulled it out, the tape she had used to hold it there offering little resistance. An old ring box, red and velvety. When she opened it, she saw her favourite object in the whole world; a bright white stone with a swirl of red on the inside. She didn't know what it was, but it was her most precious possession. stuffing it in her bag with the rest of her items and taking it in her teeth, she trotted out of the bedroom and to the door of Ms. Care's office.



"And all that is needed is your signature here. Are you sure you wouldn't reconsider, Ms. Rarity? She really is quite the misbehaving type. Not only that, but her inability to socialize with the other foals will only cause trouble." Ms. Care's voice could be heard clear though the thing walls, her words cutting a little into Raine's happiness. But then she heard an indignant scoff from Rarity.



"Now look here Ms. Care, that filly has been nothing but the sweetest since I met her and she has done nothing what so ever to make me think otherwise. And further more, I would like to make it known that because you treat her like she is nothing more than a bratish thing ment to be looked down upon constantly, the other children think the same way. It is only your fault that Raine connot make friends in this poor excuse of an orphanage." Raine heard a few light scratching noises, and then a huffing noise, and Rarity came through the doorway, her nose in the air. Seeing Raine's worried look, Rarity winced a little. "Too much?"



Raine just stared at Rarity for a few seconds, and then burst out laughing. After a minute, Rarity started to laugh with her.



"Come, darling. Our cairrage awaits us."



Raine smiled and stepped next to Rarity. She was too excited to stop smiling, even after the other foals shot her dirty looks. Stepping outside, Raine saw a small cairrage waiting for them. As they climbed inside, Raine turned around, looking at the other foals who stared at her through the windows and the fence. Before she closed the door, she gave one final wave goodbye to the ones who would never treat her wrong again.