You are lying deep inside a dark alleyway. It is dark out as you huddle closer against the wall. You stopped crying a long time ago, not because you had no reason not to, but because there were no more tears to shed.
As you crawl deeper into one of the corners, you think back to how this horrible turn of events started…
~Six hours prior~
You stand in the middle of the bustling street as a small panic finds its way into your heart. Where is mommy, and Tia? You couldn't have gone that far, could you?
You start walking, then jogging, and before long, running. Now in full panic mode, you dash around buildings, looking at every passing window and checking everypony in the hopes of finding a familiar face.
You are so concerned and afraid that you do not notice a passing stallion as the two of you bump into each other.
"Agh, watch where you’re going you little runt!" the stallion says, looking at you with evident disgust.
"I-I'm lost…" you sob, hoping that the stallion might help you in search for your lost family.
The stallion snorted once "You? Lost? You're exactly where you are supposed to be."
"B-But I need to get back to the castle."
The stallion squints his eyes at you, making you feel uncomfortable under his judging gaze "Wait a minute, I know you! You're that freak the queen found all those years ago. What a disgrace."
You take a single step back "W-What...?"
"Don't play coy, freak! Do you really think that you are the son of Gaia and Solaris? Everything about you screams abomination! You should be living in some filthy ditch surrounded by rats and refuse!"
You take another step back. Why weren't you a pony? Your mother is a pony, your father is a pony. Tartarus, even your sister is a pony. Then why aren't you a pony? When you asked mommy what you are she always told you that you were special. But now, now you're completely lost, in more ways than one.
Your thoughts, however, are cut short when a deafening thunder-like boom is heard in the distance.
"WHERE IS HE!"
This shout, it makes your blood chill and your hairs stand on end. It feels familiar somehow, but it terrifies you so badly that you run away from the source and hide in one of the alleyways.
Your vision is starting to get blurry as more tears are shed. You are so scared to be alone. You only want to be back in your bed, sleeping soundly, knowing that you have a family to call for your own. But it all shattered within seconds. You are not a pony, there is no way you are the real son of Gaia and Solaris.
The sun is already kissing the edge of the horizon, bathing the world in colors of orange and purple as you try to find sense in where you are. Little do you know that you unintentionally entered the noble district, where ponies shoot you angry glances of hatred and disgust.
“What is that?!”
“It’s that freak the queen took as a pet...”
“What’s wrong with his face…?”
“Disgusting…”
“Freak…”
“Monster...”
You run aimlessly, covering your ears as you do so. Tears start to pour freely from your eyes, obscuring your vision. You openly cry now, just wishing for it to end, for their taunts to stop. You barely feel any pain as you stumble and fall face first into the cold, stone ground. Instead, you pull yourself upright and keep running. You try to be brave, but everytime a little piece of courage grows inside you, it is immediately crushed when the booming voice returns.
It seems bent on finding something, though you pay it no heed. A sense of uncomfortable hotness creeps across your forehead as the blurriness intensifies. Your head is aching and you feel yourself weaken with every passing minute. Something isn't right, you can feel it throughout your body. It was a sort of hot aching that pounded on the back of your head.
Retreating to a nearby ally, you grab your head tightly in a vain attempt to quell the throbbing pain. Every fiber in your body screams at you to find help, but you know that now that ponies are cruel. You do not have a family, you are lost. And now, sick.
You crawl to one corner and try to find the warmest spot on the cold stone floor whilst trying to remain conscious as the pain makes it almost unbearable…
~Now~
The booming voice returns! It sounds angrier and closer than ever. But also… desperate, in a sense. It takes all your willpower to crawl under a smelly wooden box as the clip-clop of many ponies is drawing ever closer.
You stay inside the box, shivering, praying to whoever might listen that you won't get caught. You are tired. Tired of being sick, tired of being alone, but mostly, tired of being revered as a freak. Once the clopping of ponies dies down, you step out of your box and huddle in the corner in a similar fashion as before.
You cannot go back, not now that you know you do not belong. Your entire life is a lie. You are not royalty, or even a commoner. You do not know where your place is, but you know for sure it ain't here. Not where you are hated, and the only kindness you knew was probably pity.
You try to stay awake. The heat you felt moments ago was now replaced with cold. So tired… everything now is but a blur, each twitch of your muscles sends waves of pure pain throughout your body. Even breathing becomes somewhat taxing.
"…found… over… here…" you hear something, but you cannot say for certain if it's real or your mind simply playing tricks on you.
You see blurs coming towards you, and then you feel something against your skin, something soft and soothing. And then, you hear a voice, a voice that you love and cherish as the epicenter of your happiness, a voice that now falls on bitter ears.
You can feel yourself being lifted and placed somewhere warm, but the cold won't loosen its grip on you, if anything, it only grows stronger.
You try desperately to cling to the last bits of consciousness with pitiful attempts as your arms clings to something warm and soft, like a blanket but alive.
But you are too weak. You can see the darkness in the corners of your eyes start to overwhelm the rest of your vision as you fall asleep to a familiar lullaby…
You wake up in a familiar bed. The excessive hotness and coldness left your body in favor for a minor headache. It wasn’t the best feeling, but still better than before. You feel something cold and damp on your forehead and try to lift your arm to take it off, but as soon as you try to lift your arm, something soft is pressing against it, pining it back to your side. You do not have the power to resist even if you wanted to.
You open your eyes with some difficulty and turn your gaze to the pony-shaped silhouette besides you.
"You shouldn't move, sweetie. Just lie down and rest."
You recognize that voice anywhere.
Mommy.
Feelings start to flood your entire body at the sight and sound of mommy, you feel the corners of your eyes are starting to moisten and a wave of relief washes your entire body.
You squirm in your place, desperately trying to reach her, to touch her, to feel her warmth on your skin. She inches closer until her head rests near yours, your cheeks rubbing with each other as the both of you shed a few tears.
"I'm s-sorry…" you choke, burying your face into mommy’s fur "I'm sorry…"
"Shhhh… everything is okay now, sweetie. You are safe once more."
Despite the pain, you lift your arms and wrap them around mommy's neck, bringing her closer to you, almost desperately. Her mere presence is causing your entire body to shake. Not from the cold, but from the fear, the fear that she might fade if you so much as relax your grip. You need to hold onto her, to confirm that she is indeed there, that it isn't a cruel dream conjured by your deprived mind.
Another warm feeling creeps onto your back. You turn around and see Tia, silently sobbing into your neck. You turn around completely and wrap her in a tight hug. You didn’t know this, but Tia took your disappearance just as hard as mommy, if not moreso. She was worried sick as she waited for mommy's return. When she saw her with you on her back, she immediately rushed to your side and stayed with you the whole night, barely sleeping, watching over you so you may not disappear again.
But there is something in the back of your head, something you knew it was there.
It was doubt. You doubted your whole life now, where do you belong? Who's your real family? What will you do now? Will you accept your fate, or will you run away in search of the truth?
But think as hard as you might, you are still a child.
Bonus(do not take seriously) -