//------------------------------//
// It's A Hard Knock Life 
// Story: Hard Knock Life 
// by The DM 
//------------------------------//

My name is... well, that’s not important. Something as simple as a name doesn’t really matter when no one knows it. Even though I have traveled all over Equestria for most of my life, no one seems to care that I’m around. If anything, everyone around me seem to just yell at me when I’m in the way, or they yell at me when I’m not in the perfect spot. It can get really confusing.

But I’ve accepted this as just my lot in life. I originally came from the pony city of Cloudsdale before being moved with my siblings to the town of Los Pegasus. The ponies there were less than gentle with us. We were just outside the city when a bunch of pegasus ponies quickly surrounded us. They quickly began separating us, and taking us off to smaller groups. Then... then they just began to beat us, kick us, stomp on us, and break us. 

I watched many of my siblings be utterly destroyed by these ponies. I remember clearly thinking about escaping the slaughter. I knew that if I stayed there, I would join my siblings. I quietly and slowly drifted to the edge of my group and waited for my opportunity to escape. Not long after, three ponies who were flying around my group stopped, and began to argue with each other about something. I knew this was my chance. With the ponies near me distracted, I made a break for it.

I was just about clear of the ring of ponies when I heard a pony yell behind me. The female voice took on a scolding tone as she seemed to insert herself into the other three arguing ponies. I didn’t dare slow down to look back, nor did I bother trying to listen to their conversation. But the one thing I did hear will haunt me for the rest of my life; the name Cloud Kicker.

Before I knew what was happening, I felt a weight suddenly jump on me. I thought I was done for as I felt her rear up, ready to deliver the final blow. However, through nothing short of a miracle, I heard other ponies cry out for help. I cast a quick glance back to see what the commotion was. Trying to fleeing the scene was one of my larger, and darker, siblings. Ponies were buzzing all around him as they tried to figure out how to slow him down. It was then that I felt the pony on me take off to assist the other ponies. I couldn’t help but shed a few tears as I watched the ponies rip and tear into my sibling. It was as if my sibling sacrificed himself so that I could escape. It was a truly terrifying experience


<<<~~~>>>


When I finally made it to the city of Manehattan, things were no different from before… the beating, kicking, and the crying… oh the tears… One time, some random pony grabbed me and dragged me over to a building that had caught on fire. As if being confronted by one of the things that scares me the most, another pony came up to me. I thought he might actually try to free me, but that hope was quickly scattered as the pair lifted me high into the air over the building, only to crush me. I cried, and cried, and cried as they continued their relentless assault. After what felt like hours, they finally stopped. 

As I fought to hold back more tears, I could hear dozens of ponies below me cheering out in celebration. These two pegasi had just tried to murder me, and everyone was just cheering! Eventually the two holding me aloft carried me down before pushing me into a nearby alley, only to trot over and join in the revelry. Not wanting to wait around for my attackers to return, I quickly took off and headed west.


<<<~~~>>>


So here I am now, the small village of Ponyville. I thought it would be better than the big cities. I thought wrong.

On my first day I was immediately grabbed off the street by a pair of ponies and carried off to a nearby lake. Without hesitating, the ponies shoved me under the water, and merely held me there. I struggled under their weight as I watched air bubbles float to the surface. Just as I thought I was about to expire, they pulled me up from my near watery grave. I felt waterlogged and bloated as they carried me to a large tree. Before I knew what was happening, one of the ponies delivered a swift buck to my side, squishing me against the tree. 

I cried as they repeated the process, each time seeming more and more pleased with themselves. That was when I heard it. The only name I have ever learned; Cloud Kicker. I couldn’t believe my luck. After months of just wandering Equestria, I managed to settle into the town of my nemesis. Was this it? Was she finally going to end me just like she ended my siblings? Or would she even remember me?

Luckily she paid me little mind. Perhaps she really didn’t recognize me. Or maybe she just wanted to give that impression. She seemed to casually speak to the two ponies holding me up against the tree, perhaps giving them instructions on how to torture me in more creative ways. Before I could really give it any more thought, I was once again carried off the the lake and quickly submerged again. Now soaked through and through, I was taken to a nearby field and left there.

I felt too heavy to attempt escape, so I merely sat there. A few days after being brought to the field, I spotted three small ponies who stared at me, calling me different fruit and other animals, as if announcing their desire to eat me or pet me. Before the three could act upon these impulses, a pegasus with an off white coat and a pink mane that sported two green stripes came up to me and quickly carried me off to some new destination.

There was very little I could to resist her, seeing I was still very cold and waterlogged. I sighed inwardly as she held me above what looked like a park before another pony came by and jumped on me. Before I could react, the pony began jumping on me violently. Once again I began to cry. Though with each falling tear, I began to feel just a little bit lighter. 

Eventually I stopped crying as the pony continued to hold me over the park. She gave me a few shakes and a disapproving glance before flying away. Now left on my own, I began to reflect on my life thus far. It’s not easy, nor is it really pleasant. But this just seems to be my lot in life. Facing adverse conditions is nothing new in anyones life. Do I think life has it out for me specifically? Probably not. However, having someone who is named after harming you and your siblings can really make it seem like the opposite is true.

Oh well, such is the life of a simple rain cloud.