Only Human

by Merotik

Twelve Years Old Pt.1

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~OCTOBER~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Happy birthday to Glee! Happy birthday to Glee! Happy birthday dear Gleeeee! Happy Birthday to Glee!" I sung to myself. I blew out the twelve candles that I had stuck into a pile of Twinkies. I clapped and looked at the smiling faces that I had drawn onto the random inanimate objects I found lying around.

It was October twenty seventh, the day that Mom had found me in the forest. No pony knew when my real birthday was so we just considered it to be today.

I was in my room. I had a table set in the middle of the room, around the table was a pile of rocks, a bag of flour, a bundle of dust bunnies, and a bucket full of turnips, all sitting in stools and wearing pink and white striped party hats.

"Thanks everypony! Thank you SO much for coming to my birthday! And might I add how lovely you all are this afternoon!" I said, as I smiled and looked around at the inanimate objects, waiting for them to respond.

"Now, even though todays my birthday, I don't want you getting the idea that today should be all about me! This party was made for everypony! So everypony! Eat, drink, and enjoy yourselves!" I said, happily.

I looked around at the objects again, waiting for an answer. The pile of rocks tilted slightly.

"What was that Brock? Your thirsty? Well here! Have some punch!" I said to the pile of rocks, as I poured some punch into a glass.

"Did you say something Mrs. Flour?" I said as I turned to the bag of flour.

The bag of flour sat there, doing absolutely nothing.

"Oh why thank you Mrs. Flour! I have been working out lately!"

I then turned to the dust bunnies, "What do you mean I'm weak? I'll have you know that I've recently been bench pressing and it is REALLY starting to show . . . O.K. yes I did technically only use the bar, but what do you expect? I got to start somewhere . . . I didn't mean to hurt myself! How was I supposed to know how heavy it was going to be? . . . Well yeah it hurt! It did land on my crotch after all!"

I then turned to the turnips, "Did anypony come help me you say? Well, there wasn't anypony in there TO help me. As soon as I walked into the weight room, all of the ponies that were in there left . . . gee, why do you THINK they left? . . . of course they left because of me you ding dong! What do you expect! No pony so much as even stays in the same room as me anymore! Well, Mrs. Cherry Blossom came in at one point and saw the bar fall on my . . . well . . . anyway! She came in and saw me get hurt but of course she didn't come and help!"

A rock fell onto the table, "Calm down Brock, there's no need to get mad. . . Yes I know Brock, she should've helped me. But what do you expect, no pony interacts with me anymore. Even when I'm hurt".

I turned to the bucket of turnips, "well of course it isn't fair! For all of these ponies to not even acknowledge my existence! Its stupid! Why do they do this to me!"

I turned to the bag of flour. "Yeah I kind of just said that Mrs. Flour! . . . Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to get mad at you. Its just, I've been so alone for the past two years! TWO YEARS! And still NOTHING! NADA! ZIP! NOTHING! Nothing, at, ALL! No matter what day it is, no matter how much pain I feel, none of them will be there! Not even my own Mom . . ."

I turned to the pile of rocks, "You think I should walk up to somepony and make them talk to me? I don't know, they always seem to get mad whenever I do . . . you want me to get mad back? Well, I'm not the kind of guy that would get mad at another pony. I like being happy, fun, and full of glee! . . . So, how come I don't feel that way anymore?"

I turned to the bag of Flour, "well yeah they deserve for me to be mad at them, but I don't think I-"

I turned to the bucket of turnips (they interrupted me). "Well, I guess I could try".

Suddenly, my illusion grew stronger, and I felt as if I could actually hear them.

"Whadda ya mean "you could try?" You should march right up to the next pony you see and make them talk to you! And if they get mad, you should get mad back!" said Brock angrily.

"I agree darling, you'll never get anypony to talk to you if you don't stand up for yourself!" said Mrs. Flour.

"Its time that you stop acting like a young innocent wimp! Stand up for yourself! And show them that they have no right to ignore you any more!" said Trucy Turnip.

"Its either you show them who's boss, or they will continue to ignore you for years to come!" said Daniel Dust.

"You know what, your right! Its time for me to stand up for myself! They will acknowledge me! If they don't, then I'll MAKE them acknowledge me!" I said.

They all cheered for me.

"Exactly!" shouted Trucy.

"Splendid!" shouted Mrs. Flour.

"Show em who's boss!" shouted Daniel.

"What are you waiting for? Come on!" shouted Brock.

"Alright! I'm gonna do it! I'll show them that they can't ignore me anymore!"

And with that, I bolted out of my room and down the hall.

I ran to the end of the hall and didn't stop until I saw a cleaning pony, with a cart full of her cleaning supplies.

She hadn't noticed me, she was too busy cleaning a window.

'Now's my chance!' I thought to myself.

I slowly crept behind her, and was about to say something, until I froze.

I didn't know what to say! I was so pumped up and ready for somepony to talk to me, that I hadn't even thought of what I was going to say! If she's going to be the first pony to talk to me in a long time, then I have to make a good impression! She'll never want to talk to me if I mess up! Then again, she might not want to talk to me any ways, no pony does. No, I can't have come this far just to quit now! No, literally, I'm standing right behind her, so if I wanted to quit then I would have to turn around and she might hear me. I have to go through with this! Maybe something simple, something kind, yet not too kind or she'll think that I'm trying to be a flank kisser. I need to be kind, be calm, be brave, and most importantly, be- OH SON OF A DITCH SHE SAW ME!!!

The cleaning pony had been cleaning the window the whole time I had been thinking this. As soon as she finished, she saw me standing behind her in the reflection. She dropped her rag and window cleaner, turned around and gasped.

I stood there, awkwardly. I was frozen, my mouth gaping and my eyes bulging, rushing through all my thoughts to think of what to say.

Slowly, I gave her a smile, "hello there, I don't think we've met before, I'm Glee Sunrise, and you are?"

She continued to gape at me for a moment, then she hastily picked up the rag and window cleaner, tossed it into the cleaning cart, and rolled it away as fast as possible.

No! Not this time!

I quickly caught up, "I'm sorry if your in a rush, I simply want to know your name, that's all".

I said this in the most kind way that I could muster, but she still ignored me and continued to roll her cart away.

I was starting to get annoyed, "please miss, there's no need to ignore me, I'm just trying to be friendly"

She continued to ignore me.

Now I was getting mad, "miss, please, I just want to talk to you!"

She continued to ignore me. She had arrived outside a supply closet, and had began to pack her things into it.

Now, I was getting angry!

"Miss! I just want to talk to you! I don't want you to say much, just your name! That's all I'm asking is your name! Is that so much to ask for! Why won't you or anypony else just talk to me!?!"

"Shut up! Monkey boy!" the cleaning lady suddenly snapped at me.

I stood there, frozen. All I had wanted was for somepony to talk to me, somepony, anypony. Yet no pony would talk to me, and if I tried to get them to talk to me, then they get angry. I was hoping that this time would be different, and that somepony could actually talk to me for once. Now however, I saw that that was never going to happen. They were never going to talk to me!

I got angry, more angry then I had ever been in my life! All the happiness, joy, and glee, all of it had suddenly disappeared, and was filled with hatred and anger!

Without thinking, I grabbed the cleaning pony, and shoved her against the wall. It wasn't too difficult, she was significantly smaller then I was.

I placed my face close to hers, my eyes were glaring with pure rage, and I was breathing heavily. I could see the fear in the cleaning ponies eyes, and I could feel her shaking.

"WHY WON'T YOU TALK TO ME!!! WHY WON'T ANYPONY TALK TO ME!!!" I shouted.

"GUARDS!" the cleaning pony shouted.

"ALL I WANT IS FRIENDSHIP!!! IS THAT SO MUCH TO ASK FOR!!! FRIENDSHIP!?!"

"GUARDS, PLEASE HALP!!!" the cleaning lady shouted.

"IF FRIENDSHIP IS SUPPOSED TO BE MAGIC THEN HOW COME I CAN'T HAVE FRIENDS!?!" I shouted.

Suddenly, a spear pushed in between me and the cleaning pony, and pushed me to the opposite wall. I hit the wall hard and it disorientated me, so it took me a moment to figure out what just happened. When I looked up, I saw three guards, all of them with their spears pointed at me.

"Come with us, now!" said the guard.

I slowly got to my feet, and followed the guards down the hall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You attacked one of the cleaning ponies! Glee, do you have any idea how angered I am right now?" said mom.

The guards had taken me to moms throne room, the three guards that had taken me here were still behind me, making sure I didn't try to run for it. I stood in front of her throne, glaring up at her, as she glared down at me.

If this had been any other day, any other day but today, then I would have been shaking in my place, but not today.

Today, I wasn't afraid. I didn't care how mad Mom was at me, I didn't care how powerful she was or how much authority she had, I DIDN'T CARE!

I was angry at the way she's treated me. And for her to sit on her throne and tell me that she doesn't like MY behavior, it just wasn't fair!

"I assume your very upset" I said bluntly.

"Is that so, because it sounds to me as if you don't fully understand the situation your in" said Mom.

"I am fully aware of my situation, and I don't like it".

"You don't like how much trouble your in?" Mom asked.

"Oh I've been in trouble for the past two years, so for you to get me in MORE trouble just makes no difference. I don't like the situation of me having to live in seclusion! Day after day you rule over Equestria, telling everypony to be kind and make friends with each other, while I'm stuck in a castle being forced to be alone every day!" I said angrily.

"I don't think I like your tone young man" said Mom.

"I don't care! I don't care about what you think! Cause obviously YOU don't care about what I think! So why should I care!"

"Glee, you have attacked a cleaning pony and as angry as you are with me, you cannot allow yourself to fall so low as to attacking another pony, do I make myself clear!" said Mom.

"And why should I listen to you!" I shouted.

After I shouted, the room went silent. All of the guards stared in disbelief, shocked that I would shout at the princess. If Mrs. Cherry Blossom was here, I'd bet she would be just as shocked.

Mom rose to her hoofs, "excuse me? What did you just say?"

"I said, "why should I listen to YOU!"

"Because I am princess of Equestria, and I am also your mother!" Mom said, angrily.

"Well you certainly don't act like it!" I shouted.

Mom was taken aback when I said this, "excuse me! How dare you speak to me in such a way! I have raised you and taken care of you as my son for all these years! I have given you a home, food, and shelter! And for you to tell me that I don't act like a mother, then you are sorely mistaken! You should be ashamed for the way you are behaving Glee!"

I can't believe it, the past two years she's ignored me, she and everypony here. But the one time she talks to me just because I'm in trouble, she thinks that SHE hasn't done anything wrong!?!

"You will apologize to the cleaning lady you have attacked, then you will go straight to your room. We will discuss your punishment on a further notice" said Mom.

I stood there in disbelief for a moment, then I clenched my fists and shouted, "no, I won't!"

"Excuse me?" asked Mom

"I said I won't apologize! Not until YOU apologize for the way you've treated me the past two years, AND you'll give me my privileges back!" I shouted.

"You'll apologize to cleaning lady right now! That's on order!" Mom shouted.

"Sorry mom, but I'm not one of your "subjects" that do what you want me to, just because your royalty! I'm not apologizing! So if your going to punish me then go ahead! Do it! Not like there's anything left for you to take away!" I shouted.

I turned and tried to leave, but the guards used their spears to block my way.

"You will let me pass! Swine!" I shouted.

I grabbed two of the spears and forced the spears out of their hoofs, and threw the spears across the room. I then left the throne room, slamming the door behind me. Before I did, I could hear Mom shout, "Glee! Get back here!"

I then made my way back to my room. Once I did, I started shouting at the inanimate objects.

"Go make a pony talk to you, you said! Show them who's boss you said!" Well a fat lot that did for me!!!"

I flipped the table full of Twinkies and drinks, and began smashing all of the inanimate objects with a baseball bat. As soon as I finished, I sat on my bed, panting.

I was alone . . . all alone . . . or was I?

I suddenly remembered about the hole that was under my bed.

I was still a Diamond Back, I DID have friends!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~NOVEMBER~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The only light within my room was a lamp on my desk, providing me with the vision needed to work on my project on this dark and cloudy night. The castle was calm, as far as I knew. No visitors from other countries, no mad dashes to and fro from the staff, and no ones attacking the city (thank Celestia, I thought those parasprites were never going to give us a break! And those robots . . . not sure how or who caused that attack to happen. Still wish I could have been outside to see it, I heard they were stopped by a dragon! Now that's something I want to see! Robots vs. dragons! Too bad I'm still locked inside) for once.

I picked up a soldering iron and carefully placed the iron on the brim of the metal canister I'm tinkering with. After I had attached a small metal hinge, I was proceeding to fit a wire inside the canister before somepony came barging into my room. Jam I hate that!

"Hey, what are you doing making all this noise? Don't you know what-"

I turned in my seat and saw a white guard with blue hair glaring at the work on my desk. Oh boy, this knucklehead again. He's one of my least favorite guards, and I don't hate him because he ignores me, I actually hate him because of the opposite. You see, most guards will ignore me and pretend that I'm not even there. However, this jerk face is always watching me, like Mrs. Cherry Blossom, only worse. He's always glaring at me, and huffing angrily at me every time I walk near. He acts as if I wronged him somehow, even though I don't even know the guy! That and when I do talk to him, he always insulting me. He likes to call me that name, that name that I hate so much! Monkey Boy. Yes, I do give him a tough time, but that's only because HE started it! I only intend to finish it. But now here he is! Stumbling upon my work! Great, now I've gotta come up with some lie so that he doesn't figure out what I'm actually doing.

"Hey Shiny, I see you forgot how to knock on doors. Does the uniform make you forget these things?" I asked, sarcastically.

"Save it Monkey Boy! And stop calling me Shiny! Its Shinning Armor!"

"Oh yeah, cause THAT names a WHOLE lot better! Named after something you wear, what's you sisters name? Twinkling Dress?" I asked with a smug.

"Don't you talk about my sister!" Shinning yelled.

"Don't get all protective Shiny. If I insult your sister then you only have yourself to blame. I mean if resemblance runs through the family then based off looking at you, I'd say she's a three" I said, mentally high fiving myself for the comeback.

Shinning quickly became red in the face as his anger rose. "A hairless Monkey Boy like you has nothing to say about looks! I'll bet if there were more of you then you'd all look at each other in disgust!"

I dramatically clasped a hand over my mouth and sarcastically gasped. "Shiny! That's racist!

"It's not racist if there is no race. And last time I checked, there's only ONE of YOU!" said Shinning.

"Aw, Shiny! Now that's just below the belt! It hurts! Then again I guess you wouldn't know what it's like to feel pain down there, being a mare and all".

"I'm not a mare!" Shinning shouted.

"Oh really, well your mane begs to differ".

"I just have a long mane! That doesn't mean I'm a mare! And you do realize that mares can feel pain down there too!" said Shinning, angrily.

"Oh and you would know?" I said sarcastically.

"As a matter a fact I do. The royal guards are having training drills this week, and just like the males, the females also tend to get hurt sometimes" said Shinning.

I looked at shinning confused and raised a brow. "Wait, the royal guards have training drills? How do they get hurt there?"

"Well the training often requires us to move around a lot. So often times we have to jump over fences, climb walls, and in the more painful of times, shooting practice".

"And your saying that mares can get hurt down there just like stallions?" I asked, honestly confused.

"Well I'm not a mare so I couldn't tell you. But I do know that they still get hurt" said Shinning.

"But don't you wear protection so you don't get hurt?" I asked.

"Well sometimes we do. But a lot of the training requires us to become more resistant to pain, in case we ever do get hurt in the field" said Shinning.

I actually didn't know this, but I thought it sounded cool! Training your body to become resistant to pain, that sounds like something a ninja or a warrior would do! Can't imagine myself ever doing something like that though. As ironic as it sounds, it seems like it would hurt to make yourself resistant to pain.

"Really! How do you guys do that?" I asked.

"Well we-", Shinning stopped. He suddenly looked as if he made a mistake. Clearing his throat, Shinning return his angry glare to me and my project. "Never you mind what we do for training, what the tarterus are you doing there!? Are you building some sort of weapon!?"

I sighed, "jeez, you can't have a normal conversation without busting your flank over something now can you Shiny? To answer your question, no I am not building a weapon. Haven't you ever seen a fire work before?"

Shinning walked up to my desk and closely observed my work. "This doesn't look like a fire work. Why does it have a pin?"

"To activate the darn thing Dumb Nuts! You honestly think I have access to a flint" I asked. In truth, I really didn't, Mom didn't want me using fire.

"And these wires? What's with all the wires?" Shinning asked.

"You do realize a fire work requires more then just shoving explosive powder into a piece of cardboard right? It needs certain materials placed in just the right way to make it work".

"So if this is a fire work, then where's the explosive powder?" asked Shinning.

"Uh". Shoot! I couldn't think of a lie for this one. I'm not really building a fire work so I don't need explosive powder. And I'm pretty sure it's illegal for me to have that in my possession anyway!

"Are you even allowed to be building a fire work?" asked Shinning.

"Look! Do you want me to demonstrate it! Will that get you off my flank?" I asked, hoping to drop the conversation.

"No I don't want a demonstration. What I want is to make sure your not building anything dangerous that could harm anypony!" said Shinning.

"Well I'm not taking this out of my room if that's what you were thinking, so I guess if this is a danger then the only one in danger is me!" I said, beginning to feel agitated.

Shinning glared at me for a second, then sighed. "Alright, you may proceed with building your firework. Just don't take it out of your room, and don't use it at all! You can build it but you can't use it. Knowing you you'd probably get somepony hurt. As long your the one in danger then I don't mind, if you get somepony else in danger then that's where I have to step in. Got it!"

I sighed, "ya, sure, whatever Shiny".

Shinning walked to my door and turned to me. "Don't let me catch you stepping out of line, if you do, you'll wish you were never born!"

"So I guess its okay to chill "on the line" as long as I don't go "over", right" I asked, sarcastically.

"You know what I mean Monkey Boy! Stay out of trouble! Or else!" said Shinning, before he slammed my door shut and walked down the hall.

I turned to my work and sighed. "And to think I thought this day would turn out peaceful. Then comes Shiny to ruin my night. What did he mean "knowing you you'd probably hurt somepony?" He say's that like I'm gonna hurt someone. Like I'm some sort of monster".

I scooted my chair closer to my desk and returned to my work. I suddenly stopped due to sudden realization. "He thinks I'm a monster who harms other ponies. But . . . why would he think that. I haven't done anything to show that I'm a monster . . . Oh! . . . oh. That's right, I attacked that mare last month. He probably thinks I'm a monster now. Heck, they probably all think I'm a monster. I'm not a monster . . . am I?"

I honestly didn't know. I sure felt like a monster. I attacked that cleaning mare, everypony hates me, I'm locked in a castle, and I'm the only one of my kind, different from all of the other ponies around me, like a freak. That's what I am aren't I? A freak, I'm like a cockroach placed in a pile of ladybugs. A human, dropped in a world full of magical technicolor talking ponies. Is that what I am?

I shook the thought out of my head as I returned to my work. "Screw them! Screw all of them! I don't care what they think! They'll see I'm not monster! They'll see that I'm much more then that! They'll see! they'll all see!"

I laughed deviously as I finished my work and wiped the sweat from my brow.

"There, my first gadget is finished. Can't have Shiny finding out I was building a smoke bomb! That wouldn't have ended well at all! Then I'd have to explain why I'm building a smoke bomb, and that would have been worse! Now that its finished, time to work on the next project. Hmmm, perhaps next I could build a way to blind ponies. But to somehow do it so that the affects are temporary and nothing permanent happens to their eyes. Hmmm . . . I'm just gonna call it a night. I have a lot of work cut out for me in the mourning".

I put away all of my work in a chest inside my closet then returned to my desk.

"They'll see, I'm not a monster. I'm much more!" I said, as I turned the lights off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~DECEMBER~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was in my room, staring out a window. I was watching the snow fall onto the front yard of the castle. The snow had gotten pretty deep, and I would love to go play in it, but sadly I'm still in trouble with the whole "attacking another pony incident".

I wasn't allowed to leave my room until March, as punishment. I couldn't go to the Diamond Backs either, it was to cold for any of the fillies and colts to receive any assignments, so I couldn't see them until it got at least a little bit warmer.

I sighed as I laid onto my bed, thinking about the previous things I had done with the Diamond Backs.

Ever since I had first joined, the Diamond Backs had slowly been toughening me up, turning me from a shy innocent mommas boy into a brave strong thief. Although most of the things we did didn't feel right, I knew we were doing it for the right cause. Every time we stole something from somepony, it would be used as money for the Diamond Backs. So although we were stealing, I knew deep down that I was still helping somepony. But, most importantly, I really enjoyed seeing Gray.

He didn't like having me as his partner, he would get really annoyed every time I screwed something up. But eventually, he became friendlier as I toughened up. He trusted me more, allowing me to watch his back in certain situations, and helping him with thieving missions. And we made a pretty good team too. No pony has been able to catch us, and Gray and I had become the best thieves at the Diamond Back shack.

It was so much fun being with Gray, I wish I could see him again.

Suddenly I felt something thump underneath my bed.

"Ow! Jam it! Stupid piece of- Obsidian! Obsidian are you awake?"

I know that voice, "Gray? Is that you?"

Gray jumped out from underneath my bed. He smiled at me, "what's up?"

If it hadn't been so dark, Gray would have seen my face light up with complete and utter joy.

"Gray! What are you doing here?" I asked, struggling to keep my voice down.

"Well, it was cold at the shack so I thought I'd come and pay you a visit. Seeing that you live in a castle I can assume your pretty warm. And boy was I right! It feels amazing in here!" said Gray, as he sighed with comfort.

"I could go get some of the castle's blankets and give'em to you" I said.

"Yeah, that be nice, but warmth isn't the only reason I came" said Gray.

"Really? Why else are you here then? You want some food?" I asked.

"No I . . . actually, food does sound nice. But that's not why I came. The Diamond Backs may mostly be full of orphans, but we still got each other. You on the other hand, your all alone, and I can't let a friend be alone, especially on Hearth's Warming Eve" said Gray.

I could barely see Gray's cheeks blush in the dark. Hearing Gray say this made me so happy, happier then I had ever been since Mom had made me stuck in the castle.

"Gray. I-I" I stuttered.

"Don't get all sentimental on me, I just felt bad that your alone that's all. So, watcha say we go and have ourselves a snow ball fight? You in?" Gray asked.

"Ya! I whisper shouted. I jumped out of my bed and immediately began searching for my winter clothes.

Once I had my clothes on, I followed Gray through the tunnel and out into the castle front yard.

I took a deep breath, inhaling the cold winter air. I looked up into the sky and closed my eyes, allowing the snow flakes to fall onto my face (which was the only part of my body that was exposed).

"Hey, Obsidian!" Gray shouted, as he threw a snowball at my face. "I didn't wake you up just so you can fall into a day dream!" He shouted.

I immediately bent over and scooped up a large armful of snow. I ran and hid behind a bush, forming all of the snow I had collected into snowballs. I leapt from my cover and began throwing snowballs at Gray. Gray, however, was prepared. He had already formed a snow fort, and was tossing snowballs at me through small windows he had carved.

Gray and I had to shout to each other, we were too far away to talk at a normal volume.

"No fair! When did you have the time to do that?" I asked.

"I might have built this before coming to wake you up!" Gray shouted.

"That's cheating!" I shouted.

Gray laughed, "hey, its your fault for not getting prepared like I did!"

"I was asleep!" I shouted.

"Hey, you know the saying. "You snooze you lose!" Gray shouted.

'Oh I'll show you who's going to lose' I thought to myself.

I formed a very large snowball, one that was bigger then a cannon ball, and threw in into the air. While Gray was distracted by that, I ran from my cover to the side of Gray's snow fort. He spotted me, and immediately ran from his fort and began pelting me with snowballs. I did the same, as I used his fort for cover. While he was firing, I formed another oversized snowball. Once Gray had ran out of ammo, I jumped from my cover and threw the oversized snowball at Gray. It hit Gray full in the face, throwing him to the ground.

"Ha! Who's the loser now!" I shouted, pointing at Gray.

Suddenly, I heard a sniffle. Gray hadn't lifted himself from the ground, he laid there, crying.

"Gray?" I asked, as I took a step closer to him.

Out of nowhere, a huge ball of snow hit me directly in the face, causing me to fall to the ground. As I fell, Gray got to his hoofs, laughing. "Oh man! I can't believe you fell for the oldest trick in the book!" Gray said, as he pointed at me.

An idea came to my mind, and I pretended to start crying as well.

Gray stopped laughing, and gave a concerned look to me. "Whoa, Obsidian, it was just a trick. I didn't mean to-"

Before he could finished, I threw a large pile of snow at Grays face. He spat as a large amount of snow fell into his mouth.

"Ha! You fell for your own trick!" I shouted, pointing.

"Why you little!" Gray shouted, as he tackled me into the snow.

We rolled around for a while, covering each other in as much snow as possible.

Once we stopped, we were out of breath, and laughing.

Gray patted my shoulder, and pointed down the castle road. At the end of the castle road was a stallion and a mare walking, I assume there couples. "Hey, you wanna go prank the love birds?" Gray asked.

I gave him a devious smile, "lets do it!"

Gray and I hid behind some bushes as we made our way down the road over to the couple. Once there, we hid and waited until the couple had stopped walking. I climbed up the tree that the couple was standing underneath, while Gray went up and down the tree, handing me bits of snow.

"Its a beautiful night tonight, isn't it Sandy? Just as beautiful as you are" said the stallion.

"Oh Edward!" said Sandy.

"My dear Sandy, from the very first day we met I have always loved you. And I knew, deep down in my heart that you were the one" said Edward.

Gray pointed into his mouth and pretended to throw up, I had to cover my mouth to stop myself from laughing to loud.

"Oh Edward, do you really mean it?" asked Sandy.

"Every word of it my love, you are a star that shines brighter then the night sky itself!" said Edward, as he pointed to the stars.

"Oh Edward!" Sandy exclaimed.

'Sweet Celestia, you can literally taste the cheese coming off them!' I thought to myself.

"Ready when you are" Gray whispered in my ear, I nodded.

I held the snowman sized snow ball above their heads, ready to release.

"Sandy, I cannot hold back my true feelings anymore!" said Edward, as he dropped to his knees.

Sandy gasped, and placed a hoof to her mouth. "Edward . . . a-are you?"

"Indeed my love, I am" said Edward.

He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled a small blue case, "Sandy Jane Copperbottom, will you-"

SLAM!!!

I dropped the snowball on the couple, and immediately jumped off the branch, with Gray following.

"Happy Hearth's Warming Eve.!" I shouted.

"Enjoy your honeymoon!" Gray shouted, sarcastically.

"YOU ROTTEN KIDS!!!" Edward shouted.

Gray and I ran back to the castle, laughing the entire way there.

Once we made it back, Gray and I stripped ourselves of the wet snow clothes. I put some warm clothes on and gave Gray a blanket. We sat on my bed together and laughed.

"That was awesome!" said Gray, as he wiped a tear from his eye.

"I know! Jeez I have never seen anypony so cheesy before!" I said, grinning.

"Oh my dear Sandy! Your eyes remind me of the stars, since that's the best I can think of at the moment!" said Gray, pretending to be Edward.

"Oh my dear Edward! I don't even care, for I will gasp and act like an over dramatic actor in a play! Swooning at every word you say!" I said to Gray, pretending to be Sandy. As I said this, I placed a hand over my forehead in a dramatic pose.

"Come my dear Sandy, let us sail off in a river of cheese! One that I will have created, simply just by talking to you!" said Gray, as he placed his hoof over my shoulder.

"Oh but my dear Edward, how shall we survive such journey?" I asked, as I placed my hands to my chest, covering my heart.

He placed his hoof to my chin, and lifted my head, so that our eyes could meet. "We will survive, on love".

I gave Gray a devious smile, "and this is the part where we kiss, right?" I said, jokingly.

He pushed my head away, and chuckled. "Shut up dude!"

I laughed, "you know, I still feel kind of bad though, he was about to propose".

"Yeah, I guess you right . . . eh, not our problem. Hey, does the castle kitchen have any hot chocolate?" Gray asked.

"Yeah sure, want some?" I asked

"Yeah, that be awesome!" said Gray.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I returned from the castle kitchen ten minutes later. Gray and I were sitting in my bed, silently sipping our hot chocolate.

"Sweet Celestia, this is amazing! When did you learn how to make hot chocolate this good?" Gray asked.

"Well, the kitchen cooks taught me, back when I was ten. They used to teach me how to cook all kinds of things, nothing too advance since I was a kid and all. But they still taught me whatever they could. I used to really like learning back then, so whenever I went into the kitchens I would ask if I could watch them, and they would let me. But, then all the staff stopped talking to me and I wasn't allowed to go into the kitchen during the day. I still remember most of the things they taught me though, I just wish they would stop ignoring me, and start teaching me again like they used to" I said, sadly.

I stared down into my half drunken cup, and frowned.

Gray also frowned, and looked away for a moment. He drank the rest of his hot chocolate and placed a hoof on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry that your trapped in the castle, if you don't mind me saying, your mom doesn't sound like very nice mare" said Gray.

"Oh, well, she's actually really nice, to everypony but me of course. She would help spread kindness and friendship to everypony she meets, and she would help fix a lot of problems. Yet, for some reason she doesn't do the same for me. She used too, back when I was younger, but then about two years ago she just . . . stopped. I don't know why she stopped loving me, I don't know why anypony stopped loving me, but for some reason they just did! Completely random and out of the blue they just went and stopped loving me! But worst of all, not only do they not love me, but they also hate me! They ignore me and treat me like dirt everyday! But what did I do to them! What could I have possibly done to have made everypony hate me SO MUCH! WHY ARE THEY DOING THIS TO ME! WHY ARE THEY-"

"Obsidian!" interrupted Gray.

I stopped and looked at Gray. His gave me an expression of both worry, and sadness. I slowly lifted my hand to my cheek, and felt that I had been crying.

Then Gray did something completely unexpected, he hugged me.

I froze, processing what Gray was doing, then slowly, I hugged him back.

"I never had a family, so I'll never know how your feeling. But just know this, your never alone Obsidian, never! Not when you have friends" said Gray.

I struggled to keep myself crying, as my hug tighten on to Gray. "Thanks Gray" I said softly.

"Don't mention it kid" said Gray.

I wiped my tears and let go of Gray. "You know your a kid too right? Since your only sixteen" I said.

Gray shrugged, "I don't like to consider myself a kid. I hate being a kid".

"Why's that?" I asked.

Gray yawned, "its pretty late, why don't I explain later. Hey, you mind if I crash here tonight? I don't feel like having to travel ALL the way back to the shack" Gray asked.

"Uh, you might get caught by the guards" I said.

"Its cool, I'll just leave before they notice I'm here" said Gray.

"Also, I only have one bed" I said.

Gray shrugged, "fine with me, I'm used to having to share a bed anyway, if its alright with you?"

"Yeah, sure, I don't mind" I said.

"Cool, well, g'night kid, happy Hearths Warming Eve." said Gray, as he laid into my bed.

"Yeah . . . you too Gray . . . happy Hearths Warming Eve." I said, as I laid next to Gray.

Gray was out within seconds, but I was wide awake.

I couldn't sleep, I was feeling . . . weird. I didn't know how to explain it, its like . . . a warm and cozy feeling in my chest, and when I thought about Gray, that warm cozy feeling felt better. When I thought about Gray hugging me, I blushed, and I could feel my heart beat faster. I don't know what these feeling were . . . but I kind of liked it.

Gray turned in his sleep and pulled me close to him, cuddling me. I could feel my blush deepened, and my heart beat faster. Normally this would make me uncomfortable . . . so, why did I like it so much?

I decided to place the confusion to the back of my mind for now. I smiled, and placed my arms around his torso, cuddling him back. I rested my head over his head, and slowly drifted to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I awoke the next morning, Gray was still with me. I lifted my head and saw that we were still cuddling. I decided not to wake him and began falling back to sleep.

As I rested my head back down, I felt Gray's head began to shift. He looked up and into my eyes.

"Morning" said Gray, sleepily.

"Morning" I said, just as sleepily.

He rested his head back down, before coming to sudden realization. He jerked his head up and stared at me, his eyes bulging. I did the same.

Simultaneously, we started screaming. We immediately let go of each other, I threw myself to the wall while Gray fell of the bed.

He got to his hoofs and shouted, "what the hay were you doing!"

I blushed, he probably thinks I'm weird for cuddling with him. Then again, technically he cuddled me, I just cuddled back. But he doesn't have to know that.

"What the hay am I doing! What the hay are YOU doing! Cuddling with me like that!" I shouted.

Gray blushed, and looked at me angrily, "what! No! I would never! Your the one who! I was just!" Gray stuttered.

"I let you sleep in my bed and you start cuddling me!?!" I asked, making Gray think he's the one to blame.

"What!!! I, that's, you see . . . you know what . . . lets just pretend this never happened, agreed?" Gray asked.

"Agreed" I responded.

"Good . . . now if you'll excuse me, I need to take a shower. Later Obsidian" said Gray, as he put on his winter clothes and left as fast as he could.

When he was gone, I sat on my bed, panting. My face was still blushed, my heart was pounding, and I was sweating.

"What just happened!?!" I shouted, throwing my arms into the air.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~JANUARY~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I laid in my bed, listening to the birds outside speak their last chirps before they retired for the night. It was 7:30, Mom was just beginning to set the sun.

I was three months into my punishment, and quite frankly, I was bored out of my mind. I was like a prisoner; everyday I was locked in my room, not having permission to leave unless I had to use the restroom. I've read all of my books, played with (and destroyed) most of my toys, and sang bottles of milk on the wall starting from one million all the way to zero. By this point I was so bored I was willing to get a couple guards angry at me and start chasing me just for entertainment. Then again they might stab me with their spears . . . again.

I took a deep sigh as I closed my eyes. I day dreamed about Sunset Shimmers and I talking, just talking. We talk about the weather, we talked about magic, we even talked about grass. I didn't care what we talked about, I was just glad to be with my sister.

"Obsidian"

I opened my eyes and looked around. The sun was down, and the moon was in a crescent so it was dark tonight.

"Obsidian"

I searched around my room for the source of that voice. "Who are you? Where are you?" I asked.

"Obsidian"

The voice didn't whisper, it spoke in a loud, yet calm voice. The voices tone was very soothing, despite the fact I had no idea where it was coming from.

"Show yourself!" I shouted.

"I'm over here".

Suddenly, a bright white light shone from beneath my bed. I moved my bed aside and discovered it was coming from the tunnel.

"Come here" said the voice.

"Oh yeah? And why should I trust you?" I asked.

"Just come here, pretty please?"

I didn't want to listen to the voice, but something about it made it so . . . nice. It was so calm, so soothing, I just had to listen to the voice. I laid flat onto my stomach and crawled into the tunnel. As I crawled through, I could see a bright white light shinning from the other end of the tunnel. I had to squint my eyes as I approached this light.

I gripped the edge of the hole and lifted myself out of the tunnel. As I did I realized what that bright light was.

It was no longer night time, in fact, it didn't even look like it was winter.

The sun shinned its rays beautifully across Canterlot. Everything was clean and shinny. All the snow was gone, and there were flowers and fresh plants everywhere. I stood to my feet and began walking down the castle road. I soon noticed that there was a lot of ponies out and about today, and all of them seemed very happy. Every single pony was smiling to each other and giving each other pleasant greetings. Not wanting to be discovered I tried to hide in a nearby bush, but was too late. One of the ponies spotted me.

"Hello Glee!" the mare said happily.

I slowly turned around and saw that all of the ponies around him were looking at me, yet none of them gave the expression that I was expecting. I was expecting them to be afraid, or at least, confused. Yet these ponies were happy to see me . . . happy to see a human . . . and he knows my name . . . wait, what?

"How do you know my name?" I asked.

The mare laughed, "well everypony knows who you are Glee. You are the princess's daughter after all".

"You know that Celestia adopted me?" I asked.

"Of course! Are you feeling alright Glee? You seem a bit off today" said the mare.

"No . . . I'm fine . . . so, does everypony know me?" I asked.

"Of course, your everyponies friend, remember?"

I looked around and saw that everypony was waving to me, and saying hello. I saw that she was right, I was friends with everypony!

"Ya, I do remember. Sorry, I'm just a bit . . . tired today".

"You should get more sleep, a girl your age needs their sleep if you don't want to walk around with bags under your eyes" said the mare.

I laughed, "ya your right, I wouldn't want to . . . wait, did you just call me a-"

"Oh yeah! I just remembered. Their was this stallion who was looking for you, said his name was Gray" the mare interrupted.

Gray? Why would Gray be looking for me? More importantly, why would he need me during the day? He only comes out of the shack during the night.

"Gray said he was looking for me? Did he say where?" I asked.

The mare nodded. "He said he was going to wait for you at a cliff, the one next to the castle".

"Really? I just walked by that, how did I not see him?" Then again I am used to seeing him at night so I probably didn't recognize him during the day. "Anyways, thanks for telling me where he is, bye!" I said to the mare happily. I waved as I turned around and started walking back up the castle road.

"Bye sweetie, you too have fun! But not too much fun!" said the mare, as she waved back.

What did she mean by that? And why did she call me a girl? I shrugged, pushing the thought to the back of my mind.

The cliff next to the castle was also next to a stream of water that fell from the mountain. When I made it to the cliff, I was close enough to the stream to see my reflection. In the reflection I saw that there was another human standing next to me. I gasped and turned around.

"Oh! Sweet Celestia you startled me! I had no . . . hello?" I looked around, but nopony was there. "Strange, I could have sworn I saw another human". I turned back to the stream and saw the human in the reflection again. "Ah ha! I knew you were-", as I turned around, I saw that the human wasn't there. "Okay, seriously, what's going on?" I turned back to the reflection and gazed deeply into it. Sure enough that same human was there, but it wasn't until now that I realized that I didn't see my own reflection. I saw the new human, but I couldn't see me. This new human had long brown hair, a pink princess dress, and white tight gloves that reached to the elbows. This human also wore pink lipstick, blue diamond earrings, a pearl necklace and a crown. I tried to touch the stream to see if the water was playing a trick on me, upon doing so I saw the human in the reflection move its arm. I froze and slowly moved my arm up and down. The human in the reflection did the same. It wasn't until now that I looked down to myself and realized that I was wearing a dress.

"What the tarterus!" I shouted. I grabbed the fabrics of the dress with my gloved hands to see if it was real. Sure enough, I wasn't hallucinating. So that's why she called me a girl. "What's going on!" I shouted. I clasped my hands to my mouth as I suddenly realized something awful. I reached into my dress and felt around my privates. I shook with fear as I slowly drew my hand out. "I . . . I'm not a boy anymore . . ." I was scared, the only thing that hadn't changed was my voice.

"Hey Glee! You made it!"

I turned to the cliff and saw Gray waving to me. Gray! He might be able to help me! I had to lift the end of my dress so I could run to him.

"Hey Glee, how's it going?" asked Gray.

I looked to Gray with pleading eyes. "Its going awful Gray! I have no idea what's happening!"

Gray's expression changed from happy to concerned. "Oh, that doesn't sound good, here, sit down and tell me what's wrong".

I sat next to Gray and saw that he had laid out a blanket and a picnic basket. "You called me here for a picnic?" I asked.

"Yup, thought it be nice. Two friends, having a picnic", Gray shifted closer to me. "Alone".

I blushed and brushed away strands of hair in front of my eyes.

"So tell me, what's bothering you?" asked Gray.

"Oh right! Well, where to even start. First off I thought it was supposed to be winter, not spring. Second off, the ponies don't seem to mind me being in public. And third off, which I feel is the most obvious, but, for some reason I seem to be wearing a dress".

"Well ya, you like wearing dress's, you said so yourself" said Gray.

I looked at Gray, confused. "What? When did I say that?"

"You say it all the time! Every time we go into the city your always looking at new dress's" said Gray.

"Why would I . . . you know what, that doesn't matter, I have something more important to ask you".

"What is it?" asked Gray.

"I . . . I um . . . I j-just checked my . . . my, um" I stuttered. I was blushing furiously, and was looking to the ground.

Gray noticed this and placed his hoof to my hand. He gave me a reassuring smile and said, "I don't know what your upset about, but you don't have to be embarrassed. I'm here for you".

I smiled and hugged Gray. "Thanks Gray".

"Don't mention it" said Gray.

As I released him I noticed something shinning from the picnic basket. "Hey, what's that?" I asked.

"What?" Gray saw the shine and gasped. He quickly grabbed a cloth and placed it over the basked. "What necklace? I don't see any necklace?"

I placed my hands to my hips and raised a brow. "I don't believe I said anything about a necklace".

Gray sighed, realizing he was caught. He reached into the basket and pulled out a large gold necklace with a red heart shaped diamond incrusted into it. "I was going to save this as a surprise until after our picnic. But I guess the cats out of the bag now".

He handed me the necklace and I immediately put it on. It was a nice necklace, but, I don't wear jewelry. Why was he giving me a necklace? "Oh, its beautiful Gray!" I said happily as I gave Gray another hug.

Something was wrong, I didn't speak those words. Yes I thought the necklace was nice but I would never act this . . . girly. Suddenly I felt as if I no longer had control over my body.

"But, it must have cost you so much. Why would you ever buy me such a thing?" I asked, that is, my body asked without my own permission.

"Why wouldn't I buy such a pretty girl nice things?" asked Gray.

I giggled, "you can be a real gentlestallion, you know that?"

Did I just giggle? And why is Gray calling me a girl? I'm not a girl! Got to tell him I'm not a girl! But, why can't I speak anymore? What's happening!

"Yeah, I know. I'm awesome!" said Gray.

"An there's the real you again, showing off" I said as I rolled my eyes.

Gray and I laughed and stared at the city beneath us. We stayed silent for a coupled minutes before Gray shifted closer to me. He laid down and rested his head on my legs, and I began petting his mane.

"Glee, do you have . . . anypony that your interested to?" he asked.

"Well that's a bit of a personal question, don't you think?" I said.

"I was just curious, that's all" said Gray, blushing.

I smiled and looked to him, "I have somepony in mind".

He smiled. "Do I know who this pony is?"

"Oh I think you two are very close" I said sarcastically.

Gray sat up and stared into my eyes. "I like you, you know that don't you?"

"If the picnic wasn't obvious then I don't know what is".

Gray blushed and rubbed the back of his head. "I was just trying to get the right atmosphere before asking you-" Gray stopped suddenly.

"Before you ask me what?" I asked.

Gray sighed, "I was going to ask you . . . if you wanted to be my . . . marefriend".

I cupped my hands to my mouth and blushed. "Oh, well I'm flattered but-".

"But what?" asked Gray.

"Well its just that, I like you too, but were so much different. Your a pony, and I'm a human. I don't think it could work".

"Do you like me?" Gray asked suddenly.

"I- what?"

"Do you like me?" Gray repeated.

"Well, ya I like you Gray but-"

Gray rushed forward and kissed me on the lips, silencing me. After a few seconds, Gray released me. "Then it doesn't matter that were two different species. What matters is that we both like each other. Who cares what anypony else say's. If you like me, and I like you, then we can make this work, together".

"Gray, you really mean it?" I asked.

Gray nodded. "With all my heart".

Gray slowly brought his face to mine.

"I love you Glee" said Gray.

"I love you too Gray" I said. I closed my eyes and allowed Gray to place his lips upon mine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I sat up as I awoke in a cold sweat. I was panting and I could feel my heart beating fast. I looked around and saw that I was back in my room. I felt around my body to check if everything was back to normal. I was wearing my normally dirty rags, my hair was short, and I was a boy, oh thank Celestia I was a boy! I sighed with relief as I rested my head back to my pillow.

"Just a dream . . . it was just a dream" I said to myself.

What was with that dream? And why did I like it so much? I had never had a dream like that before. I mostly have nightmares most of the time so a pleasant dream such as this one came out as a surprise to me. What's more surprising is that this didn't feel like any ordinary dream. This dream made me feel . . . funny. I don't know how to describe it, I've never had these feelings before. And when I thought about being with Gray, on that cliff, staring down to the beautiful city of Canterlot, this made the feelings grow stronger.

Gray . . . why couldn't I stop thinking of Gray? Is this normal? For a stallion to think of another stallion? Then again I'm human so in technicality I'm a boy not a stallion. But even then that just makes it worse! A human, having dreams about kissing a pony! That's gross! Two separate species aren't supposed to think of each other this way . . . right?

I don't know, I'm so confused. Why can't I stop thinking about Gray! Is it because he was the first pony in years to befriend me? Is it because of how nice he is? Is it because of how smart he is? Is it because of how cute he is? Is it because . . . wait, cute? NO! Stop it! Stop thinking that way! Stallions are not cute . . . unless their foals then in which case I guess they can be kind of cute. But not Gray! He's sixteen, he is not cute! Sure he looks like a ten year old because of his size but that doesn't make him cute! He is a wonderful stallion and a great friend! A friend who I just kissed in a dream . . . JAM IT! Why am I having these feelings! And why am I having these feelings for a stallion! If only Mom had let me learn about sex ed like she said she would then maybe I would understand. But nope! She just had to cancel all my lessons with the home school teacher! Well two can play at this game! I don't need your stupid lessons, I'll figure this out on my own! I'll just go ask Gray and see if he knows why I'm kissing him in dreams- NOPE DON'T DO THAT!!! Most certainly NOT doing THAT!!! Maybe there's a book I could read on this. Then again I don't want the librarian to know what I'm reading so- wait a minute. She ignores me when I walk into the castle library, I can waltz in there and grab whatever the buck I want! Alright! That's what I'll do then! I'll go to the library tomorrow and see if I can get that book. Yeah! . . . JAM IT!!! I'm still locked in my room for the next couple of months! I can't get the book until March! Jam! Oh well, I guess I can deal with my confusion for just a few more months. But I still can't stop thinking about Gray! Why can't I stop thinking about him! I swear every time I close my eyes I see him. Gray talking to me with his calm soothing voice. Gray hugging me in his soft comforting legs. Gray kissing me with his . . . his . . . his . . .

"Jam it! Why do I like it so much!" I shouted.

"What do you like so much?"

"AAAAAAGH!" I screamed with a high pitch girly tone. The voice coming out of no where surprised me enough to make me fall out of my bed and slammed my head against my dresser. I rubbed my head to see who my intruder was.

"Gray? What the tarterus are you doing here?" I asked this with a whining girly voice. Realizing my tone, I quickly stood to my feet, straightened my shirt, and cleared my throat. "Gray! What the tarterus are you doing here?" I asked with a deeper, obviously fake masculine tone.

"Well I came to see if you wanted to tag some of Canterlot, but you seemed like you were in an argument with yourself so I chose not to intervene" said Gray. "Oh and that's some girly voice you got there "princess" Gray said sarcastically.

I however didn't sense the sarcasm and blushed furiously. "What! Princess!? I'm not a princess! Why would I dress like a princess!? Who ever told you I like dresses is a liar!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, chill. I was just joking! And what do you mean somepony told me you like dresses?" Gray asked.

I stuttered for a moment, then placed my hand awkwardly behind my head. "Well I . . . just heard a rumor recently that somepony said that I like wearing dresses . . . and being a princess".

"Do you?" asked Gray, taking an uncomfortable step back.

"NO! No I do not!" I shouted.

Gray sighed, "what a relief, cause you know how weird that would have been right? You, cross dressing as a princess?"

What's wrong with cross dressing? I think I could make a beautiful princess! . . . Wait, Aaagh! Jam it! I'm having these weird thoughts again!

"Yeah, weird" I said weakly, giving an equally weak chuckle.

Gray looked at me confused for a moment, raising his brow. "Okay . . . anyways. You wanna go tag Canterlot or what?"

"Uh, ya! Sure! Lets go do that!" I said quickly. I rushed over to my closet and ripped my pajamas off. I placed on some black day clothing and began tying my shoes.

"Hey, what's this?" asked Gray.

I turned to Gray and saw that he was holding my prized amulet and observing the jewels embedded into it (currently there were two).

"Oh that, its just a necklace my sister gave me, well it use to be a necklace. I've embedded the necklaces symbol into a thick gold neck wear, so now its an amulet." I said to Gray.

"I didn't know you worked with metal?" said Gray.

"Well I need something to do with my free time, I'm trapped in a castle all the time" I responded.

"I guess so. So, you have a sister?".

"Well I did at one point, she's gone now" I said, sadly.

"Oh, that sucks", Gray observed the amulet for a few more seconds before placing it next to my purple vase where it originally was. "If you don't mind me asking, what happened to her?"

I sighed, "she uh . . . ran away. She tried to do something that was probably illegal. Although I never figured out what it was I could tell it was bad enough for her to run away and never come back".

"Do you know where she is?" asked Gray.

"Yes, and no. I know where she went to, and I know what that place is. But where she went isn't exactly, what's the word? Local" I explained.

"Local? As in she's not in Equestria?" asked Gray.

I can't tell him about the portal, it'll just make him confused, heck, I'm still confused about it!

"Yeah, something like that. All in all she ran away and I never got to see her again. Her room was locked permanently so that no pony could enter. So since I can't go into her room, that necklace is all I have left to remind me of her" I explained.

"Why'd they lock her room?" asked Gray.

"I don't know, probably to preserve it for when she comes back. IF she comes back".

There was a small pause before Gray spoke. "Do you miss her?"

"Miss her? Heck if I know. I mean, one part of me misses her, the others just . . . angry. When I was younger I always treated her like she was my sister. Running up to her, giving her hugs. Showing her all of my childish drawings and such. But she never treated me the same way, yet at the same time she seemed closer to me then most ponies. Its a little complicated. You see; my sister was never a "ponies pony". She always acted as if she was better then everypony, saying that she didn't need friends because the other ponies were "below her standards". However, she was always willing to talk to me, she wasn't nice when she did, but at least she talked to me instead of ignore with a smug attitude like she did with everypony else" I explained.

"Do you want her to come back?" Gray asked.

I looked away from Gray, as I thought about this question. Do I really want Sunset Shimmers to come back? I miss her, I really do, but she abandoned me. I always treated her as nice as I could, and I never so much as received a thank you from that mare. Yet even now, I still feel like a little brother who desperately wants his big sister to come home. I felt embarrassed by the thought, but I couldn't lie to myself. A part of me wanted her to come home, the other didn't care whether I saw her ever again or not. I chose to ignore the question Gray asked me.

"You know, that's my most prized possession so I really hope your being careful with it" I said to Gray. I closed my closet and turned to look for a scarf.

"I already put it back where I found it! Hey, what's this symbol on the amulet?" asked Gray, pointing to Sunset Shimmers cutie mark.

"Oh, that's the jewel that was on the original necklace my sister gave me. That's what her cutie mark looks like".

"What about this one?" Gray asked, pointing to a small jewel in the shape of a shield with a clover in the middle.

"That one, I'm not really sure. I got a necklace with that jewel on it when I was ten, as a Hearth's Warming gift. Thing is, I don't really know who gave it to me. There wasn't a name on the box it came in. But whoever gave it to me left a note saying "Stay strong, never give in, you only need you". I never did figure out what that meant. But the letter did say that that jewel is supposed to be some bravery charm. It supposed to help you feel brave if your scared" I explained.

"Pfft! Bravery charm!? You think that stupid charm junk actually works?" asked Gray.

I shrugged, "don't know, but I kept it anyway. For memorial reasons. Hey are we gonna talk all night about jewelry or are we gonna tag the city already?"

"Oh yeah! Let's go! I know a nice spot that deserves a bit of color!" said Gray, chuckling deviously.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Five Hours Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hurry up! I hear the guards coming!" I shout whispered to Gray.

Gray was doing the finishing touches to a large painting we had painted on the walls of the Canterlot bell tower. We chose this building so that everypony can see it. However, that also meant it was easy for us to get caught. In this case for instance, someone had seen the painting, alerted the guards, and now a squad of guards were on their way here right now.

"Chill, I'm almost finished" said Gray. He dipped his paint brush into a yellow can and proceeded to finish the last section of the painting.

"If we don't bail, were gonna get our flanks kicked by at least six or seven guards!"

"I said chill! I'm almost finished!" said Gray.

"Halt juveniles!" I heard someone shout behind me. I turned and saw five pegasus ponies flying towards us.

"And . . . finished- WHOH!", before Gray could finish speaking, I grabbed him around the torso and ran to the edge of the roof where we kept our rope ladder. With Gray on my back I help both of us climb down from the three story tall part of the tower, and onto the streets of Canterlot.

"Halt!" one of the guards shouted.

I started running down one of the alleyways. It was still night time, combined with my dark clothing and Gray's gray fur, it was easy for us to blend with the dark

I found a dumpster as I ran through the alleyway and quickly through Gray into it. I jump inside behind him and shut the lid. We then waited awhile until the sound of voices died down.

Once they did, Gray leapt out of the dumpster and spat to the ground. "Do you think you can give me a heads up before you go and throw me into a pile of trash next time! I swear, I think I landed face first into old spaghetti. WITH MY MOUTH OPEN!!!"

"Sorry, I was just doing quick thinking back there, that's all. And if you hadn't taken so long with the painting then maybe we wouldn't have had to hide in a dumpster!" I said, irritated.

"Hey! It was worth the time, wouldn't you agree?" asked Gray.

"Once I see the painting then maybe I'll consider it worth our time" I said.

"Alright then, follow me!" said Gray.

I followed Gray back down the same way we came. Eventually, we made it to an open street, a spot where we can see our five hours worth of work.

The bell tower was tall enough for ponies all over this area to see. Therefore, they can see our painting too. The painting was of Mom, or too be more specific, Mom's flank. It had her cutie mark exposed, and underneath it in big bold words said; "All hail Princess Sunbutt!"

I laughed as I saw our master piece. "Okay your right, completely worth our time!" I looked over to Gray and froze.

A street lamp had turned on above us, and it had started to snow. I'm not sure why I froze, Its just . . . the way I saw Gray now felt . . . nice. I saw Gray looking up to our painting, smiling. I don't know how to describe it. The way the light shined on him as the snowflakes fell, I felt like I was looking at a painting, not the one we painted, but a true masterpiece. The way his red eyes glistened, and his dark black hair blew in the cold Winter wind. I couldn't stop staring at him, in my eyes he looked . . . absolutely amazing.

He noticed I was staring and looked to me. "Uh, what's up?" he asked.

I quickly looked back to the painting, "nothing! I-I was just thinking that the, uh- painting could've used a bit more red, that's all!"

He looked at me confused. "But the painting doesn't have red".

I suddenly felt myself sweating, despite the fact it was Winter. "Did I say red? I meant yellow! Ya that's it, yellow!" I said as I gave a weak chuckle.

He rubbed his hoof to his chin for a moment as if he was thinking of something, then turned back to the painting. "Ya, I guess it could have used more yellow. Then again we did run out of time so there's that".

There was a long awkward pause before Gray spoke up. "Hey, did I ever tell you why I hate being a kid?"

"No, I remember you mentioning it before, but you never actually said why".

"Well, its because of the way I'm living right now. And I'm pretty sure you can relate to this as well. You see, I've already told you that I never had a family. Who ever originally had me dumped me at some old ponies home when I was only a year old. I ran away from the place when I was five. Not because they were mistreating me or anything, I just didn't like being there. They always acted like they were better then me. Soon after I was out in the streets, starving and cold. Until I was saved by a couple of Rattlesnakes. They brought me in, fed me, kept me sheltered. Then when I was old enough to steal they made me a Diamond Back. I've been there ever since. But to answer your question "why don't I like being a kid", simple, its because kids have no power. I mean look at us! I'm a thief force to steal for my meals, and your trapped in a castle against your will! If we were adults, we could make a difference! I'll bet if I was an adult I could march right out of that cult and make an honest living for myself! And you! You could leave the castle and finally make your own decisions! If we were adults, then our lives wouldn't suck the way it does now! I mean have you seen all of the happy fillies and colts that play in Canterlot? Haven't you ever wondered why their so happy? How their lives became so good while yours and mine is bucking awful? I mean what's the difference between them and us? How did their lives become so good!? Why do you and I have to dig and claw for what we want, while their moms and dads are handing to them what they want on a silver platter!? What's the difference between them and us! Haven't you ever wondered that Obsidian? Haven't you ever wondered why your life is so bad? Well is certainly isn't our faults! Its theirs! The adults! They have the power to control whatever they want, including the lives of the children around them! And who ever the adults were that were supposed to take care of us used their power to make our lives miserable! That's why our lives are so bad! Its not our faults, its theirs! The adults! That's why we see kids having the time of their lives while were stuck with scraps! The adults taking care of them used their power to give them great lives, while whoever taking care of us didn't. And because of it, here we are now. A thieving pony and a locked up human, both trying to get the best with what little we have" Gray explained.

It wasn't until Gray explained this that I realized how right he was. If I was an adult I could leave the castle. I would be my own man, and I could make my own decisions. But here I was, a twelve year old boy, forced to be locked in a castle because there's nothing I can do about. I had never suddenly wanted to be an adult until now. I didn't want to be a kid anymore. I wanted to be a man.

"We should probably get going, the guards might be coming back soon" Gray said suddenly.

I nodded and followed Gray back to the castle.

As I followed, I asked Gray, "hey Gray, do you ever think things will get better? For me and you? Do you think our lives will ever get, I don't know, happier?"

Gray shrugged, "who knows. All we can do now is make the best of it. But I'm sure as long as we never give up hope, then things will surly turn out better in the end". Gray turned to me and saw that I was frowning. He sighed, "look kid. I know things have been rough for you. Things haven't exactly been easy on me as well. But we gotta try and keep a positive attitude. Why do you think I go out into the city and do stupid ship like this with you every other night? I could just stay in the shack and mope around like most of the fillies and colts there, but I don't. I spend my time having fun and getting into trouble. I do this so I can try to stay happy. Sure our lives suck, but you'll see, things will get better. We just can't give up. That's why I try to stay happy, so that I don't give up. Cause I know things will get better".

I looked to Gray and smiled, "you really think things will get better?"

Gray laughed, "of course! We just gotta keep a positive attitude until that day comes, alright? I know things are hard, but you'll see. Things will get better".

I laughed, "ya, things will get better!" I looked up to the night sky and saw a falling a star. I knew it was a childish thing to do, wishing upon a falling star. I also knew it didn't really work, but that didn't stop me from doing it right then and there. Me, wishing upon a star for a better and happier life. A life filled with friends, family, and Gray.

I looked back to Gray and immediately felt that warm feeling return to me again. I smiled as I thought to myself, 'all I have to do is never give up. Things will turn better in the end'.

I just hope Gray was right.

Comments

[Mystic Song]

You need to use either the 'Human' tag or the Alternate Universe tag.

[Merotik]

5932711
But I thought you had to have more then just one human for it to be classified with a "human" tag?

[Merotik]

5932711
Human tags up.

[Mystic Song]

5932713
Nope. The minute a human chacter is introduced you need to put up the Human tag. People will downvote your story if you don't.

[Merotik]

5932722
Oh is that why I have over twenty dislikes? Or is it because my stories been placed in three different negative groups?

[Djclarke3]

Wooooooooooow I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT CELESTIA GIVES ZERO FUCKS ABOUT HIS SON.

[Xenamare]

The bell tower was tall enough for ponies all over this area to see. Therefore, they can see our painting too. The painting was of Mom, or too be more specific, Mom's flank. It had her cutie mark exposed, and underneath it in big bold words said; "All hail Princess Sunbutt!"