Haikus
Today is a day I speak to you of a foal, who was never cared for, and never treated the way other foals were. Of course you haven't heard this tale, for it was in the time of Starswirl the Bearded himself! Then how do I know it, you may ask? Well, I'll leave that up to your imagination. Now enough random chitter, I'm not here to simply talk, I'm here to tell you the tale, of a young foal, named Haikus.
An abnormally small male earth pony was born into the world.
At first, it had seemed, Haikus had it all, what each and every little foal could ever want. Toys, animals, you name it. But there was one thing he never got, one thing every other foal had that he didn't. Love. Or friends. He envied it sometimes, when he'd look out his widow, and walk down the sidewalk, when foals' and fillys' would complain about not having this new toy, or that new pet, when they'd have parents who loved them and cared for them.
Mum was always to busy with Granda to pay attention to poor little Haikus. Granda always had a suspicion for Haikus, never liking the foal, calling him ugly and evil, and then all around avoiding him. Da was always to busy with 'work'. Haikus may have never gone to school, but the little foal knew better, when his Da would always come home, dazed, from 'work', smelling of perfume and strong ale. He thought Mum knew too.
Haikus finally had his eighth birthday on a Saturday.
There was no birthday party, no celebration, and still no love. The only thing Haikus got on this birthday, was something he gave himself. A blanket in a box, put by a bench, a wonderful birthday present for what Haikus had finally planned to do. He colted up.
He made his decision.
Haikus walked down the dark stormy road, cold, desperate, and alone. His parents had forgotten about him, and he never had any friends, so he didn't know what to do. He decided yesterday, he would run away from home, and that's exactly what he did. He soon regretted it on the dark and stormy Sunday. He could never do anything right. That was perhaps why his parents forgot about him and decided they'd have another child, and outcast their first. He had nothing but his foal blanket, which at that point was tattered and torn, and provided little cover or warmth, but he needed something to cuddle.
Haikus began to cry.
He told himself he wouldn't, that he would stay strong because it was his decision to do this and he'd show his parents. But Haikus couldn't help it. He was soaking, cold, lonely, and famished. The only noise that could be heard were those of the Timber Wolves howling in the distance, the hard pitter patter of the rainfall, and his own rugged slow walking. He needed a friend. No, he needed to feel love.
He didn't even truly know what love was, to ignored or hated by everypony around him. Now, on this dreary night, he felt like being hated, because at the very least, he would be noticed. His five mile long journey from home would soon come to a pause as he checked to make sure the box and blanket he had set out the day before, when he had gone for a walk with his thoughts on his eighth birthday, was still there. His feelings brightened a bit as he spotted his small shelter, and he stopped crying.
He curled down to rest. The blanket was stiff, cold, and wet, but he was now a beggar, and beggars could not be choosers. He was just glad he could get some kind of protection from the freezing rain. Getting as comfy as possible, he carefully closed the flaps that were sticking out in the rain, so he'd have more a little more shelter from the cold wind outside. He lifted his wet foal blanket off his back and began to snuggle it for comfort.
He dare not speak a word.
After his eight years of being neglected he dared not to speak, there being nopony to listen, pay attention, or take the time to talk back, so why should he speak? He had to admit to himself, that that was a good question. He shivered in the box, but he was calming down, the hard pitter patter, turning into a sweet lullaby. He soon drifted into a dark slumber, with no dreams, and no happiness.
He woke himself up an hour later with a question, had he ever felt true happiness? He knew the answer was no, but he still asked. He took a small step out of his box, seemingly preparing himself to get soaked. But the rain had stopped suddenly, and the sky was as clear as fresh water. He looked up into the now very clear night sky. He saw many beautiful stars twinkling, as if winking at him.
He forced himself to smile, and he winked back.
Haikus began to turn his head toward the moon, the beautiful, hypnotizing moon. He'd heard ponies wishing on the moon before, deep into the night, when the foal's parents would go to bed after tucking their children in. His mother and father would never tuck him in. He took a deep breath. He concentrated, and he wished and he wished. What he didn't know was that most ponies who wished on the moon never got what they wanted, but mind you, Haikus was only eight and had never gone to school, so he wouldn't have known.
Still, he wished.
The wind began to whistle, carrying his wish to the moon. Slowly, with his head low, Haikus walked back in his box, closing the flaps behind him. He snuggled back down, and forced himself into another dreamless slumber.
He was starving.
In the morning when the beautiful sunrise began, Haikus woke up to the sound of his stomach rumbling. He was so hungry. With all the strength he had left in his famished weak body, he propped his box on his back, blanket and all. He began a new journey, a journey to find food. But he was only eight, and he didn't know what to do. So, he began to wander, and wander, and wander some more. He was about to give up, looking at the seemingly never ending rolling fields of dead grass, when he heard something peculiar.
The little foal heard bustling chatter, chants, and songs. He'd finally come across civilization! He strolled down the last of the hills, hoping to find a bed and a warm place to stay. He also craved to eat something. He stepped finally on level ground, a road, made up of many cobbled rocks. It was actually quite pretty. He took in a deep breath, willing himself to be brave, and walked in the territory. He opened his mouth to speak, but speaking was terribly foreign to him, and he found that no sound, not even a whisper, had managed to come out.
The village was very busy.
Nopony had even looked or so much as glanced at Haikus as he walked in the village. He hopped on the side-walk, hoping to get somepony's attention. Instead of attention though, Haikus simply got pushed around, stepped on, and ignored. Haikus went back on the road, his head hanging low once again. Of course nopony would notice or even care about him, he was a nopony.
He was to small for his age, he didn't have a cutie mark, and his pelt was brown dotted with black spots. His eyes were gray, without love or color, and his ears sagged down. His mane showered his face in black ringlets, as did his tail. He was famished, tired, weak, and sore, and he didn't know what to do.
He began to wander again.
He wandered and wandered and wandered. And wandered. And wandered some more. One morning, Haikus simply fell to his side, his stomach eating himself from the inside. His tongue dried up and his head throbbed, and he didn't know what to do. So he closed his eyes, and that's when Haikus finally knew what to do.
He fell asleep.
And this time, he didn't wake up.