From Grey to Dark
Greymane was born in Canterlot and is the son of a noble unicorn and a commoner earthen pony and was born under a blood moon. But before he was born his father expected a strong, male unicorn child to carry on his magic and nobility and he was hoping that his wife would hold out one day longer so that the child would not be born under the blood moon, which was a sign of bad luck to him but even though he tried to soothe her with his magic the baby ended up being born that night.
He rushed her to the closest hospital in Canterlot and after a lifetime of waiting the baby was born and he proudly strolled into the waiting room expecting to see his new unicorn son but when he looked upon her and only saw a small and weak earthen pony with a sickly grey color hide and black colored mane with eyes as pale as the moon. He never went in to greet her or his new son, he swiftly went home and gathered all his belongings and left a note describing his disappointment in her and him and declared he was leaving her and finding a more suitable mate to produce a strong unicorn child worthy of succeeding him.
During her time in the hospital she was eventually told of the divorce and that she was welcome to stay in the hospital until her release but because of the separation he ended up taking everything and leaving her next to nothing.
When she was released she tried to go back to work but her former husband had her fired as well, so she went back to the shack on the outskirts of town which was now the only home to her and the child. Fortunately before she was chosen to be his wife she already knew how to forage for food and supplies and she did her best to support the two of them.
On the first night she rocked him in her arms and had decided to call her son Greymane and vowed to protect him and try to give him the life he should have had. But that was not to be, six years later she had come down with a disease and she didn’t have enough money to get treated at Canterlot and she was too far from any other town but Greymane still went off with all the money they had and begged for someone to help. After a full day of begging he finally convinced a visiting doctor to come and check up on her but he had a night guard accompany him since he did not fully trust Greymane.
But he was too late and when they finally arrived and the doctor checked on her, she had already died.
Thankfully the visiting doctor and night guard had reported her death and she was given a proper burial but since his father had destroyed his identity six years ago Greymane was never placed into a home but was allowed to keep the shack with all his belongings that his mother had gathered. At only six years old he had to scrounge and forage to survive and due to his abnormal looks he was never able to make any friends and he was no longer able to enter Canterlot when his mother died.
As the years went on by he tried his best to make a friend or two but wanderers were rare and few and within those few who did discover his home they always tended to keep their distance and always had a scared look on their faces when they saw him. Although he was always treated with disgust and fear he was never mean or angry but he also wasn’t happy or joyful, he was always neutral and mellow.
But he always did try to help ponies when they walked by by offering food or shelter or even simple directions on how to get to Canterlot. He never ventured too far from his shack, but far enough to gather any food or other supplies and simply filled his days with simple exercise or re-reading his only few books that he was able to barter from any passerby’s.
When he was 16 years old he had gone out for the day for food and supplies but when he started to return later that night he had noticed something bright from up ahead, in the direction of his home and he started to trot faster and when he was close enough he noticed that the bright light was because his shack was on fire and when he realized this he ran as hard as he could so he could salvage anything but when he arrived and scouted his home he had discovered that everything was burnt, his books, food, supplies, and even his only picture of his mother.
The only thing he did was kick up a dirt circle around the house so that the embers would not light the surrounding area on fire, once he was done he carefully picked up what was left of his blanket and brought it out and made a makeshift bed and covered himself up and went to bed next to the warm embers of his burnt down house.
The next morning he awoke and saw that his house was all burnt and the remaining structure had collapsed during the night and was a smoldering pile, but he also noticed strange claw marks in the ground leading from the forest to his shack then back into the forest and his only thought was that in one of his books he read about dragons and this seemed to be the only thing to have caused this. Even though he had this knowledge he did not seek out the dragons since he knew it only meant he would suffer the same fate but now he had no place to call home so he gathered anything that was left and he walked in the opposite direction of Canterlot, hoping to find the next town.
He began his long journey through the Everfree Forest, always wary of his surroundings for he knew of the many dangers within the forest during his trips to forage and salvage. The trek took hours, hours turned into days, and soon days turned into weeks and before the end of the month and enduring close calls and one deadly encounter by a pack of Timber Wolfs though the scariest was sneaking by a sleeping dragon. One night he was able to see the outline of a town and decided to visit the next day as the sun was setting, so he set up his makeshift camp which by now had been renovated to become a tent, pillow, and blanket along with any food found and kept.
During his dreams that night while asleep he dreamed of random thoughts, very chaotic thoughts and it disturbed him but he never woke until late into the morning. When he finally did awaken, his body felt rested but heavy and he did not know why but as to having to clue or reason to worry he packed up camp and began to forage for the day, fortunately the area around was bountiful and did not take very long to stock up for a good three days worth before he ventured towards the town he saw yesterday.
After a good walk he was finally upon the outskirts of the town but something was very wrong, everything was Topsy turfy, buildings were random colors, some were even floating and others seemed to be melting, even the ground seemed to be made of soap instead of dirt. With caution he continued into town, slowly making his way past the oddities that enthralled the town, after a short while he came upon the first resident and approached her but when he tried to speak she turned around and gave him a raspberry and hopped away. Similar oddities followed when he approached the next few ponies and after the final one he decided to venture further into town to maybe find a sensible pony but when he did he was run over by four gray ponies, one with three balloons for a cutie mark, another with apples, diamonds, and a butterfly.
He stood up and offered a hoof to help them up but was smacked away by a Pegasus, the one with the butterfly, and she said “Hey, watch it ugly and gray! Heh, you look even worse than that snob Twilight Sparkle”.
Following that the earth pony with the balloons said “Why is your face so sullen and mellow? You trying not to laugh at me buster?!?! Well I should be the one laughing at you for looking so ugly! I bet you have no friends with a look like that!”
The other earth pony with the hat said “What you talking about? I'm sure that he had tons of friends that love him and his blank flank!”
After she said that she tightened her lips and looked around while the last one, the unicorn, said “Don't you even think about touching Tom! He is all mine! Someone as poor and stupid and ugly as you can't even be allowed to look at him! Go away you horrid thing!”
After that the four went their separate ways and left him all alone with their words ringing in his head and for the first time in his life he truly felt sad and lonely and he turned around and walked back the way he came with is head hung low.
But before he could go too far, a floating creature appeared out of nowhere in front of him and with an amused sounding voice he said “My my my! What have we here? A pony not of town! Hmmmm..... were you always gray or did someone take away your element?” with that the bizarre creature made of multiple creature parts eyed him all over, by literally having just his eyeballs float all around his body before flying back into the creatures eye sockets “How rare! A pony who is already gray! And what this?" -pokes Greymanes blank flank- "Both gray and without a mark! No wonder your so sullen and gloomy! Or I wonder....”
The chaotic creature snapped his lion paw and for a second or two his eyes went blank then were normal and he laughed “Ah ha! I see now! You met Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie! Those four are just the worst right now! Well, mainly thanks to me but boy they really let you have it Greymane!”
Greymane looked up in surprise but just before he could speak he was shushed “I know because when I looked into your mind real quick to see what happened not only did I see the recent past but your whole past and boy you really do have it rough! Its so funny and sad, but right now mainly funny! Hahahahaha!” while continuing to laugh he snapped his paw again and soon Greymane heard laughter everywhere and saw some ponies slowly walk and laugh at him.
Feeling sad and scared Greymane began to run away and while he did the creature and the crazy looking ponies slowly followed and continued to laugh and laugh and laugh and by the time he ran to the forest was he finally safe from the torment.
He continued to run though because his mind was in a haze due to the overwhelming sadness and embarrassment and realization as to why he was alone all his life and he ran for a while until his legs gave out but his mind was still on the run and tears began to flow from his tightly shut eyes and both actions continued until he body passed out due to stress and fatigue, both physically and mentally.
Once again his dreams were fuzzy and bizarre but in the form of a nightmare of the words spoken to him in conflict with his memories and both clashed back and forth and when it came to its peak he felt like he was about to be swallowed up but at the last second the dark veil was shattered and for a brief moment he heard a voice say “Be strong” before he awoke to the light of the new day.
When he awoke he lied still and mulled over yesterdays events and of the nightmare and who or what that voice was. He was grateful for the strange strength it gave him but still the memories plagued him and made his mind wander. When he gathered himself he look around to see where he was and he discovered that he had made it back to the same area he camped at and he also saw that the town was now normal looking, no soap roads, no floating houses, nothing strange.
Also when he looked at the town he saw a golden chariot flying away from the town with the strange being he met encased in stone and riding in front was a beautiful white Alicorn with a rainbow mane and just for a moment he thought that she looked right at him before flying off. He decided to build a place to live around here since it was close to town and the forest was plentiful, so with a heavy heart and a mindful of emotions and fears he wandered off into the forest and began to build his new home.
One year had passed since that terrible day and while his general demeanor did not change he was always on guard whenever he saw and/or met new ponies and he had terrible nightmares from time to time but whenever he did have one he always heard that voice encourage him and his dreams would soothe. His worst one though came when he was foraging for food and when he returned to his make-shift home he discovered three little fillies inside and looking at everything and when they saw him they excitingly began to ask him questions but for every question he took a step back until he bumped into a tree and they stopped when they saw his nervous and scared face.
One of them, a unicorn, asked “Are you okay mister? Were sorry for snooping around, we didn’t know anyone lived out here! And were sorry if we scared you” after they all three sat down and said they were sorry. Greymane calmed down after hearing them and seeing there sad faces and he gave them a small smile.
“I’m sorry as well, I'm usually alone and not used to visitors. I’m Greymane and this is my home”
He was about to continue when he heard a set of wings flapping behind him followed by “Oh there you girls are! You know you shouldn't run off like that! Its dangerous to wander the Everfree forest alone”
“But were not alone! We met someone who lived out here Fluttershy!” said one of the fillies.
As soon as he heard the name his whole body cringed in fear and his pupils dilated and he slowly turned his head and saw that it was the same pony with the butterfly cutie mark who called him ugly and gray, though she was no longer gray and had pink hair and yellow body “Oh goodness! You live here all alone?” she squinted her eyes a bit then opened them wide in surprise “Its you! From when Discord was here! We all have been searching for yo-” but before she could finish Greymane had began to run as fast as he could away from them and was out of eyesight shortly.
“What was that about miss Fluttershy?” said the unicorn filly.
“Oh dear, you girls remember when Discord was here in Ponyville?” the three nodded yes “Well when we all came to and started talking about what happened when we were our negative self’s, we remembered that we had said terrible, terrible things to a gray pony who we had never seen before and we wanted to find him to apologize but until now we never knew where he was (sigh) but it looks like he is still terrified of us and I don’t blame him. Did you girls get his name by any chance?” Fluttershy asked.
“Yeah, he said his name was Greymane” said the orange pegasus filly.
“Greymane, well at least I can tell the others his name and where his house is. Hopefully we can find him here again and get a chance to say sorry. Now lets get back home you three” Fluttershy said before herding the three back to town.
Greymane continued to run and run while his mind was swirling with questions and fears and haunting memories and what felt like hours is when he finally stopped and slumped against a tree to catch his breath. But after a few moments his legs began to wobble and his body collapsed and he slowly fell asleep and once again dreamt a nightmare as terrible as the rest and just as before the darkness was sent away and the dream became normal but instead of encouragement as before the voice, which sounded closer, asked “Please forgive them” and it was gone and the dream faded as he awoke from sleep.
He felt strangely refreshed and what the voice said to him rang through his mind but he decided to spend a few days away from home while he sorted out this new feelings and the dreams advice, so he began to wander the new area for food and fortunately he had his pack on him when he fled so he was able to make future camps.
He began his search for food and he had found some berries but around the bush he had found some crystals....