> I̮̤͓̱͕̻̦ ͍̫̝͔a̝͍m̩͓̼̤͈ ͍͖̩͖̟M̮̰̫̫͚̜̲e̳̹̬̝̥ͅ > by Alyssa Hartwick > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Babs stood outside. The chilling wind brushed against her rusty coat as she stood waiting for the bus. She felt the bottom of her hooves turn numb from the freezing pavement below. She looked around lazily at the smog clouded sky above, the tall sky scrapers jutting up through the thick skyline. There was a smell of something burning far off in the distance. Even the snow was grey from the pollution. She only had a torn backpack, an old thin gray jacket, a scrappy scarf and ear buds that were playing music to keep warm as she waited for the shabby hunk of metal that passed as a bus to pick her up. It might not have been much but it was a little warmer than what was offered standing in the cold without anything. She just stood there for what felt like hours to her. She hadn’t realized how long she had been actually been standing there waiting until she heard the familiar clanking rumble of an old shitty bus creeping its way up the road. She watched as it slowly came into her view. To her it was more of a relic than a bus, the probably once bright yellow paint becoming a gunky cheese color, paint missing from the many years of abuse it had suffered. The grill and bumper looked all but rusted as it drove up to her. She began to walk to the curb as the bus pulled up to her stop. Her hooves froze as she walked up the small stair case. As she steeped on the junk heap, she gave the bus driver a nod of recognition, after all she was one of her friends now . As she walked down the aisle looking for a seat, she watched as fillies and colts alike placed their bags next to them so she couldn’t sit with them. “Who am I to care?” She thought as she strolled all the way down to the back of the bus where the older kids sat at. “At least I can sit there.” She said in her head as she walked up to her usual seat. She made no eye contact as the older colt she sat with moved to let her sit next to the window. He was her other friend, though they never talked. They were just silent companions. “We have nothing to talk about, so we don't." she said to herself as they quietly sat with each other, listening to their music She watched as the world moved by in a greyish blur as the bus moved on . She waited. Not to get to school, no, that was one of the last places she wanted to be. Home, too, was just a word to her. Her home was taken when her father moved them to this shithole of a city. No...what she was waiting for was actually worth it. She sat there waiting, and she watched as an old department store flew by. She saw one pony inside, an old stallion. His mane had long since turned grey, his pale blueish fur contrasting against his dark green fluffy jacket, as he stood there with bright eyes and a soft smile. She smiled back, for what may have been only a few seconds, before he was gone from her sight once more. Her expressionless face watching as the grey world zoomed on by. Slowly, a large concrete tunnel began to come into her view. She felt as a small giddiness begin to make its way into her stomach as it came ever closer to the bus. As the archway of the tunnel zoomed overhead, she held her breath. Her daily ritual had begun. Her eyes squeezed shut, her lungs holding in the smoggy air as she slowly started counting down. “10, 9, 8, 7- “ She counted in her mind as her lungs began to burn. She felt as the bus jumped a little as it changed from asphalt ground to metal road. “4, 3, 2- “ Her eyes shot open as she gulped silently for air. A golden light filled her vision as they opened. The air she breathed in felt no longer dirty or filled with pollution. She watched through the window as the tops of pine trees filtered the golden light of Celestia's sun, the clouds a soft pink as they lazily floated above. The sun itself glittered like gold as it burned itself into her mind. Her eyes opened to their limit as they drank in the sight. Her music playing in perfect timing with the beautiful sight, and every sway of the trees matched up to the rhythm of her music. She was so caught up in the moment she didn’t even notice the colt next to her smiling at her before looking out the window himself to drink up the sight as well. It was over too soon for her. She closed her eyes once more, and held her breath as she counted up to ten. “8, 9, 10” she thought as she breathed once more, now out of the tunnel. She didn’t open her eyes, trying to keep the image in her vision as long as possible. Her smile now faded. She opened her eyes as the bus came to its final stop. School. > Just Another Morning > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Babs Seed sat there, waiting for all the other kids on the bus to unload. As she sat there, she gave a nod to her friend as he got up to leave. Before she knew it, she was alone on the bus except for the mare who drove the bus, and she felt the bus drive around to the back of the school, before parking. She didn’t have to worry about being late for class anyway, there were back exits that led into her first period’s building, she thought to herself, as she grabbed her stuff and put away her earphones, before walking towards the front of the bus. As she walked, she watched the older mare open the door and climb down. Once she got out of the bus, she looked around at the dull snow-coated parking lot full of buses. The sky was overcast and somewhat dark. As she walked around the front of the bus, she watched as the older mare, an earth pony who was leaning her back on the warm grill of the bus, take out a box of cigarettes and stick one in her mouth. The mare was old, not like granny Smith, but still old enough to have grey and white hair. The mare had tired blue eyes, faded from many years of rough life, like her faded purple fur. She stood there as she pulled out a lighter from her jacket's pocket. It was large and brown, with a large wool collar that was black in color. Soon Babs was standing right next to her, her own backpack laying on the ground as she leaned up against the warm grill. That’s when the mare spoke. “Hey Red do me a favor will yah, and light me up? Stupid bucking thing won't light.” She said, with her raspy voice, before handing Babs the lighter. Babs flicked the small lever, causing small spark to erupt, and on the second try, a small flame came to life. She leaned over, lighting the cigarette. The older mare took a long drag from it before letting the smoke puff out from her nose. Babs looked up expectantly at the mare, who eventually caught the drift and handed Babs a cigarette. Babs lit it, before taking a drag and letting out a puff of her own. She was fifteen years old, she didn’t give a fuck. “I can’t fucking wait to get out of this garbage dump of a city.” Babs said before taking another drag of her cigarette. “Ha, that’s a dream I had when I was your age.” Said the older mare. “Fuck off ‘Maz.” Babs replied “That’s not my name you little shit, its Mazda Charter or Ms. Charter to you!” “You’re the one who calls me Red, and you don’t see me giving a fuck, ‘Ms. Chart’!” She spat back at her. They stood there quietly for a moment, before bursting out laughing. Before Babs could take another drag, the bell rang for school to start. She groaned before taking one last drag from her cigarette, and crushed it under her hoof. She went back down on her hooves before grabbing her bag and running. Mazda watched as the young teen ran. “SAME TIME TOMORROW!?” Babs shouted behind her as she ran off. “YOU KNOW IT YOU LITTLE SHIT!” She yelled back with a smile. “You know it...” she said to herself as she trotted off to her car. _- (Three hours later)-_ The bell rang. Bab’s walked through the halls silently, as she listened to her music on her 1-P0N. She walked up to her locker and unlocked it, placing her books inside. She began to walk to her least favorite class. Lunch. This time of day always reminded her of her days at the Apple Farm when she spent time with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Not the fact that she bullied, no, she didn’t do that anymore. It was the fact that she was still a blank flank, and ponies still teased her about it. And it wasn’t simple name calling anymore, no, it was worse. It was a fight. She walked in, hidden in the large crowed of ponies, that waited in line for their lunch. She kept her head down, and face hidden for good measure. Luckily, her jacket covered up her still bare flank. After getting lunch, she trotted over to her table. The same older colt that rode her bus was sitting there, his blue hood off, exposing his black headphones that were lined with green cushions and wires. His grey fur seemed darker than its normal light grey, as they normally sat in the dark part of the cafeteria. His short dirty blond hair was ruffled slightly, as he nodded along to the music. She sat down next to him, and he opened his deep purple-blue eyes before closing them once again. She quickly ate her food before throwing it away in the trash can next to her. She laid her head down on the cold metal table, before entering her world of music. _-()-_ A steady beat was playing. She was standing on a stage, lights shining down upon her, and her alone. She was in a black hoodie, a thin skull cloth covering the bottom half of her face and a simple black bandanna on her head. In her hoof was a microphone. After a few moments of listening to the crowd as they cheered her name, she knew what to do. “Okay let’s get this straight, I’m a fucking earth pony rapping, and not to be tribalist!” “But I’m two hundred and twenty percent, I can rap better than any pegasus bitch.” “I don’t give a ‘flying’ fuck that you can fly, because my rhymes are so fly I can fly higher.” “You say I’m fuckin grounded, but here’s one thing bitch, at least I’m not sucking my producers dick.” She felt fire going through her veins as she glared at her opponent . _-()-_ “HEY BITCH, WAKE THE FUCK UP!” a deep burly voice yelled at her waking her from her day dream. Turning her head, she looked up to see who it was. And it was the fucking jocks. “This is fucking great” She muttered under her breath. “What did you just say?” The self-proclaimed ‘leader’ of the group asked her. She looked up at the tall colt. His name was Trophy Hunter, he was a white Pegasus, with a bleach blonde mane, and blue eyes. He was, apparently to most of the mares and some of the stallions in the school, a total dream boat. But to her, he was just another asshole. “Why the fuck are you here ‘Trough’?” she groaned impatiently, before rolling her eyes as she put her head back down on the table. “HEY! WATCH YOUR TONE OR I'LL- “one of the meatheads called, a hoofball player, before Hunter raised his hoof to silence him. “That’s no way to speak to a lady, Doge.” He said with what could be assumed as ‘chivalry’. Before she could throw up, Hunter began to speak to her again. “It’s TROPHY, not ‘TROUGH’. That’s what pigs eat out of. I know you a bit slow, but seriously?” He mocked her as she sat there. “Whatever… ‘Trough’” She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she snickered. The colt began to grow agitated, but remembered what he came here for in the first place. “Ha, very funny ‘Ms. Bare Bottom’ but I have an offer you can’t refu- “he began before being cut off. “No.” She said simply. “But you haven’t even- “ He tried to speak again. “NO.” She said, more sternly than before. “Listen to me, dick head. I don’t want to fucking date you, never fucking have, and never will, so do me a favor and give someone else AID’s, because I don’t fucking want it.” “Come on, you know you love me.” He said. “Everyone does.” “Well I fucking don’t.” She spat at him. Suddenly an idea formed into her brain. “Okay, since you wont fuck off and leave me alone how about me make a bet make a bet.” she spoke with intent. She glared up at him for a response. The colt stood there for a moment, contemplating on what to do. "I’m listening…