Chapter Text
“Don’t be stupid, Misty!” a magenta alicorn named Opaline Arcana screamed at her adoptive daughter, a blue unicorn named Misty Brightdawn. “Get to work NOW!!!”
“But what about my homework?” Misty asked.
“It doesn’t matter!” Opaline yelled. “You don’t either. Now sweep the floor while I fix my makeup.”
Misty sighed in defeat, getting the broom and sweeping the house while Opaline went into the bathroom to fix her makeup. The magenta alicorn was an abusive alcoholic, and treated Misty like her servant.
As Misty sadly swept the floor, she thought about how much better the lives of Sunny Starscout and her friends were. They inspired others with their kindness and courage, and also helped the Avengers save Wakanda a year ago.
Misty was like Cinderella. Despite her difficult life, she wished that one day, her savior would come and take her away from Opaline. Who this savior was didn’t matter to Misty. She just wanted him or her to care about her.
After Misty finished her chores, she went to her room to get started on her math homework. It was difficult for her to focus on it, though, as she could only think about the abuse she received from Opaline for her whole life.
“For a pony said to be as feisty as fire,” Misty said to herself, “I’ve never met a heart so cold.”
The next day, Misty dragged her hooves as she walked to the cafeteria at Bridlewood High School. After paying for her lunch, the blue unicorn turned to Sunny and her five friends- Izzy Moonbow, Hitch Trailblazer, Zipp Storm, Pipp Petals, and Sprout Cloverleaf. They were sitting at a table of their own, having a good time.
“And then, Cloudpuff escaped from my grasp!” Pipp told the others. “Zipp and I chased him until he slipped on a mud puddle.”
The other ponies laughed. “Oh Pipp,” Sunny responded, “that sounded like quite the chase.”
“That should be a lesson to always supervise Cloudpuff,” Zipp told Hitch. “He’s a feisty little pup.”
Misty watched the six ponies discuss their weekend adventures and sighed sadly. She was ashamed of having no friends.
“I wish I was as good as them,” Misty said before she walked to an empty table and ate her lunch. Once the unicorn got seated, she pulled out her cell phone to see if she had gotten any new texts from Opaline. And of course, many of these texts had come her way, and sounded angry- as usual.
“I CAN’T FIND MY GLITTERY EYESHADOW! WHAT DID YOU DO WITH IT, MISTY?!”
“I’M ALL OUT OF BEER. I GUESS I’LL HAVE TO DRINK WHISKEY INSTEAD.”
“BE A GOOD MAID AND CLEAN UP THE LIVING ROOM WHEN YOU GET HOME.”
And many more.
Misty simply typed, “IT’S OKAY. I UNDERSTOOD YOU.”
That just resulted in Opaline sending angrier texts. So Misty just ignored them and continued to eat her food.
Sunny eyed Misty for a moment. The orange alicorn had always felt sorry for her, and wished that her life would get better. Sunny then turned back to her friends to continue their discussion.
Suddenly, a red and pink earth pony named Cherry Cheer came over and knocked Misty’s tray of food off of the table. Cherry was the captain of Bridlewood High’s cheerleading squad, but was also a bully. She loved to harass the vulnerable ponies, and could even be violent at times.
“This is what you get for being such a weirdo!” Cherry yelled.
Misty looked down and saw all her food on the floor. No way was it getting eaten now.
“Hey girls!” Cherry called out. “Look who I have here. It’s Misty.”
Just then, two other ponies joined Cherry- a beige and purple unicorn named Velvet Harmony and a light blue and indigo pegasus named Azure Moon.
“You got Cinderella again?” Velvet asked. “Go figure.”
“Misty’s gonna starve now,” Azure said.
“That’s awesome,” Velvet replied.
“I know, right?” Azure asked. “It’s just what this little pony deserves.”
“You’ll never be good enough, Misty,” Cherry told Misty before leading her friends away.
After Cherry, Velvet, and Azure left, Misty took her phone and left the cafeteria. Cherry and her friends bullied her every day, and it was gradually becoming harder to tolerate their bullying.
Sunny and her friends knew that they had to do something. So they got up from their table and followed Misty to the lockers.
“I’m so sorry, Misty,” Sunny told Misty as the latter put her phone in her locker.
“We know what happens at home,” said Izzy, “and it’s not fair that you’re treated horribly at school too.”
“You don’t deserve to be treated so badly,” Sprout added.
“Yes I do!” Misty sobbed.
“We’ll buy you another lunch,” Pipp said.
“We’ll even get you ice cream,” said Hitch.
“It’s alright,” Misty responded. “You don’t have to do anything. I can take care of this myself.” And with that, the blue unicorn closed her locker door and walked away.
“I wish we knew how to help Misty,” Izzy said.
“This cannot continue,” added Zipp. “We have to do something!”
“But what, exactly?” asked Pipp.
Zipp sighed. “I don’t know,” she said, “but we must get Misty the help she needs before her situation gets worse. Much worse.”
After school, Misty galloped to her house as quickly as she could. But once she went inside, she was treated to a shocking sight. Misty saw Opaline passed out on the carpet, having drunk one too many cans of whiskey. “Grey’s Anatomy” was also playing on the television.
Misty slowly walked up to Opaline and tapped her leg to wake her up. Opaline didn’t respond. Misty then resorted to pulling out her phone and playing her adoptive mother’s favorite song at a loud volume. Once the blue unicorn did that, Opaline woke up.
“What happened?” Opaline gasped. “I must have blacked out.”
“You did, Opaline,” Misty said with a nervous look on her face.
Opaline groaned in frustration. “If it isn’t my annoying adoptive daughter,” she said. “How was school?”
“Fine, I guess,” Misty answered. “I’ll be doing my homework in my bedroom if you need me.”
“That’s fine,” Opaline replied, rolling her eyes. “Thank you, Misty.”
Without a word, Misty went to her room to do her English homework. Sure, today wasn’t the worst. However, the unicorn didn’t know how much more of the harassment at home and school she could take.