Lucidity - An MLP Fanfiction

As It Turns Out I'm An Anime Protagonist

        Sombre scoffed, tossing her mane behind her shoulder before answering the absurd question that had just crossed her path. "What's an Umbrum? Have you not looked in a mirror?" Grenadine tilted her head in confusion.

"The mirror? But I'm a Unicorn, like you guys. I just have a different horn," Grenadine looked at the Unicorns in front of her. Both Sunbeam and Sombre had a mix of confused and disgust on their faces.

"Your horn is different because you're not a Unicorn, idiot. I'm a Unicorn. She's," Sombre gestured to Sunbeam, who smirked. "A Unicorn. You are not. You're an Umbrum."

Grenadine was confused. For five years of her life, she'd believed she was simply a Unicorn with a different horn. No one told her she was a completely different race of pony. Aggressively grabbing a marker, the peach Umbrum began to write her name on the paper she had been given.

"Well, class, it seems like our time together is done for the day," Miss Amaretto announced as the bell rang. "I will collect your name tags as you exit out the door."

Grenadine grabbed her finalized name tag, shrugging her saddlebag on her back, and walked over to the door. Her name tag was designed with her name in red bubble letters and glitter glue smeared on the edges of the large writing.

After giving the masterpiece to her teacher, Grenadine quickly exited the building, looking around to find her mother.

"Grenadine! Over here, hon!" Goldie was waving over by a gate near the entrance. The peach Umbrum quickly ran over in order to ask the question that had been on her mind for almost the entire end of the day.

"Mom?" Grenadine began, shuffling her hooves. "Am I, uh, an Umbrum?" Goldie was taken aback as the young filly looked up expectantly.

Unsure what to do, Goldie simply told her the truth. "Um, yes... but how about we talk about that at home, sweetie?" The mare wasn't quite ready for this question so early. In reality, Goldie was either going to tell Grenadine when she was thirteen, or never at all if she sensed it would upset the child.

"Okay!" Grenadine happily skipped ahead of her guardian, heading home. Trying to erase the subject from her mind, Grenadine tried remembering things from earlier that day. I wonder what Sombre means, she thought. The Umbrum things kept finding their way back into the filly's head. No way she wasn't a regular Unicorn, right? Right. Grenadine kept skipping on the path, seeing her house down the road.

Goldie sighed, trailing behind her daughter. How was she supposed to tell her that she was a race of ponies that many assumed were extinct? That her appearance is what most likely got her mother and father killed? How was this poor mare supposed to tell this innocent child that she's no longer allowed in her own place of birth unless she has a spell to hide her horn? The yellow mare looked at her hooves and continued forward.

Unaware of anything happening behind her, Grenadine finally reached her front door, opening it and entering, waiting for her mother in the door frame. Wonder what I'll do about Sombre and Sunbeam tomorrow... hopefully, they don't talk about the Umbrum thing again. Too much was already on her pate and it was only the first day. The only thing Grenadine wanted on her plate was food. Grenadine began to think about dinner.

Goldie entered the house, watching as her daughter unpacked her things and began to show off her new name tag.

Day two was easy. So was day three, four... the whole month wet by in a flash. Sombre and Sunbeam kept up the pattern of teasing Grenadine about her horn without ever coming clean about what they were referring to.

But one day Miss Amaretto started to talk about the history of Equestria, and how "today we're going to discuss where we're from."

"Now, I'd like to go around the classroom and have each of us say where we were born. If you don't know then we can work together as a class to try and figure it out. That sound alright?" There was a collective sound of agreement from the kids.

"Miss!" Sombre called out, her blue mane bouncing with her raised hoof. "I'd like to go first."

"Perfect! Let's form a circle, and go clockwise. Sombre will start us off." The brown mare moved from the front of the room, helping to organize the circle of children. Once they were all ready, Sombre spoke out.

"I was born in the royal palace, in Canterlot. My mother decided to move us here because she wanted me to have a less... spoiled life," The grey pony rolled her eyes at the last point as if it was completely unheard of. A few ponies chuckled.

Sunbeam went next. "I was also born in Canterlot, but not in the royal palace. My father moved us here before I moved into the palace," the white filly twirled her yellow and orange braids.

The next pony was born in Ponyville. The next in Fillydelphia, another two in Ponyville, one from Manehattan and another from Baltimare. There were ponies from all over Equestria in this classroom, it seemed.

It took several more minutes before it got to Grenadine, who had conveniently placed herself at the end of the circle. After twirling her hooves on the ground for a minute, Grenadine finally spoke. "Um," she began. "I don't really know where I was born. My mom says it doesn't matter."

Sombre and Sunbeam snickered, "Well you must be from the Crystal Empire," Sombre declared. "Your horn matches the late King Sombra, the most powerful Umbrum! He had your horn, and he was born in the Crystal Empire!"

Miss Amaretto wasn't sure what to say. It was true, most (if not all) Umbrums came from the Crystal Empire. However, these children didn't know why there were so few in the actual location of origin. If Grenadine made it here, that would mean it was likely her mother wasn't her biological mother. That or her horn was a birth defect, which was highly unlikely. Standing up in front of the class, stopping Sombre in her speech of deduction to prove why Grenadine wasn't from Ponyville, Miss Amaretto began to speak.

"Yes, Sombre, it is probable that Grenadine is from the Crystal Empire. But you need to know that Sombra isn't known there like he is here. King Sombra was someone who ruled his people without any feeling of kindness. He was mean to his people, and it took years for all of them to recover. Princess Cadence nearly died trying to save her kingdom and her child. While the king is known as a very powerful pony in many locations, the Crystal Empire isn't one of them. There, Umbrums are seen as horrid, terrible creatures that must be disposed of. You need to be careful when you suddenly assume things, kids. Grenadine might be sensitive to the subject."

The class was in awe of this new information. Was everything they'd been told a lie? Were the legends about a great and powerful king untrue? Of course not. It just wasn't completely correct.

As all the students took in the facts, they stared at Grenadine, not sure what else to do. This was someone who came from a place where she was hated, no. Where her people were hated. Just her people. Her.

It seemed Goldie's decision not to tell the peach-coloured filly the truth about Umbrums wouldn't make much of a difference in the long run.