I was raised in a numerous family of muticoloured unis, for I was adopted. My adoptive mother was a beautiful unicorn as white as the snow, with eyes of a blue so penetrating it would have stunned anyone who looked right into them. Her husband (my adoptive father), on the other hand, was a pestilent pig of a uni. He was a mutant... transformed by the careless hand of a man, my father claimed to once have a been a beautiful golden stallion... mother knew this was true, but would never give him the reason. Now, as he looked upon himself with disgust, he fell into a pit of anguish, mistreating anyone who dared come too close to him to help... even my mother. You see, my father was one proud uni, and wouldnt have let anyone help him, not even if his life depended on it. He spent his last years of life yelling orders to everyone, hitting anyone who dared confront him, and pitying himself. It was during his last day of life that he realized how cruel he had been since he had turned mutant. He apologized to everyone, and died feeling terrible about himself, but relieved that at least he had realized in time to apologize... or at least that is what I've been told, since I was not there to see him go.

As I was saying, I was raised in a numerous family. Father did not work, but made my brothers and sisters work. It was us who brought neopoints home every day, feeling like common saddle horses. It was a hard life. I worked in a mine, pulling the cars that were filled with precious stones such as rubies, emeralds and fire topaz. I was severely tempted to just take a handful of those stones to help my family... steal and sell them, you know. But no... I was better than that. I merely commited myself to working as hard as I could to help maintain my family.

One day I got sick with neoflu. My family couldnt afford even the medicine for that, but I decided I'd get over it eventually. Therefore, I went out to work as usual. It was a rainy day. I was pulling a particularly heavy car when I sneezed. The sneeze cause me to slip, which made me fall down, causing the car to topple sideways, spilling its contents all over the muddy floor. I cursed. I knew I was in for it. I merely lay there, waiting, heavy drops of rain pounding on my body, drenching me, making me cold to the bones. The scorchio in charge of the mine flew up to where I lay, looked down on me and clicked his tongue, while slightly shaking his head. He helped me up and made me follow him to his "office", an improvised cubicle made out of wood he had probably chopped off some nearby trees. He sat down at a table crammed into the cubicle and motioned for me to sit down too. I obeyed, knowing what was coming next.

-"Tral, it is not the first time this happens" He said. This was true, on two occasions before that I had accidentally toppled a car filled to the brim with precious stones. Of course it had not been on purpose, but still... it counted. "I can't let this sort of things happen anymore Tral. You see, it's my neck in the line, the boss will be furious when he finds out." He continued. "Therefore Tral, you give me no option but to let you go" The scorchio looked terribly sorry. He had been my friend apart from my superior, and he knew the situation my family was in. But he was right, I thought, he couldnt risk his job because of me... and even if he tried, I wouldnt let that happen. I nodded silently, completely understanging the situation. "I'm sorry Tral, I really am... I promise I'll help you find another job. You were great here while you lasted pal. But three strikes, you're out, you know..." I knew he was right. As all answer I hugged him as best I could, telling him it was alright and he didnt need to feel sorry for me. After all, I told him, I was already fed up with pulling cars anyway. He smiled. "We are still friends then?" I smiled and told him we were, no hard feelings. It was not his fault.

That day I returned home early, because I had nothing else to do after losing my job. My father, as always, asked to see the day's earnings. I told him the story, knowing that his reaction was not going to be good. It took him some time to assimilate the information.

-"WHat...? Why...?" Finally, it hit him with the force of a pebble travelling at light speed. "YOU LOST YOUR JOB?!?" He yelled, looking livid, fire sprouting in his eyes. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU LOST YOUR JOB?!?!"

That's what I mean father, I lost my job. Fired. Given the sack. Not working there anymore. Okay?" I said, in a rather defying tone.

-"DONT YOU DARE SPEAK TO ME LIKE THAT BOY!"

-"Oh really? And what are you going to do?? Yell at me??" I was out of my mind then. My dad had finally exhausted my emergency reserve of patience. Then, quick as lightning, my father got up and dashed right up to me, goring me and hitting me. I hit him once, but I used my horn so well that I immobilised him temporarily. Mother watched from a corner, horrified, tears running down her white cheeks. "I'm sorry mother" I said, as I approached her. "But I'm fed up. I'm leaving" She nodded, rummaged in a drawer of hers for a minute, then took out what seemed like a small but heavy leather pouch. She gave it to me.

-"Here." she said "I've been saving up those for an emergency. Take it. And take care." She gave me one last mother's kiss, and I departed for the journey of my life.

I was a young uni back then... only 16 human years. I left my home, the only place I'd ever known, feeling scared for what seemed like the first time in my life. I was alone, I had nothing but a pouch full of neopoints and I didnt know where to go. I walked towards the forest. Mother had always said that there was a path in the forest that led to a town. Father had never let us follow the path. I decided I would do it. So I gathered all my courage and went straight into the forest, following the path. After hours of walking night fell. It had stopped raining only a little while before, and now the temperature was dropping abruptly. I regretted not having brought something to keep myself warm. I found shelter between the roots of an ancient oak tree and curled myself, instantly falling asleep.

I woke up in the dead of night. It was dark, so dark I couldnt even see my hooves in front of me. Something was bothering me. I listened carefully. Growling and howling, that's what was bothering me. I stood up, getting ready to keep following the path, but I didnt manage to take so much as a step, for as soon as I moved a plains lupe jumped me. By then I was very weak, the neoflu was getting worse and not having eaten for hours was getting me even weaker. I knew I couldnt beat the beast, so I merely committed to my fate. Last thing I saw was a flash of red light, then darkness. I couldnt help but wonder if that was what death was like, because it was pretty much like passing out.

I opened my eyes to find a young girl looking at me. I found myself lying on a comfortable bed, very warm, my neoflu finally gone.

-"Am- Am I dead?" I asked, rather foolishly, if I might say so myself, now that I look back on it.

The girl simply smiled. "Of course you are not dead, silly!" She said. I could tell that she was of a bubbly personality, bright and funny she seemed to be. "That plains lupe nearly got you though. Good thing I was out there picking asphodel roots and nettles. ANd thank Merlin I had my wand with me... of course, I NEVER go out without my wand"

-"A... wand? Asphodel? Nettles? Merlin..." It took me some time for the facts to click into place. It finally dawned on me. "Oh... so you are a witch then?" I said. Mother had once told us of witches. She had said that they were terribly ugly and evil, and they had uni foals for breakfast. In my opinion, this girl seemed to be the complete opposite of what my mother had said. I guessed that she had never seen a witch herself.

-"Yes, that I am. Proud witch, my friend. But hey, not to worry, people tend to have an awful misconception about witches and wizards" The girl laughed, apparently knowing what my mother, and probably most people, thought about witches. "But who, may I ask, do I have the pleasure of having saved?" SHe inquired.

-"I am Unseen_Thestral" I told her. "Most people tend to call me Tral, for lack of a better nickname"

-"Ah... so I was right after all!! You ARE a thestral! I had that hunch, you know. You fit the description perfectly" She smiled.

-"I must be lucky that you can see thestrals then..."

-"That you are... I wish I couldnt see you anyway. My poor kitty... he just didnt get out of the way in time. Ah well... past is past, and now I have another kitty, so all's well. I bet you are hungry" She said, taking out her wand. I nodded, I was ravenously hungry. She waved her wand and a tray loaded with food appeared on the bed. "Tuck in my friend! By the way, I am Marina, I go by the name of _phoenix_gurl_ in most places but people usually call me Mari." She said, while she watched as I shovelled the food into my mouth. She waited until I had finished eating to ask me some questions I knew she was bound to ask.

-"Tell me something. I can tell that you are a young uni. What were you doing in the forest in the dead of night, alone and with no protection?" I proceeded to tell her my story, which she listened to very carefully and intently, taking in every single detail.

-"... and now I'm here and have no idea what to do next" I concluded. Mari seemed to think over the facts very carefully, until she came to a resolution.

-"Very well then!" She said, determined to an extreme. "You stay with us" She smiled. I nearly choked on the pumpkin juice I was drinking. Nobody had ever wanted me to stay, not with my looks and everything.

-"WHAT?!" was all that I managed to say between coughs.

-"You stay with us" Mari repeated calmly, with a trace of amusement on her face.

-"But... I couldnt... I wouldnt... no!"

-"Why not?" SHe asked, looking puzzled.

-"I cant abuse of your hospitality... and what would your neopets say?? I simply cant do it!" I said. I really wanted to stay, but my reasons were true. I was scared... I didnt know what her neopets would think of me... what if I scared them? I just couldnt risk it.

-"Look" she said, her voice stronger and more determined than ever. "I couldnt care less what Aeris and Cannoli could say. Honest. And you shouldnt care about it either. You have your own beauty, that I can feel. And I cant let you go away wondering alone with no aim, begging for food or neopoints, a simple tramp. No sir, you are staying with us." Her determination was such, that I was forced to accept. She was right, I didnt know what I was going to do when I left, I had nowhere to go, and only very few neopoints.

-"But- but- but-" I tried to come up with some reason, but I couldnt "Okay... I'll stay. Thank you so much."

-"No need to thank me" She said, then hugged me. "Welcome to the family Thestral!" She then called out three names. "AERIS! LEAFICA! CANNOLI!! COME DOWN HERE, I NEED TO TALK TO YOU!" she said, then waited. Soon, a green zafara, a red kougra and a purple pteri walked into the room, saw me and got filled with curiosity.

-"Mom! I was sleeping!" the green zafara said, rubbing her eyes.

-"Yes Mari, I was sleeping too!" said the pteri.

-"Well you two should go to bed earlier then, sleepyheads!" the kougra said jokingly. "Mom, who is he?" He added, looking at me.

-"Aeris, Leafica, Cannoli, this is Unseen_Thestral. Consider him your new brother. Thes, these are Cannoli" she pointed at the kougra "Leafica" she pointed at the pteri "and Aeris" she finally pointed at the zafara. "Now Leafica is not my daughter, but I rescued her from the pound not long ago. I act as a kind of neofosterparent, saving pets from the pound and finding them good homes"

-"Welcome to the family Thes!" said the Kougra "I was starting to need a brother, you dont imagine what these two are!" He laughed, talking about the zafara and the pteri. I smiled.

-"Yes, welcome indeed" said the two girls in unison.

-"Tell us, how did you end up in here?" the kougra asked "did Mari get you from the pound?" I shook my head, and proceeded to tell, once more, the story of my life.

Happy endings are possible. I had one, and I bet you can have one too... from that day on, I've been living with Mari. I lead quite a happy life, getting on well with the family, except with Aeris... now there's an unbearable zafara... but yeah, she's my sister, so I love her anyway.

That's the story of my life... in a pretty summarized way. It is half dark and half bright, and I hope it stays bright for much longer... now read on, find out more about me.