//------------------------------// // Five Today, and Five Tomorrow // Story: Five Today, and Five Tomorrow // by Minds Eye //------------------------------// Five today, and five tomorrow Five twirls ‘round and ‘round, under the giggles and under the mare Scratchy wool pulled over to cover her eyes Dizzy and blind, but no, not dumb Her horn, her gift, a power more than she knew Ponies around her, hidden by wool and strangers the same She pointed to each and called them by name Victory for one is victory for all Her class, her friends let out a cheer Another test passed, with more come the morrow Only one said nothing, barely moved at all The mare to the side wrapped in her cloak Weathered by age and weathered no smile Made a note with her hoof, put the name on a pile New suns brought new days New cloaks to guide the way New spells to practice, new classmates to play What started as dozens then trimmed down to nine Passing her friends in the hall one week, rejoin them the next Reshuffled so much the process was never quite done Learning with girls not much older, then colts a year young But the magic, her gift, alone never left her Each year she progressed, stirred about in this stew Every spell she would relish with cloaks buried in tomes Calling her to cast in this manner, then that To chant mumbled words she did not understand Each change in the spell they’d note by hoof lightning quick And she would grin at every challenge she licked She conjured items to her, she danced among stars In new groups of nine she was youngest by far Illusions and charms, to help, to harm Let the cloaks argue theory away in their books She took joy in her gift, even showed off for youngsters The rush of her powers--oh, to feel so alive! Until, at long last, her nine became five Five today, and five tomorrow Five bells around the new cloak’s robe, garish with stars His beard was so silly like some folktale or myth The spell set before them too simple and short She could do it herself, if only time would permit “Time will not wait,” the stallion chastised and hissed Every day of their lives was preparing for this Victory for one is victory for all With him at their head, the six were now one A single spell, a single team, a single chance All the land waited with families and friends Their service to be honored, their courage respected Not a pony this day would ignore what they’d done And then at his signal, the spell was begun No pony could hope to conquer this storm, to her horror The weight, such a blow, that sundered her mind Beyond one heartbeat she wouldn’t survive To and fro leapt the cloak, shouting commands Using his power to focus their own How long the spell needed he never did tell And before too long one of them fell Then came the fire that burned down to her soul Phantom it seemed with no roar and no smoke Yet clenching her eyes did not the tears stop This burden was hers, to sheperd, to hold, to guide “Lift!” cried the stallion, and lift she did Clearly she felt them through the fire and pain Tracks ‘cross the sky for her charge to reign To marry these magics, the flame and the tracks The labor of six laid forth in detail Only four were now there to push the fire along Over the bridge, her body, before it could travel the day Steady, steady on she held her ground Inch by inch, she couldn’t scream if she’d tried And burning in silence, she felt herself die Dead she must be, though she stood among fallen The four others collapsed, just her and the stallion Dead she must be, and a ghost as well The world too still, too deafened and more No light came to her call, no dust off the floor He gazed at her then, as though her kind he’d never seen But with a shake of his head, “No, you are not like me.” Five today, and five tomorrow Five ponies taken to the nurses’ care Four of them talking and eating and resting No morsel, no water, no word passed her lips A hoof to her horn, like a lump of chaff, the only sign of life The four left soon, one with the gall to grin Then in the morning five more were brought in And so it went on, as days turned to weeks Where once there were spells now with clumsy hooves she survived She ate without grace, answered none of her friends Doctors and nurses all tried to pry her from bed She still had her mind did she not--and how brilliant! Such wonders in the world, even to study a forest of oaks Why, if she wished it, she could put on a cloak She never did answer, never gave them a look No feats in her future, not the slightest of tricks If only her tears burned instead of her gift Even her tongue, she would sacrifice taste Her hooves as well, useless things that they were Oh, if only they heard her thoughts in the dark Her eyes, her mind, she would trade it all for one last spark Months of this passed with no end in sight Every pony who saw her now had wrath in their tone Thousands before her had come and then gone And hundreds more after, while she wished herself dumb In the corners they’d whisper, shooting her glares With no test had they found any illness, nor pain Her gift was now gone, but the mare still remained Five today, and five tomorrow Five stallions’ touch left her ravished and raw No mate of her own to answer the season Left at the stables, kept company with giggles and gossip Eyes clenched as she lay on the hay, stallion six with his gift peering inside Shame and fresh tears, he proclaims there is none All she could do was rest and prepare for the sun The rut would carry on through the spring Her neighbors squealed their approval, her not at all To the chagrin of some, other stallions cared little She was only a mare with no home and no herd No will to stand up and follow her star The other mares would wonder to each other in low voice They found their own way, but she, had she ever a choice? One night, at merciful last The fortunate stallion raised his hoof He marked her wall with a sign all understood A life now inside her, a stallion’s time best spent elsewhere Congratulations from the mares and promises of help “Sisters of Season!” they laughed, “For a year!” “Sisters of Season!” but she only knew fear Who is this inside me, she wondered in silence Am I all they could ask for, this shell of myself? Is this all I can give them, to sleep in the hay? Give them wings, she prayed to the stars, let them flee me Can they bear me, she asked the earth, with your strength? Protect them for me, she begged each night of the moon To the sun, nothing, her loss always too soon Inexorably, the pain of their meeting dawned And still she found not the voice to scream Hoping against hope as she pushed her child to freedom Hope, all that she had left to offer Hope that their future did not hold her fate Praying to the heavens for blessings in vain Not even the power to give them a name “A daughter!” called the Sisters at last And the poor filly cried as they washed it clean “Enough for them both,” remarked one of the crowd Then the time came, and in Mother’s embrace Daughter’s tears stopped, hers only began A gift on her head the little one asked not to borrow Five today, she would be one of five tomorrow The filly only laughed at some unheard joke She was beautiful to see when her mother looked twice The very silver of moonlight trapped in her coat Maybe, just maybe, she thought with a frown Had the moon listened?  Was such a thing true? Questions and fears, and hopes on top of those Until two little hooves pressed on her nose Eyes seared into her heart, bright and pink as her mane All cares left her, she couldn’t help but to grin A jewel, what a flawless gem that had come From what broken remains of a life and a mare What joys she would spread, what paths now lay open What lives might she touch, what other faces might beam? But with such a little thing’s coos, she dared, once more, to dream