"It's outside, now leave." The jewelry shop owner, a tawny-grey gryphon, pointed his claw to the door before slinking off to the back, leaving Ribbon alone in the store.
"Yeah, I'll do that." Ribbon walked outside the small shop, head held high and a smile forced on her face. This would end. The stares, the resentment, the knowing exactly how much somepony feared and despised her. That all would end today.
She found the paper bag beside the door, next to the trash left out for the nightly trip to the incinerator. "The freak," scrawled across the top of the rough brown sack told her it was the one she wanted.
She bit down on the bag, ignoring the marker's bitter tang, and stiffly walked away, trying to maintain some small amount of composure. By the time she ducked into an empty storefront, the bag was stained dark, and moisture was threatening to weaken it. Out of sight, she let go of whatever fragile grip she had on herself. The tears stung her eyes, and her nose and mouth watered, making it hard to breath as she ran to the farthest, darkest corner.
She dropped her bag and bit down on her leg, muffling the crushing need to cry out like an injured foal. She knew exactly why the jewelry shop owner hated her, but that didn't make it hurt any less. Like a criminal becomes angry at his captor before inspecting his own decisions, those with secrets, no matter how profound, or trivial, become angry at the possibility they may come to light.
Her ability isn't a two-edged sword. It's the broken blade of a dagger, with no safe handle. The more others worry about their secrets, the more they think about keeping things hidden, and the more visible that darkness becomes.
What was she supposed to do now? She didn't want to know that the jeweler had been cheating his customers for years. Swapping out purchases for identical items of lesser quality materials, showing fake stones and glass as genuine, and worst of all, knowingly trading in stolen goods from the surface.
She shouldn't know this! She shouldn't have to know this! Why does she have to be the one stuck with this responsibility? She had two choices now. Turn him in, and Growl would have to arrest him. The official report would contain record of telepathic intervention, and she would get to watch paranoia set most of the station against her. Let him continue, and she would bear the guilt for every con, every swindle, every theft he writes the paycheck for.
No, there was a third option, but just thinking about it made her sick to her stomach. She could confront him herself, let him know she was on to him. Force him to give up his dirty dealings with the threat of exposure. Blackmail him.
"Gah!" She threw her hooves over her head and flattened herself on the ground. Her mother never lived like that, working from the shadows. No matter that she lived under a codename and operated from hidden bases, anything she did, she could walk away with her head held high. She gave everything she had to live with pride. Her decisions, right or wrong, never brought her shame. They only moved her forward.
"I wish you were here now, mom," Ribbon mumbled to herself, "You'd know what to do."
Ribbon looked over at her bag, ignoring the sting of its written epithet long enough to slide it to her with a hoof. She slowly worked herself up, ignoring the dust clinging to her coat. All other decisions aside, she was going to remove her curse, unlock her cage and free herself.
"I'm sorry, mom," she whispered as she tore open the bag, "you told me not to be ashamed of who I am, but how am I supposed to know who I am, if everypony fears what I am."
She stared at the tiny blue box inside. It's contents would change her life, she knew that, counted on it. The good or bad of that change would have to be seen, but she couldn't stay as she was now.
She wanted to be able to laugh, to smile, to spend time with friends enjoying her day without everypony else reeling in fear, becoming uneasy, or flat out leaving. She wanted to be normal, to be able to do what everypony else could without stopping them from doing the same. She just wanted to live.
She opened the blue box and delicately picked up the gold-colored ring inside, balancing it carefully between two hooves. It almost looked like the class rings you could get for Luna's Academy, extra wide and sturdy looking. She closed her eyes as she lifted it above her, focusing on the buzz of hundreds of minds going on with their day. With a sharp breath, she dropped the ring on her horn.
When she breathed out, it was the only sound she heard. The sudden emptiness was dizzying. It was like she had stepped through the door to her room, or to the filing closet in medical. As hard as she focused, she couldn't hear any buzz, any stray thoughts. If she listened really close, she could hear the sounds of ponies outside, but it was their hoofsteps, their shopping bags, their voices.
She started crying, for a different reason this time. It worked. She didn't know why she didn't think of it sooner. She didn't know why nopony suggested it sooner. She focused on the discarded sack at her hooves, trying to lift it with her magic, and was rewarded by an unpleasant sensation of heat around her horn. If that was the tradeoff, she could live with it.
She stepped on the bag, flattening the box and the receipt for the several- thousand bit piece of jewelry. She wasn't going to return this. Who would willingly return the tool that gave them freedom? She might have to give it up once she figured out what to do about the jeweler, but that could wait, and she could get another one somewhere.
"Is someone in there?"
Ribbon nearly screamed. Stuffing a hoof in her mouth stifled it to a gasp, but she was still heard.
"Hello?"
Ribbon pressed her back to the pillar. She was pretty sure she wasn't supposed to be here. She could hear hooffalls echo in the empty space, strong, sure clicks against the simicrete. That and the voice, it was a stallion, maybe a security guard?
Ribbon tried to control her racing heart. This was terrifying. Even though the worst outcome would be a warning, and an extra shift when Growl found out about it, she couldn't help the fear. She couldn't tell if he knew where she was, and the echoes made it hard to tell his location by sound. It was like being blinded in the middle of a battle.
The hoofsteps stopped, and Ribbon pressed herself tighter to the pillar. Was he going to give up the search? Was he about to call for back up? Did he stop because he could tell where she was hiding? Ribbon closed her eyes. She didn't know!
There was a scratching sound. A hoof rubbing against the floor. "Are you crying?" the voice asked quietly.
Ribbon looked down. On the floor, barely visible in the dark, were the droplets of her tears, a trail leading straight to her.
Wait, she knew that voice.
"Are you lost?" Hoof steps started again, slower, softer, gently making their way to her. "It's ok, let me help you."
Would he still want to, when he knows who it is? Ribbon wiped at her eyes and stood up. "Mezzo?"
The colt stopped on the far side of the pillar. "Yes?" Wait, that voice... "Oh." Of all ponies, it had to be her. He held up a hoof as she stepped out of hiding. "I didn't mean it like that." Except, he did. She was the last pony he wanted to see right now, and she probably knew it. "Look, I'm probably not somepony you should-"
Even in the dim lighting, she looked terrible. Covered in dust, eyes red and puffy, and snot still caked on her snout.
"A-are you ok?" he asked.
She nodded quickly, managing a small smile. "I am. I really am. Mezzo, you can tell me anything you want."
"Um, alright..." Was that her way of telling him she knew already? "Look, I'm sorry. My thoughts are just kind of messed up right now. It's probably better for you if you don't have to deal with that. I probably could've worded it better when I said you should stay away."
"No." Ribbon shook her head. "No, you don't have to worry about that anymore." She pulled her mane aside enough for him to see the glint of metal settled near the base of her horn. "See? you don't have to worry about thoughts anymore, you can just talk to to me. I can only hear what you want to tell me, and you can even lie, I won't know."
Mezzo stared at the metal band, recognizing it immediately, but not quite believing what he saw. "A limiter?"
Ribbon nodded. "It worked, it blocks my telepathy. I don't have to hear anypony's thoughts anymore. Isn't it great?"
"What?" Mezzo stared at the band wrapped around her horn, memories he tried to keep buried digging themselves up with frightening ease. He knew that design, this wasn’t just any limiter. "No! Where did you get that?"
Ribbon blinked, smile fading. "But, I thought you would like this. I can't hear your secrets anymore. Isn't that what you wanted?"
Visions raced through the colt's head, recollections of the life he and so many others tried to leave behind. The first time he realized he was wearing a limiter, the first time he saw what a unicorn without one could do, the first time he tried to remove his, and the first beating that followed. "You put that on because of me?"
Ribbon took half a step back, stumbling over her forgotten bag. "I just wanted to talk to you. You know, like normal ponies do? Just for a little?"
He could remember the exact moment in his past when he realized that what he saw around him wasn't the way things were supposed to be. Life may not be fair, but it wasn't meant to be that cruel. And he, somehow, inflicted some small piece of it on this poor mare, whose only sin was wanting what little he could still take for granted. "Take it off."
"Why?" Ribbon reached the back wall with her next step. "I would hear your thoughts again."
"I'll put up with it, just take that damn thing off!" He reached for her horn, to grab the limiter, and she ducked away.
"No!" A quick sidestep, then a spin, and she was behind him. Why was he acting like this? "All I want is my freedom! Why won't you let me have it?"
"That thing destroys freedom!" He roared.
With a surprised yelp, Ribbon dodged when the colt lunged for her. "Why are you doing this?" She cried, bolting for the door. She was through it in seconds, with Mezzo on her tail. She glanced back, seeing the anger on his face, and wishing for once that she knew the thoughts behind it.
She reached a crowd of shoppers and turned around. With this many others around, the colt would have to calm down and-
He hit her at a full run. Shrieks and panic hit the crowd as the two ponies careened across the floor. Ribbon managed to get up and tried to push herself away, but Mezzo held her down. She felt his hoof grasp for the limiter, as she struggled to free herself. "Stop! Don't!"
She lashed out, a single strike with her hoof. She just wanted him to let go! She heard the colt grunt, but Mezzo only fought harder. The blow to his ribs was easily ignored. He threw both hooves around her neck and pulled her down, grabbing the limiter with his teeth. He yanked it off, spit it out and let go of Ribbon.
She staggered back, sudden release from the fight lost in the instantaneous assault of white noise and clamor. With the limiter gone, in this panicked crowd, she was surrounded by a thousand voices, all screaming through a broken speaker.
She brought her hoof to her head as she tried not to fall. It hurt. So many voices. How did she put up with it before? It hurt so much. That brief taste of silence turned what should have been normal for her into torture. So loud, so many thoughts. Why would that colt put her through this?
A single shout cut through everything. A single pain, clear and crippling, pierced the droning pressure of the crowd. One thought, above all others, "Now do you understand?"
Ribbon looked up. For all the previous sensation of drowning in the crowd, they were actually giving her and Mezzo a wide berth. One or two brave souls who were about to step in were stopped and unsure now that the fight was over. What they planned, Ribbon couldn't tell. Everything was replaced by the colt in front of her.
Blood pooled under his hoof as he stared at the telepath. For the first time since meeting her, he was calm. This moment brought him an important understanding, and this pain he felt was the price to be paid. She didn't know what this meant to him. No one did. No one could. "Now do you understand?"
Only that she understood nothing, but still, she slowly nodded.
They stared at each other for a moment. He knew, anything he remembered, every stray thought, would be seen, felt, by her. The blistering heat of the foundries, the bite of the overseer's whip, crawling in the dirty gravel in a hopeless attempt to flee senseless torture. Maybe this time, she would understand that she should stay away.
He limped away, leaving the crushed, broken limiter in a small puddle of red.