He sat on his haunches, watching them all coming and going with a far away, solemn look in his eyes. His ears swiveled around to face every new sound, listening to the ponies walking this way and that through the old, lavish halls of the antiquated estate. Through the tall, narrow window he viewed the world through, he could see rows of long tables set up with knick-knacks, books, old cutlery, and various other household objects scattered across them, each one tagged with a sticker and a number.
An estate sale. He didn’t know what had prompted the owners of the home to put it on. If he was honest, he didn’t really care, either. The ponies who owned this manor were far from kind. They were as full of themselves, and as arrogant as one could ever expect, the defining picture of the contradiction that was pony nobility.
He had half a mind to go and give the owners of this manor a stern vocal lashing. He had seen them yelling at their servants and angrily chastising their only foal for even the tiniest mistakes more times than he cared to count in the few months he had been forced to watch them from behind this accursed glass. More than once, he had spoken up to try and help where possible, but like always, his cries went unheard, his visage unseen by any who mattered.
Save for one.
The colt looked back at him from across the room, hiding quietly behind his father’s legs. Out of the many ponies ambling aimlessly through the halls, he was the only one to have seen him. The only one who could see him. He had been hopeful that he might have found a friend in the little guy, but alas, his panicked screams and proclamations of a monster had dashed those hopes against the glass that separated them.
A few ponies wandered directly into his field of view, briefly stopping to look down at him. He put on a small smile. “Hello…” he greeted quietly, his voice distorted into two tones.
The ponies did not react to his words. They glanced at each other after a moment, shrugged, and moved on. His ears drooped as soon as they were out of sight, his heart withering in his old chest. Of course, they hadn’t heard him. They never did. Why would this time be any different?
How long had he been like this? Forced to watch the world in front of him through an indestructible pane of glass, Unable to interact with almost anyone who crossed his path? It was hard to tell. The years had not been kind to his memory, and he was sure he had forgotten more than he remembered at this point.
No matter how much he forgot, though, one thing remained ever-present in his mind. He was trapped. Trapped in an old mirror he had no control over, trapped in a world he could not interact with or leave, no matter how loud he screamed or how hard he pounded on the glass barrier in front of him.
He gave off a quiet sigh, his eyes drifting back to the colt that had screamed at him before. They locked gazes, and he tried to smile again, acutely aware of the long, sharp fangs jutting down from his upper lip. Some small part of him hoped against hope that such a small gesture of friendliness might make the child reconsider him.
The colt ducked behind his father’s legs again, mumbling quietly, no doubt telling him that ‘the monster’ was looking at him again. As if to add credence to the theory, the colt’s father glared down at him and spat out a hissed reprimand, causing the little foal to crouch down to the ground as if he had been struck.
The ‘monster’s’ blood boiled at the sight. His smile fell away while his black, hole-riddled hoof flew forward, wanting nothing more than to clock that arrogant jerk of a father across his smug jaw. Alas, all his hoof found was the solid glass of the mirror with a loud smack, sending a spear of pain dancing up and down his foreleg. The glassy surface didn’t even twitch from his strike, and he knew it would not budge. It never had before.
Another pony stepped up to once again cut off his line of sight with the poor foal. He was an orange unicorn stallion, his purple eyes looking at him in curiosity. He studied the mirror for a moment until his gaze eventually fell on something just out of sight to one side. His brow furrowed in confusion. “Huh...that’s cheap. Hey, honey?” he called, looking off to one side.
A silvery mare with a mane and tail of blue and silver stepped forward, her bright blue eyes looking over the mirror that was the ‘monster’s’ home with just as much curiosity as the stallion. “Oh, my… this thing looks ancient,” she noted, reaching out to run her hoof along the old, ornate frame of the mirror.
“Because it is,” the ‘monster’ explained simply, his tattered wings drooping at his sides.
“But, they only want a few bits for it?” The mare went on, rubbing at her chin in thought.
“Weird… it’s really nice,” The stallion said, stepping back. “Any idea why?”
“No clue,” The mare replied quietly before looking back towards the colt and his father. She got the look of a mare with a bright idea. “But I think I know who to ask!”
With that, the mare turned and waved energetically to the stallion, getting his attention. He grimaced at the sight and talked at his son before wandering over, an impatient grimace on his face. “Yes? What is it?” he asked in a tired and irritable voice.
The mare wasn’t fazed, pointing at the ‘monster’ with a smile. “Why is this mirror so cheap? The thing’s an antique and in great shape! It must be worth a small fortune.”
The father snorted. “Oh, it is, trust me. I blew a small fortune acquiring the blasted thing, only for my little boy to start crying ‘monster’ every time he laid eyes on it, the stupid child,” he said, glaring at the mirror with nothing but resentment. “Little fella’s too old for his imagination to be running rampant like this, but he’s stubborn. Figure if we get rid of the stupid thing we can get rid of ‘the monster’ he keeps whining about.”
The orange stallion frowned, clearly unimpressed with the father’s tone. “So you’re selling it for dirt cheap?”
“Yes. Why? You want it?”
The ‘monster’ watched as the two ponies thought it over, looking at one another as if to silently communicate. They did not speak aloud for a moment, but he didn’t need them to. With barely even a thought, his vision blurred and refocused, allowing him to see their auras. Clouds of pink and dark mustard yellow enveloped the two. Love and confusion.
“Hmmm… I don’t need a new mirror,” the stallion eventually said with a shrug. “What do you think, Pearly?”
The mare beside him, Pearly if he had to guess, looked it up and down, her muzzle scrunching up in thought. Her eyes then lit up, and she turned back to her companion. “Neither do I, Sunspot, but you know who might?” she asked coyly.
The stallion, Sunspot, got a small smile on his face to match hers. “Oh, yeah. She could use something like this, huh?” he asked.
The ‘monster’ watched them with wide eyes as their auras shifted hues, abandoning the mustard yellow in favor of a glow alike to sunlight. Excitement. Was he about to change hooves again? How many times would that make in just the last ten years? He’d stopped counting after twelve, a decision he had since come to regret.
“Minuette is going to that big school now,” Pearly went on, her eyes shining with fond thoughts of somepony who was not here. “And her birthday is in just a few days, too. Something like this would be nice for her, I think. She could touch up her appearance, practice anything she needs to recite...”
“Oh, please,” Sunspot chuckled. “You and I both know she’s just going to make funny faces at it.”
“I fail to see the problem with that.”
Sunspot rolled his eyes. “Meh. Fair enough.”
The father cleared his throat. “Ahem. So I take it you’re buying this thing?”
“I’d love to,” Pearly replied, turning back to him. “We have a little filly waiting for us back home. She’s about to turn ten, and I think she’d really like this.”
“So I heard,” the father dryly replied before stepping back. “Alright, then, pick it up and follow me. Box with the bits is near the front door.”
“Alright. Honey?” Sunspot asked.
“On it!”
The ‘monster’ braced himself. All at once, his entire world became awash with a pale blue glow as Pearly grasped the mirror in her magic. A wave of vertigo and nausea flooded his senses as his world was lurched upward, the floor dropping away beneath his hooves. His wings sprang into life to keep him afloat, and he spun around to face away from the mirror.
Behind him, a perfect replica of the manor drifted by, moving of its own accord as the mirror was pulled along. Unlike the manor through the glass behind him, however, the great rooms and halls in front of him were frighteningly empty. The tables, loaded with goods to be sold, were still scattered about, but there was not a pony to be seen. Empty as always. The world was reflected, but not the creatures that gave it life or meaning.
He allowed his mind to wander with the world shifting beneath his hooves. He was about to be passed off again, sold like some simple trinket. And if what he had heard earlier was any indication, he was to be presented to yet another foal as a birthday present. A little filly about to turn ten years old...
Repressing a sigh, he turned around and looked out through the mirror again. His eyes found the colt he had frightened. The young pony was looking back at him, his ears drooping. He almost looked guilty, as if he were only now regretting his previous behavior now that it was too late to take it back.
The ‘monster’ sighed. It didn’t matter now. What was done was done, and he could do nothing to change it. His ears folded back at the memory of the colt ahead of him screaming in terror when he had first revealed himself. The moment had shocked him, it had been so abrupt, and his best efforts to soothe the situation had amounted to nothing when maids and servants came rushing in to check on the foal. In all of the chaos, things only got worse, until the little guy had fled his own room in a panic.
“...I don’t want that to happen again,” the ‘monster’ said under his breath. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Foals were skittish things, this he knew. If this ‘Minuette’ was anything at all like the colt he was leaving behind, then there was no good to be had from showing his face to her. “I can do without a friend for a little while…”
“And here you are!” Pearly’s voice came from somewhere out of his line of sight.
“Thank you. Now please, get that thing out of here,” the father asked, clearly eager to be rid of the mirror.
The monster grimaced. “...At least one of us has that luxury.”
Without another word, Pearly and Sunspot carried the mirror along as they took their leave, eagerly chatting amongst themselves. That was it, then. The deal was struck, and his future was decided. The ‘monster’ took a deep breath and focused ahead as the mirror was floated for the front doors of the mansion.
“...Alright, then,” he thought, bracing himself. “Let’s see my new home.”
The doors opened, and his eyes were flooded with light.