A thousand years and more now. The power within me is strong, almost painful. Burning hot against my prison, but not harming it.
Now, Mirage the 39th speaks to me, a brown pegasus of my Mirage’s colors. She spends much time near me, for several reasons.
It began with a simple like of me, one far stronger than the recent Mirages. It grew stronger when her father suddenly left with neither cause nor goodbye when she was barely four. Then she was eight when her mother passed suddenly. Accident, she later told me.
And, for varied reasons, the family has suffered. Few births, and family members have left for faraway places, leaving only a very few in Canterlot. Mirage the 39th was made an orphan that day, and no living family could be found.
So she was moved into the orphanage, and she… hates it. She has trouble making friends, a problem she both blames them and herself for. She has a rather low opinion of herself, though she does try to resist the feelings. She often tells me of her miseries, and then her dreams, her desires of a life not one she has. She often cries on my stone in the night, sobbing or screaming whenever her life is particularly bad.
In many ways, she is both a renewal of my heart, seeing her devotion when a fair few before her were less than dutiful, and a deep pain for me, considering her ongoing sadness. I want to help her.
But I can’t.
Mirage the 39th has gained a job. Working in the library behind me, as a part of something called a ‘school work initiative’ which she isn’t too fond of. ‘It could be worse’ she says: she has the task of cleaning me, which makes it better for her.
She doesn’t work hard in favor of simply speaking to me. Talking about her recent lessons, and a few interesting tidbits she has learned. She has confided that I am the only one she would speak to about the things that truly matter to her.
My heart swells that she would choose me. It bleeds that she cannot find another.
It is as she is cleaning me that I heard another pony yell, “What are you doing!?”
I hear Mirage yelp, though I am unable to see or feel her.
“Loafing around is not encouraged!”
“Sorry Mr. Harshneigh!”
A snort. “Don’t sleep on the job.”
“I wasn’t.”
“Then what were you doing?”
“I was talking to Kitty.”
I hear a long pause. Then Mirage adds, “This is Kitty.”
“…Don’t let me catch you slacking off again. Or else, understand?”
“Yes, Mr. Harshneigh.”
A few moments pass before a huff of anger. I can hear Mirage muttering to herself, and what words I do hear are not kind ones, nor… welcome ones.
It seems that Harshneigh has been bothering her as of late. And… something about a threat? Is he threatening her?
I don’t know. She hasn’t mentioned anything like that before though…
Night comes, and I spot Mirage flying to me, as she has before. She lands at my paw, as she always has, and looks up at me.
“Hi Kitty.” she says, and I take some hope in her tone. Her voice is normal, and this time, she doesn’t look like she has been crying.
“So, you’re doing well. Clean and everything. I’m… alright. Well… mostly alright.”
“Nothing bad, I mean… bullies are bullies, but the new teacher, Mr. Harshneigh… he bothers me. I think he doesn’t like me. He’s always watching me and frowning. Whispering to my other teachers, and having ‘quiet words’ with me, which means he tells me to stop doing something.”
She signs. “And this time… he… he had another stallion, a… a doctor. And they asked me about you. So I told them about you.”
“And the doctor suggested I was feeling tense and upset and…” She pauses a moment to frown heavily and snort, before muttering, “I don’t know, something about ‘anthrowponyzation’ or something.” She looks back to me with mild anger in her eyes, though I suspect more. “And Mr. Harshneigh told me that I could always speak to him, and he took me off cleaning duty. Despite the good work and everything!”
Did he? Why?
“He wants to have me transferred to Canterlot high, so I can ‘make friends’.” Mirage tells me, sighing. She frowns at nothing. “Like that will be any different than right now.” she mutters before looking up at me.
That might not be bad. The school isn’t far from here, and might even mark a new chapter of her life. One not so bad, even if she is being pessimistic.
“And… he… he sort of implied he would make sure I could never see you again.”
What!?
“He had a lot to say. ‘I’m only doing what’s best for you’ and ‘it’s bad to not have any friends'.” she spat in a poor imitation of the voice I heard, and snorted. “Like he knows anything, right Kitty?” she asks, looking up at me. “Because we’re friends and he doesn’t know anything. So we can look him right in the eye and tell him ‘no. I don’t want to.’” She nods firmly, “Because I’m going to keep on talking to you, and you’ll keep on being there for me.”
She smiles, and spreads her wings. “Yeah. There, together, forever.” she tells me, the same phrase she uses often when she comes to me. “Thanks for listening Kitty. You’re the best.” She flits up to hug my head, as she sometimes has before.
She flies off again, and I am left wondering. What could the two have spoken about, and why a doctor? Mirage the 39th is sure she can just defy them, but she is too young to truly do so…
But nopony would actually force her away. They will listen to her. She’ll just have to find free time to speak with me. Canterlot high is nothing bad. She won’t lose me.
I won’t lose her.
The early morning is never a busy time. My square is never particularly crowded, and the early morning and deep night were times when nothing really moved, save a few rare things.
So I am more than a little shocked to spot Mirage rushing toward me, and to hear shouted voices when the sun has barely graced the sky.
She is under or possibly behind me in an instant, and I spot a few ponies heading over, adults, concerned ones. I think Mirage has told me of them from time to time. Two are the ponies that have been caring for and teaching her I think, a yellow pegasus and a red earth pony, though the last is unknown to me; a white unicorn.
“Mirage!” one snaps, and I recognize Mr. Harshneigh’s voice from the red one. “Come here!”
“No!”
“We must handle this with some care.” the white unicorn told the angry stallion. “She is in no psychological condition to accept commands or shouts.”
…I believe that to mean nothing good. In fact, this whole situation is making me greatly worried. Why is she here now, and why are they following?
Why is the pegasus deeply worried, why does the white unicorn look so calm, and why does Mr. Harshneigh seem at a cross between anger and deep concern?
The pegasus calls, “Mire, come here.” Her tone suggests fear, or deep concern.
“No! I’m not going!”
“Don’t make me!” Mr. Harshneigh snaps.
“Calm.” the white unicorn interrupts, and Mr. Harshneigh takes a deep breath.
“I’m not going!” Mirage yells.
“This is for your good.” the white one says. “You will enjoy the change, I assure you.”
“Come on Mire.” the pegasus says, smiling, or at least trying to. “You’ll love Manehatten.”
…Manehatten? The city on the coast? That takes days to reach, even by flight…
If Mirage leaves like that… She’s the last. The only one.
I would have nothing left.
“No!”
“How bad can this be?” Harshneigh hisses to the unicorn. I can just hear his response.
“If she continues to anthropomorphize the statue, she will easily fall prey to full delusions and even psychosis. Other effects will be many, and few will be beneficial if any. We must stop her now.”
Harshneigh’s frown worsens, and the unicorn whispers something more, making him nod.
He takes a step forward, his face settling into a determined frown. “Listen to me girl. We aren’t here to hurt you.”
“Stop that!”
He takes another. “Nopony is going to hurt you, and nopony hates you.”
“Stop coming closer!”
A few more. “This is for your good Myrage. It is for the best.”
“It is not! And it’s Mirage!”
She… isn’t moving back as he moves closer. Despite being a pony, I can see… almost predatory motion in Harshneigh as he moves under my vision. And Mirage either fails to see that, or…
Or I am the last place she can run to.
“Stay back.” I hear her say, and I hear fear, weakness. She is trapped. Not running. She won’t run; she can’t run.
“Everything is for you. We only want what is best for you.”
I see tension on the remaining pair’s faces, carefully hidden, though not well.
“I don’t want it…” Mirage says, almost in a whimper. “I want him.”
“It is just a statue Myrage. Nothing more than carved stone. Come on.”
“…You’re wrong. He’s there! He’s not just a statue!”
“Myrage…”
“He cares for me a whole world more than you do! More than anypony else does! He does! I know he does!”
…
“…Last chance girl. Come on.”
“…No.”
“Then I have no choice.”
I hear a thump, and wings flapping, and see the other pair wince, and what sounds like Harshneigh’s hiss of pain. Then motion, as if dragging, the wing beats rapid and panicked.
“Let go!”
“Stop fighting!”
The pair come into view again, Mirage fighting a losing battle against the grip of Harshneigh, who seems… hurt. The other two move to aid him.
“KITTY!” she screams, and I can see a few tears in her eyes as she thrashes in his, and soon their, grip.
I remember my Mirage. I remember her screams, her tears. I recall her desperation, her fear.
I recall my helplessness then.
I feel my helplessness now.
…
No.
No, not again.
I will not be helpless!
I WON”T BE MADE TO WATCH AGAIN!
I SHALL NEVER AGAIN BE HELPLESS!
I! WILL! SAVE HER!
The power within me swells. It is painful, but in that pain, I feel the stone on me shift.
The rock on me cracks, the sound almost deafening, and they all stop, to stare at me. The power thunders within me like a heartbeat, and with each thud, the stones break a little more, a spider web of cracks growing. I strain against my bonds, and the power swells a final time.
I erupt from the stone, and roar my victory into the air, shattering the windows nearby, and shaking the very stones we stand upon. I rear tall, feeling flooding back into me. I can feel the air around me, I can smell the city, I can feel my might!
I look down as I land heavily, to notice I have grown. I am nearly twice as large as I once was, all at once.
I glare down at the frozen four, hearing the city wake suddenly, panicking. With a swipe, I snatch Mirage from them. The mare and unicorn faints, and only Harshneigh still stands, though pale and shaking before me. I care little about the ponies running about nearby, screaming and yelling.
They dared to steal her from me… To try and take my last precious thing away from me…
I bend down, my jaws opening to devou, no, no, kill, not eat. Just kill they who dared to take what I care for. My shadow falls over the trembling Harshneigh.
“Mirage!”
I stop, just before snapping my jaws shut. My vision flickers, seeing grass and cobbles in the same space. I... My mind reasserts itself in the flood of anger and instinct. I… I heard…
I look, and see Mirage, but with wings. It… they are… it is only the descendent, but… the voice, the color, those huge eyes that shut tightly in fear of what I was about to do… She is just like my Mirage…
As before, I stop. But now, I remember, and I pull away from the petrified, and now fainted trio as others gather near the edges, only to skid to a halt and gape and scream at me. It is… Hard to not attack them. Hard to deny the growing hunger in me.
“Mirage!” she cries again, trembling in her fear.
But with her being there… I am stronger than myself. I can hold myself still and steady, deny the raging urges, and deny my instincts. I look to her, and smile.
“Mirage.” I call, my voice even deeper than it once had been, and see her look up, her eyes filled with emotions I am unable to read.
We must leave. Together, far from here, where they won’t find us. She has no connection here. Nowhere to turn to.
I am back. It is now my duty to care for her, just as I once cared for my Mirage. It is a duty accepted without weight, but with gladness. Even eagerness.
I might snatch back the days of happiness and peace I once had with her.
I scoop her up with a paw, finding my new size making her like a foal to me. She squeaks as I do so, and I chuckle at the sound as I press her against my chest, to keep her safe.
Now, to escape.
I roar again, with purpose, and see it all stop. The panicked ponies running all around. The guards racing toward me, even the pegasi, seized and held still in the air. It all stops, and I turn to walk beyond the library.
One way to escape quickly; flying. I walk beyond the library towards the edge there, and ready myself. I spread my wings, lightly flap once, and then leap over the edge, feeling my wings catch the air.
I wobble, but my larger wings allow me greater control, even in my ignorance. I flap hard, to fly higher and faster, and use my all to keep control of myself. After all:
I hold precious cargo.
Ponyfeathers. It seems my time of stone was not without effects. My left wing has seized up in sudden cramp, and one alone is not enough to hold me aloft. We are falling to the ground so far below.
I hold my one wing out, hoping that maybe that will slow us enough, and hold Mirage with all four of my legs, to protect her. May the impact not be as bad as last time…
Pain… I shake myself, and hear things shift and groan. Something is on me, and my head… This one was far, far worse than the first.
Considering the fall, I suppose I am lucky to even be alive.
I heave, and hear the crack of wood. I blink in the sudden light and dust, and see broken homes and shattered wood around me. I… I think I hit a home, and skidded through several more. It is hard to think… I was holding something…
Mirage!
I look, and the sudden bolt of fear is gone, seeing her unhurt under me. She is unconscious, but has no true mark on her.
My paw is bloody as I attempt to wake her, but she does not. No matter.
I bend, to pick her up in my jaws when something slams into my head, forcing my mouth away. I start, and see a blue pegasus with a rainbow mane.
“Got ya you big beast!” she yells.
I try to ignore her, and reach for Mirage again when she returns, and again rams my head away.
“It’s me you want! Come on you fleabag!” she taunts me. I growl and snap at her as she flits out of reach, jeering. Like some arrogant mosquito!
“Rainbow!”
Others come. Two unicorns, white and purple, the purple leading the group. A yellow pegasus who seems fearful and worried. Two earth ponies, one orange with a hat and determination written on the face, and a pink one, who seem to bounce more than walk.
Is this the response of today? Six ponies? No armor, no weapons? This will be easy, and filling…
No! Stop it! Focus, thrust those feelings away! I do not want to eat them! I don’t even want to harm them!
I want to grab Mirage, and escape. Nothing more than that. Nothing more.
“Rainbow, get her away from it!” the purple one yells, and the blue pegasi salutes her.
“No problem!” she says, darting down again.
Her movements are simple and easy to predict. She underestimates me, thinks me slow and stupid. And if she thinks she can snatch Mirage from right in front of me…
When she comes close, I slap her with my paw, slapping her into the ground. I hear her groan as I lift my paw, the others gasp, and I smirk, feeling better. Now for the finishing, no. Escape, focus on escape. Don’t kill them. I grab Mirage, and the others act.
The white unicorn tries to blind me with lights, the pink one throwing pies at my head. The purple one uses magic that singes my fur and delivers a surprisingly strong blow, though that is nothing to the strength in the orange one darting amongst my legs. Or the yellow one, yelling something I do not care to listen to in my ears.
I manage to swat the yellow and orange ones, tossing them away. They do not get up immediately. The purple one gasps again, glares at me, and her next bolt burns. I flinch from it, pulling inward, and a glowing bubble appears around me.
She tries to trap me again.
I slam into it, giving my all to break the shield, and press upon it, bending the magic, my claws scraping along the glowing bubble. It deforms under my pressure, and I see the unicorn struggling against me until I manage to overcome her fortitude, and pop it. She yells as her horn sparks, and falls over, making the remainder gasp and move to her.
It takes all my control to not rush them and devour them whole. Instead, I roar again, and see them freeze in their places. There is now a pain in my throat; the ability does harm me if used often. I might not be able to have a third time.
But seeing them still and helpless… I want to kill them! I want to eat them! Make them suffer and die for daring to harm me, for daring to try and steal Mirage away! Satisfy my urge, sooth this hunger, ease this pain and weakness! But I… I mustn’t… I… I…
I see Mirage as my instincts near silence my thoughts with their demands.
She makes it better. Seeing her, I recall, and my instincts quiet. I feel happy seeing her, and calm. My mind returns to me.
I defended her, and succeed when once I had failed. I am proud of that, and prouder still that I have done so without killing. She will be proud in return.
I press her into my chest, closing my eyes for a moment, collecting myself. Then I hurry towards the nearby forest. The one place that might offer some shelter and concealment for us. It hasn’t before, but I am fairly sure that I have time to leave and not be found in only a few hours like last time.
I will not fall prey to the power from before. Let Celestia come!
I shall be ready for her.