//------------------------------// // Chapter 13 // Story: Sands of Time // by Amaranthine Thought //------------------------------// The moment she is free, Smart darts to me and says nothing as she grabs onto me with amazing strength, getting behind one of my paws before she lets go, watching Princess and Clover with caution, and mild fear. Princess releases the breath she was holding, and relaxes. “Kitty, could you enlighten us on who the earth pony is?” she asks me, Clover relaxing in turn, though she remains guarded herself, just like Smart is. “Her name is Smart Cookie, Princess.” I tell her, suspecting that Smart might be unwilling to speak right now. She is incredibly tense, and I would guess she is more afraid than angry; she is more or less hiding behind my paw. “Well then, Smart Cookie.” Princess says, looking to Smart, Smart flinching a little as she was focused upon, “I feel your actions in saving Kitty are nothing short of heroic, and applaud your sense of justice. I am also extending my invitation to him to you; for so long as you remain by Kitty’s side, you too are welcome in my home as an honored guest.” I find that a pleasing thing to hear, and smile a little. “Like unicorns would know th meanin o justice or honor.” Smart mutters darkly, making Princess and I both hesitate. “Where is Kitty’s pony, ‘Princess’?” she asks, nearly spitting the last. “Kitty’s… do you mean Mirage?” Princess asks, and I note that she pronounces the name perfectly, though oddly, her horns lights as she does so. “She is here.” “And why ain’t she here right now?” Smart asks, and I wonder at her anger even as I wonder about her question. Where is Mirage? I would have thought she would have come immediately upon hearing of my coming. “She’s,” “Not here.” Smart interrupts. “And I’d bet that you can’t call her right now either.” “I can, but I would not. She is currently resting, something of which she has gotten rather little of as of late.” Princess says, frowning back. “I thought unicorns were better n ta keep family apart.” Smart near spits. “That’s such a,” Seeing nothing good coming from more of this, I pull Smart back, more or less trapping her between my paw and chest. She startles as I do so, but she doesn’t resist me either. Princess looks to me with a strange mixture between distaste and curiosity. “You must forgive Smart, Princess.” I sigh. “She means no real harm with her words.” “Is, is what she,” Princess begins, before something shoots just over her head to impact against me. I smile hugely, recognizing Mirage even as she holds onto my muzzle as though she might never let go again. “Mirage.” I say, already starting to purr again, unable to not do so. It is so, so good to have her with me again. “I missed you.” Mirage tells me, squeezing me a moment more before she looks at me, her gaze happy before it turns confused and mildly concerned. “Where were you Kitty? What happened to you?” “It is a long story, Mirage.” I tell her. “In short, I found Sweetie, high in the mountains, being watched over by a pegasus. But when I went to retrieve her, I was met and fought by another one, in gleaming armor that flew through the sky faster than the eye could follow. In the end, he summoned a storm over me, and struck me from the sky with lightning.” “That had to be the Commander.” I hear Clover mention, her voice quiet, Mirage’s expression a touch horrified. “I spent much time recovering before I could even wake again, and then a few days afterwards. Days I feel should be spoken of not by me, but by Smart Cookie, who saw to my healing over that time.” “Smart Cookie?” Mirage asks, and I nod, looking down to where Smart is still pinned against my chest. Mirage flutters back a little bit, looking down curiously before she goes down and lands just in front of me. I let Smart go, but she remains very close to me, watching Mirage. “…Did you save Kitty, Smart?” Mirages asks. “…I only helped him ta heal, I didn’t,” Smart manages before Mirage rushes her to hug her, to Smart’s obvious shock. I chuckle as Mirage lets go and backs off just as quickly. “Thank you.” Mirage tells her, Smart still rather stiff, though she soon shakes it off. “Smart.” I say, Smart looking up at me. “Please tell them what transpired during my time amongst your kind. I have partially explained already, but it would be for the best if they all know what happened.” “…Can’t you jus tell em?” Smart asks, and I note the hesitation on her. “I want you to, Smart.” I tell her. “I could not hope to recapture the tale in my own words.” Smart keeps watching me before she sighs, and refocuses on Mirage. I see Princess and Clover listening as well, and other unicorns appear to be slowly gathering, remaining at a distance, but watching as well. “…It was Chancellor who found Kitty an dragged him back.” she begins, “He was jus about dead, an Chancellor asked me ta heal him. I didn’t know him at th time, an thought that Chancellor had lost her mind, wantin me ta get him back on his paws, but she insisted an I said I would. Even though I thought he was jus some giant monster.” Mirage nods, to Smart’s slight surprise. Mirage then says, “Big, terrifying winged cat, right?” to which Smart gives a slight nod, relaxing somewhat. “…Well, I had had th collar fer a while afore then. I knew what it did, cause I had put it on an old dog th once, and I felt that th collar was going ta make my fears go away and make Chancellor’s nutty dream come true: to have Kitty be our trump card against anythin. I convinced her ta let me put it on him, an that’s why that’s there right now.” At Mirage’s confusion, I clarify, “The collar controls me, and cannot be removed, Mirage. If not for Smart’s efforts, I would be bidden to obey any order given to me.” Mirage nods, glancing to me before refocusing on Smart, her expression slightly conflicted. “Alright… You put that on Kitty because you were afraid of him, right?” Smart nods sadly, but Mirage gives a small sigh and smile. “Yeah, I can see why.” she says, surprising Smart once more. “Wh, what?” Smart asks. “You had no idea who he was, and you could only see what he was.” Mirage tells her. “You were only trying to do your best; even if you did mess up, you meant well.” Smart hesitates for a brief while before she resumes. “Once he started getting better, he started mumblin in his sleep; dreamin, an starting to tell me just who he was. As time passed, I was more n more certain that he wasn't jus some giant beast. But once I found out that th collar couldn’t come off, I jus… started tryin ta convince myself that I was right th first time, even as I started ta like him more n more.” “Cept the rest o th townsfolk didn’t really like him bein there, specially not once he started getting better. Chancellor kept tellin em otherwise, but they kept on grumbling about him; fearing him. And then one of em tried ta kill Kitty in th night with a knife.” Mirage and a few others gasp at that, Smart sighing. “He stabbed Kitty a couple a times, an Kitty… bit him in half fer it.” she says, Mirage pale, Princess dismayed. “I almost thought I was right all along, but Kitty had spat him out an was tryin to get away from the whole mess, an he weren’t even awake then. I… I hid th body an washed th barn an lied ta protect him from th others, cause if they knew he had killed one o th townsfolk, even if he had been defendin himself, they’d have killed him fer it.” “A week later, an he finally woke up. Chancellor wanted him ta help, an he did; he didn’t even notice th collar workin, cause he wanted ta help us. He wanted to listen to what Chancellor asked o him, all cause we had helped him get better. It was then I knew I had messed up, putting th collar on him.” Smart hesitates for a few moments before she resumes, “He trusted me at first, even as he started getting upset, cause of th collar holdin him back. I didn’t tell him about it, all cause I worried what he would do, or say. I knew better by then, but I… I was still afraid of him.” “Eventually, th rest figured out I’d lied, but not that he’d killed; jus that he did eat meat. Chancellor talked ta me about that; she even brought up losing trust. Then she asked me if I’d made sure ta order Kitty right; that’d I’d ordered him ta be all th things she wanted him ta be. I hadn’t, but I told her I did. An then it was Kitty, who was starting to feel that something was wrong. An when he asked me ta be honest, I… I told him that Quick Call had died in th woods.” “Kitty got real mad, cause he knew he had killed Quick Call. He told me then that he had ponies what depended on him; ponies he cared for. He didn’t know what was holdin him back, but he thought it was me, and th worst part of that is that it was me. Cause I put th collar on him, cause I was th one who’d ordered him to be weak. I… I thought he was gonna… I almost wanted him ta, but Chancellor yelled at him ta stop, and then ta sleep. She then told me ta be more commandin; told me that she was real disappointed that I had lied again; one o the things she told me ta order Kitty was that he couldn’t get angry.” “All in that one afternoon, I lost th trust of the town, Chancellor, and even Kitty.” “I never felt more miserable then I did right then.” Smart says, hanging her head. “I jus… left an hid from everypony fer a few days, cause I couldn’t face anypony. But then somepony ordered him to tell them if he killed Quick Call. Then they got together ta decide his fate and they came up with th idea ta jus have him go leap off some cliff until he died.” “I couldn’t stop that. So I did th only thing I could do. I snuck out, ran ta Kitty, told him to forget every other order, ordered him to only listen to me, and then ordered him to fly away where’d they’d never find him. I finally found th courage ta stand up ta em, finally realized that I had always had the chance ta help… but it was too late. Nopony wanted ta listen ta me then. In th end, I was yelling at Chancellor an I called her worse n th pegasi and unicorns combined.” Smart pauses for a moment her expression troubled, before she begins again, “…I don’t know what might’ve happened. They all went quiet, but afore anything could happen, Kitty dropped from th sky, grabbed th back of my shirt, wrecked what was left of th barn, an took off agin wit me danglin from his teeth. I didn’t know what ta think then, what with the yellin, everythin I had realized, an how high we were... Eventually, he landed, and then he asked me ta explain myself ta him. So I did, little like how I just did.” I finish for her, speaking, “I forgave her, and as she had lost her place amongst her own, offered her a place by my side. She accepted, and we returned to the den to find Emerald there. Soon after, I followed him here.” Mirage looks to me, her face a little sad. Then to Smart, still a little sad. “Well… I don’t know how to say this, but if Kitty says you’re with us, you’re with us.” “Huh?” Smart asks, confused. “I mean… You sort of saved Kitty twice, thinking about it.” Mirage tells her. “First you helped him to heal, and then from the townsponies. Yeah, you did wrong, but really, you’ve either already paid for it or have already mended it. And if Kitty wants you to be with him, then I welcome you there. My place is on his head mind you, so no taking that, but the rest is alright.” I chuckle at Mirage’s clumsy attempts to explain what I have offered Smart, and lower my head to nuzzle Smart, Mirage moving forward to hug me again as I purr. I note that she makes a point to hug Smart in the process, Smart still looking a little confused before she relaxes. “Once, I would have never believed I would ever hear such a story.” I hear, an I look to see Princess, smiling at us. “To imagine that you went through all that, Kitty, is simply… stunning.” I nod, drawing back once more, Mirage moving to atop my head as Smart remains pressed against me. “But I now ask you, Princess; what happened in my absence?” “Quite a lot.” Princess answers. “After you left and did not return, I began trying to persuade Mirage to return me to my unicorns, with the promise that she would be my honored guest, instead of her… previous stance. She was recalcitrant, certain you would return soon, but once my unicorns eventually found me again, she decided to come back with us.” “Once I had made true on my promise to treat her well, Mirage began to tell me more about you, and soon enough, about the three fillies you had gone in search of. I decided to assist you in that endeavor, and enlisted my unicorns to begin the search for them.” She looks at Clover, who begins to speak, “With Mirage’s descriptions of the three, we managed to scry on their locations, discovering it to be someplace within the mountains. A squad was set to retrieve them, only for them to be rebuffed by pegasi, who have claimed that entire swath of mountains as their own. Realizing that the pegasi had taken the fillies, we attempted a diplomatic approach soon after.” “Which went simply dreadfully.” Princess tells me, sighing. “The Commander is a simple brute with no delicacy to him. He wouldn’t listen to reason, and refused to even tell us why he was keeping the fillies, save for that he didn’t trust us. I had imagined that Mirage might assuage his fears, only for him to claim that we were controlling her somehow and to then demand that we relinquish her to him. Of course, we refused, and diplomatic methods were deemed useless from then on.” “Unfortunately, further attempts at retrieving the fillies has met with continued failure.” Clover continues. “We have only been able to determine that they are being cared for, but little else, as the Commander himself seems to have begun patrolling the peaks sometime after our first attempt, driving away any team we send. After the Commander threatened military retaliation, we have since discontinued ongoing missions into the peaks.” “Which leads us to today.” Princess finishes, sighing. “I did so want to ease your troubles, Kitty, but I’m afraid it just wasn't possible.” “I already owe you great thinks for caring for Mirage, Princess.” I tell her. “That alone is a debt I wonder how to repay, but to hear that you have tried to work on my behalf is even more deserving of my gratitude. I owe you a great deal.” Princess waves one hoof, and tells me, “It really wasn't anything much, Kitty. You need not feel as though you have some great debt to me because of this, and my actions would be near cruel if I were to try to use them in such a way as to have you indebted to me. I did what I did because it was the right thing to do, and not to earn or demand anything from you.” “I feel I must, Princess.” I tell her. “If I do not, it would devalue what you have done for me, and though helping Mirage might be simple charity, trying to retrieve the fillies for me is far from any simple charity.” “Well… if you do insist.” Princess tells me, smiling. “I do.” “Now then…” she says, thoughtful. “There is the slight problem of Smart Cookie.” I feel Smart tense against me. “It is a crime to misuse an artifact like a collar of command, much less so as to steal a pony’s will. I do feel that she should at least be held accountable for that, Kitty, despite that you’re no pony.” I wonder, though her small grin suggests that she has something she feels I would agree with. “What are you thinking of, Princess?” I ask, my curiosity burning. “A great crime merits a great recompence.” Princess says, teasing my curiosity, though I suspect Smart is growing rather tense, as I know Mirage is. “And I feel that I’ve the perfect sentence for this crime.” “I’d like to sentence Smart Cookie… to work with Clover so as to discover a method by which we can remove that collar from you, Kitty.” Princess finally says. “If that is, of course, acceptable to both you and the pony in question.” She adds, looking at Smart with a rather mischievous expression. “…If it’s fer Kitty.” Smart sighs, moving from me. “Wonderful!” Princess says, happy. “Clover has been asking for an assistant for a while now, and I can only imagine that by mixing your knowledge with her own, we might arrive at some innovative solutions.” Smart stops, confused, and I see Clover hesitant, before Princess nudges her. “You two can begin right away.” she says, using a touch of magic to push Smart and Clover both towards one door, Clover soon leaving on her own, Smart hesitating to follow until I nod. Princess watches them go before she looks around her. “Everypony else is free to resume their duties.” She calls out, and I see the gathered unicorns scatter rather quickly. As soon as the last is gone, Princess sighs, and approaches me. “Kitty… I had anticipated this meeting to go very differently than it has gone.” Princess tells me, sighing softly. “And even though it has not gone as I had wanted it to, I still want you to hear what I have to say to you.” I nod slowly, wondering, a little unsure what Princess is feeling. Regret, maybe sadness, something else? “Much as Smart had, I too had thought you to be a monster, Kitty.” Princess begins. “And that image of you remained even after you spoke to me, asking for my forgiveness.” She hesitates a moment before she tells me, “I, like Smart had, lied to you. When you asked me for forgiveness, I spoke only to protect myself and my ponies, fearing you even after all you said to me.” “It was not until Mirage began to tell me about you that I truly began to change my opinion.” Princess continues, “The more I learned, the more I began to understand you. But it was not until now that I have truly understood what drove you to those actions that night. And, in that understanding, Kitty, I want you to know that I have truly accepted your apology, belated though it might be.” “And it is the same understanding,” Princess says, lowering her head, “That I find I must ask you to forgive me.” I do not respond immediately, and feel less able to once Princess bows her head to me. I should have seen that long before, yet, I had simply accepted her words without even imagining what she might have felt or thought during that time. To hear the truth is surprising, and a touch hurtful, but she has soothed it in nearly the same breath. “…For what do you ask my forgiveness, Princess?” I ask her, wondering. “That it was I who scattered the fillies, and I who kept Mirage from you.” Princess tells me, keeping her head lowered. “I forgive your actions, Kitty, but it is now that I wonder how much you truly had to apologize for.” “…I cannot accept, Princess.” I say, and she looks up, with just a hint of surprise on a saddened face, before I continue, “I did far more that night than might ever be excused, and cannot accept your apology in the light of that.” Princess blinks, a touch stunned even as I sigh. “If I were to do so,” I tell her, “it would be as though I would accept that some part of what I did was correct in some fashion. That night I gave into my anger, and my greed alike; if you feel as though you have anything to apologize over, know that you have done so merely by accepting my own.” I tell her. “That alone is enough.” Princess keeps staring at me for a long moment before she gives a soft sigh and gains a small smile. “Kitty… If you can say that, then I insist on this: you owe me nothing for my caring for Mirage nor for my attempting to retrieve the fillies.” I open my mouth before Princess interrupts me, “If you might find my apology in as little as my accepting your own, then whatever you might owe me is paid in full by simply accepting my offer to remain here as my honored guest.” I watch her before I sigh, and smile as I nod, accepting, Princess’ smile growing in response. “Now that that’s done.” Mirage says from atop me, fluttering up to get in front of me. “Are you sure that you’re all better Kitty?” Mirage asks me, concern passing over her face. “What with the lightning, and the fall, and the collar, and the mad pony with the knife…” “I am recovered Mirage.” I tell her, Mirage giving a small sigh as I tell her that. I reach up to carefully grab her, and pull her closer to me, Mirage nuzzling into my chest, even as I lower my head, starting to gently purr as she does so. “Again, I’ve left you alone, and again, I ask that you forgive me.” “Oh, Kitty.” Mirage mumbles, pressing into my chest a little harder. “You know better than that; it isn’t your fault all that happened.” A moment passes before she gently sighs, and adds, “It’s so good to have you back.” Her voice cracking a little at the last. “As it is you, Mirage.” I tell her softly. “As it is you.” “You are a fantastic father.” I hear, and I see Princess watching, smiling. “…What?” I ask, wondering. A fantastic father? What does she mean? Mirage wiggles from my grasp to peer out, curious herself, it seems. “The fillies, I know, are ponies you care for because of circumstance, but I always felt Mirage was different, somehow.” Princess tells me. “If Smart had not told me, then I might have imagined that your bond was something else, but now her words make perfect sense.” “What words?” Mirage asks her. “’Kitty’s pony’.” Princess quotes. “At the time, it didn’t seem to make sense, but seeing this makes it apparent.” She hesitates a moment, thinking before she gives a slight chuckle and gains a faint blush, adding, “I do admit some mild curiosity as to the… shall we say, ‘mechanics’, of how you and Mirage’s mother had her, though.” Mirage stare for a moment before startling, realizing what Princess was saying. “Th, that, that’s not!” she tries, stuttering and blushing. “K, Kitty!” she yells, “Tell her… Kitty? Kitty?” “…Why are his wings extending?” Princess asks nopony in particular. “Kiiittttty!”