//------------------------------// // evitcepsreP // Story: Behind Glass // by Xhadow //------------------------------// I hate myself, I have barely any time for anything before all of them show up and there's nothing I can do afterwards because... no, settle down, maybe they won't come today... maybe they decided to go see something else, yeah. I hope so.... Slowly, ever so slowly, I crawl out of my sanctuary gazing around for the slightest hint of trouble. The roots brush against my back and get snagged in my tail, I have to spend the next three minutes freeing myself from the brambles and dirt. Suddenly my ears snap down and I drop to the ground, covering my head with my hooves, something's out there. And it's not Elizabeth. Footsteps, a human wearing boots, by the sound. She's calling me, my ears twitch as I debate making a run for it. She steps into my field of view, freezing my body and mind with her presence, I feel my blood run cold and my sweat turn to ice as it rolls off my coat. "There you are, Yankee I've been looking everywhere for you," she says, hooking the Kevlar leash to my collar. "Let's go for a walk shall we, maybe if you're good like yesterday we can stop by the aviary again and watch the birds. Won't that be fun?" I drop my head and blush, feeling rather stupid. It was only Brittany, she was the nice one, she took me on long walks around the zoo after hours and sometimes even let me fly, or at least... she used to. Before Katherine banned my aviation. She thought I would fall and hurt myself. I followed after Brittany keeping my head to the ground as I pondered all that has happened in the past few days... since... since the first time we blacked out. Elizabeth had gotten her cutie mark, and I got my stars. My once plain blue mane and tail were now sprinkled with white stars, and the tips of my wings had turned red. I thought it was awesome, but... with every change something was lost, something important, sometimes it was a memory, or others it was a feather or some fur. But it costs us... and dearly. I just want this nightmare to end, tears roll slowly down my cheeks as I step over the refugees the janitors couldn't sweep up. The cobblestone path clicks under my hooves as I walk on, desperate to match the pace of my handler. "Are you okay, Stars," Brittany asks, dropping to her knees. I do my best to turn away, but I know it's obvious that something's bothering me. "Hey, it's okay," she says, scratching my ear, "you can tell me." No I can't, Britt, I wish I could sometimes. "Okay," she asks, standing again, "let's go see the new exhibit. I hear you know one of the occupants." I tilt my head, my somber depression forgotten, How, nopony else was discovered, I would know. They would've told me...right? I press on after Brittany, an extra spring in my step as I silently press her for information. "Don't worry, Stars, you'll find out when we get there," she says pointing up the path, "it's just up the hill there." So...what? they found someone else and are experimenting on her too? What am I supposed to do with a cadge full of.... I squeak, leaping back from the glass, all of my hair and wings standing at attention. It was vaguely human, having scales rather than skin, a longer face, a tail, and poison injecting teeth. Worst of all it was real...and I knew him. I knew him very well. "Caught you too," he observed, dragging a clawed finger over the metal collar that bound him to the cadge. I felt something shift in my throat, like my voice box changing gears. Something that sounds like someone cracking their knuckles fills my ears when I try speaking. "Don't suppose you speak Pegasus, do you?" I ask, resting a hoof on the glass, it's my friend in there. No, he's one of my best friends, a title I've only given once. He looked at me slightly confused for a couple seconds, "Well, that's one problem solved." My ears sag as the disappointment takes hold, "I should've known it would be too good to be true." "No, Chris. I understand you perfectly, no language gap. We're fine, nothing I say get's though to them though," Noah points to my handler and snarls, showing rows of sharp teeth. "Save it for Katherine, Britt here is one of the nice ones," I say, stepping defensively between my friends. "Wait," Noah demands, anger fading in an instant, "Katherine, she's the vet right. Blond, about six nothing..." "With blue eyes and a swastika in her heart," I interrupt, "we've had a few meetings." "She's our ally here, listen, she's working something out for us, so we can finally get out of here." "Noah, don't," I shake my head tears forming, "I...I thought you were immune to deception." A loud bang, we both jump, and all my attention zooms in on the source of the sound. I can't hear what she's saying through the adrenaline explosion, but she claps her hands over her chest and bounces in place. "She's... not okay." Noah says, barely audible over the ringing in my ears, "more so than me." "He's so cute!" she squeals, shattering any sense of mainlines I had ever claimed. "See? Look what you did, you made him sad," Noah reprimands, smacking the back of her head. "But, he's so cute! Can we keep him," she asks Brittany, "just for a couple hours, please?" "I'm just glad they don't speak..." I'm interrupted by Brittany's hesitant consent to the idea. Desperately I dig in, resisting my handler's insistent pulling as best I could, Think, think, think! Come on... frantically I shove aside bits of litter and discarded cups until I find them. They're plastic, faded, and used, but I don't think that will matter. I swallow my self-preservation and, stashing them in my mane, follow Brittany to my certain death and dismemberment. Allon-sy.... The door wrenches open, and my collar beeps, leaving me rigid, and clinging to Britt's leg. "It's okay, they're not going to hurt you. You're okay," she assures, calmly breaking my death grip and picking me up. "Touch me, you die," I spit, shoving my face into as much of a glare as possible. That... didn't help. At all, and neither did the spoons I picked up, although they have kept Noah quite entertained for the past half hour. "Argonians," I mutter bitterly under the girls' conversation, "I officially hate Argonians. Eventually Brittany starts brushing the oil buildup out of my coat. "Thank you," I nickered, relaxing as best as I could on the wet, slimy stone. "Yeah, he is a sweetheart once you get to know him," Britt boasts, like she was showing off her new puppy. "Um, may I," the Argonian asks, gesturing to the brush in Brittany's hand. "Sure, just... be gentle, he likes to be brushed, but he can be very touchy." Brittany warns before surrendering the slightly fluffy brush. "Oh," she asks as she begins cleaning the day's debris from my mane, "I had horses before... all this. I know how fidgety they can get. Especially if they don't know the person taking care of them." "Yeah, he just...I don't know, he just seems so sad all the time." Brittany lamented, watching Noah chase a fish for a few seconds, "you can tell with them, how they're feeling. Their eyes light up and their coats just seem to shine when they're happy, but when they're sad... they... well, they fade. Their colors turn to a dull grey and their eyes dim." "Maybe he just needs some time to adjust to what's happened." She paused, spending a long moment in painful memories, "I know I did." I vaguely listen to their conversation, more concerned with my own survival. It was bad enough to be a ticket seller, a freak show, but to be a girls' conversation piece... that, my friend, is a whole different ball game. They just kept right on talking, on occasion returning the conversation back to me, or the general idea for the zoo type activities. Brittany found a friend, someone to complain to, and a few days later she was transferred to the crew working with the Argonians, leaving me without a handler. So here I sit, embracing the blades of grass brushing against my weakening frame. I felt cold constantly and my hooves were like lead, I wasn't sleeping well either and, for a while, I gave up any hope of seeing another day. "Well," I say, mustering the courage to stand, "this is it I guess." Blood pools around my hooves as I watch the sunset from my glass prison. The place that would serve as my grave in another minute or so. Tears fall to the grass as I consider my life, all I'd done, all I'd failed. There wasn't any point, just living in this fishbowl forever was something I was not going to do. So I took control of the only thing I could: when I die.